Portland Report — The Giratina Takeover

Hello everyone! Recently the Portland Regionals took place over on the West Coast, and this tournament was absolutely massive. Having 1500 players is record-breaking for West Coast tournaments in North America, and it is going to be followed by two more US Regionals, with all three staggered across every other weekend. The Paradox Rift meta has developed considerably, yet we are still constantly being surprised and seeing new things. There are many viable decks in this format, and most of them are fun to play. It is interesting seeing meta shifts and playing against a variety of decks. This time last year, I was accustomed to playing against at least eight [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”211″ c=”name”][/card] every tournament, and I think we can all agree that things are considerably more fun with more variety.

For this article I will be discussing the results of Portland specifically, and how that influences the meta and Regionals going forward. Let’s start off by talking about the format’s longtime frontrunner, none other than [card name=”Charizard ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card].

Charizard ex

[cardimg name=”Charizard ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”223″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

After LAIC, Charizard ex quickly cemented itself as the most popular deck in the format, seeing enormous amounts of representation. Charizard is a fantastic deck that packs a punch and is reasonably consistent. It also has the perks of being strong against [card name=”Miraidon ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”81″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Mew VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card], which are two omnipresent pests in the metagame. However, Charizard has a weak on-paper matchup spread. Despite this, its overall extremely high power level allows it to even compete with decks that it is supposed to be unfavored against. This is seen quite often where a top deck has unfavorable matchups, but it is just a better deck. I have played Charizard ex at the past three Regionals to somewhat consistent results. My group has determined that it is the best deck for these tournaments individually, though we finally see the meta become more hostile towards Charizard before our very eyes.

At Portland, Charizard’s results were somewhat lackluster. At least, it did not do as well as you would expect from the number one most played deck. Azul made Top 8 with it, and it also bubbled at 9th place, but only had two other Top 32 placements total. This is not a terrible showing, especially in such a diverse meta, but it shows that Charizard is perhaps not as huge of a threat as we would expect. I started 8-1 with the deck, but sadly, I drew far too many unplayable dead hands in Day 2, barely whiffing on Top 32.

Interestingly, most Charizard lists have started including [card name=”Technical Machine: Devolution” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”177″ c=”name”][/card], drawing inspiration from decks in Japan. This is a highly influential tech in the mirror match, but once everyone has it, it is just a wash. If anything, everyone collectively wasting one slot in Charizard for the mirror match is just mutually-assured destruction. If you don’t play it yourself, you will just be crushed by everyone who does. It is intended to give you an edge in the mirror against people who might not have it, but at this point in time, almost everyone plays it to avoid losing to the mirror. I played it in Portland to have an edge against our [card name=”Justified Gloves” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”143″ c=”name”][/card] list from San Antonio, but going forward, I probably just won’t play Charizard anymore.

Unfortunately for Charizard, Technical Machine: Devolution is played in other decks too. The second place [card name=”Giratina VSTAR” set=”Lost Origin” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card] deck had a copy, as did one of the Day 2 Mew VMAX lists. And of course, [card name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] and some Lost Box variants commonly play one or two copies. The Devolution phenomenon is but one factor that is slowly driving Charizard into a corner. Charizard is so strong that it will be hard to eliminate it for good, but this certainly makes things harder on it.

Mew VMAX

Mew VMAX is absolutely the most broken Pokemon TCG deck in recent memory. The Pokemon Company has repeatedly printed cards with the express purpose of destroying Mew, and every time, Mew hits back harder than ever. I’ve written about it so many times, so I’ll spare you the spiel of what makes this deck so good. Mew’s so-called Achilles’ heel has been Charizard ex since the release of Obsidian Flames. With Charizard being the most popular deck, Mew should be kept at bay. However, the varied meta is working in Mew’s favor.

Mew decks have been leaning into [card name=”Judge” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”176″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Path to the Peak” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Box of Disaster” set=”Lost Origin” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] to give it a fighting chance against Charizard while remaining dominant against the wider field. Mew is a problem, and its Portland results reflect that. Mew had a whopping SEVEN appearances in Top 16, which is nearly half. This is right off Charizard’s dominance at San Antonio, but the Mew players were not deterred. Two Mew decks made Top 8, but both were brought down by Giratina, which is supposed to be one of Mew’s best matchups. However, some variance can indeed happen, and Mew lists are being diluted to deal with bigger threats, which makes it slightly weaker against its fundamentally good matchups.

Interestingly, many decks have also started playing [card name=”Spiritomb” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card]. This is less of a problem for the [card name=”Fusion Strike Energy” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”244″ c=”name”][/card] version of Mew, but Spiritomb should absolutely destroy the slightly-more-popular Judge with Path to the Peak version. As an adaptation, even the Judge Path version has started including two copies of Fusion Strike Energy and an [card name=”Elesa’s Sparkle” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”260″ c=”name”][/card]. For the likes of [card name=”Miraidon ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”81″ c=”name”][/card], Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX, and [card name=”Sableye” set=”Lost Origin” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Radiant Charizard” set=”Crown Zenith” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card], even their Spiritomb can’t save them from this hybrid monster.

Although Mew did not make the finals at Portland Regionals, it was infesting the top tables throughout all of Day 1 and Day 2. If Charizard stock is slowly going down, that only means that Mew players will become more brazen, and we could have an even more dominant takeover on our hands. If widespread Charizard and Spiritomb can’t stop Mew, then what on Earth can?

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Gardevoir ex

This Pokemon is continuing its trend of seeing average amounts of play and average results. [card name=”Gardevoir ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”245″ c=”name”][/card] just about the most average deck you can think of, though it did get a strong Top 4 finish at Portland, with two more appearances in Top 32. What makes Gardevoir so great right now is that it is fairly strong against Charizard ex, Giratina VSTAR, and Mew VMAX. If you stop right there, Gardevoir seems like the obvious best deck. However, it has some glaring weaknesses. Aside from the general inconsistencies, Gardevoir is incredibly slow, and thus struggles in the 50-minute format. Many things can go wrong for it, and it cannot afford to drop a single game. But more than that, Gardevoir is egregiously weak against [card name=”Iron Hands ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card]. Miraidon, Lost Box, and even some [card name=”Roaring Moon ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card] decks spell disaster if they can get Iron Hands going fast enough. Some Gardevoir lists have tried [card name=”Deoxys VSTAR” set=”Crown Zenith GG” no=”GG46″ c=”name”][/card] as a counter to Iron Hands, but this variant has not seen any real success yet.

Miraidon ex

[cardimg name=”Miraidon ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”244″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Miraidon ex remains somewhat popular, and most lists have added [card name=”Tapu Koko ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”68″ c=”name”][/card] to deal with Charizard ex. Of course, most Charizard decks have added [card name=”Switch” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”194″ c=”name”][/card] to counter the counter, but this further dilutes the Charizard deck. Miraidon has always been that turbo-fast deck that aims to blitz opponents out of the game. Iron Hands, of course, is an extremely oppressive piece that synergizes perfectly with the deck. Miraidon suffers most because it is weak against Charizard, and if you are accepting of that, Mew is a much better deck overall. That said, the addition of Iron Hands greatly improves Miraidon’s other matchups, keeping it relevant in the meta.

For Miraidon’s relative popularity, it did not perform that well at Portland Regionals. It got a strong Top 8 placement, but only had one other Top 32 showing. Miraidon often has this weird dynamic where most of them fall off in Day 2, but one or two people always spike the tournament with it. These type of results are nothing new for Miraidon. Miraidon is now playing Spiritomb, but this only serves to make the Mew matchup bearable – far from guaranteeing a win. With most of the action centered around Charizard, Giratina VSTAR, and Mew at the moment, I expect Miraidon to remain in a similar spot for the foreseeable future.

Arceus VSTAR

Makani Tran made waves at Portland by making Top 8 and reviving [card name=”Arceus VSTAR” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card], an archetype that never seems to entirely go away. Right when you think Arceus is dead, it spikes a tournament out of nowhere. Arceus VSTAR is an excellent card, but it is comparably weak to the rest of the format. As a result, it has to rely on disruption tactics and its unparalleled consistency. Arceus is not flashy or powerful, but it does the same thing every single time and tries to make it as difficult as possible for the opponent to respond to it. The current iteration of Arceus is no exception. It has some neat tricks such as [card name=”Mew ex” set=”151″ no=”193″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Regigigas VSTAR” set=”Crown Zenith” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card], but you actually end up using them a deceptively low amount of the time. Cards like [card name=”Bibarel” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Celebrations” no=”16″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Jet Energy” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”190″ c=”name”][/card] are the real unsung heroes of the deck, bolstering its consistency even more. Of course, it also relies heavily on [card name=”Cheren’s Care” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”134″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Path to the Peak” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card] to mess with opponents, hopefully rendering them unable to stop the endless train of Arceus.

Some people will undoubtedly be intrigued by this deck going forward and end up playing it, but I wouldn’t expect a drastic increase because the wider metagame is still varied enough. The deck itself isn’t anything special, in my opinion. Its matchups are weak, but it consistently does its thing and sometimes just wins.

It is also worth noting that Arceus with [card name=”Serperior VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”8″ c=”name”][/card] made Top 32 at Portland. I don’t have anything to say about this one-off anomaly, but I know I would not be thrilled to sit across from Serperior as a Charizard player.

Lost Box

Lost Box has seen some surprisingly high amounts of play this format, usually followed by poor results in North American tournaments. Lost Box struggles greatly against Charizard ex and Iron Hands ex, making it a lackluster meta call. Furthermore, the versions that don’t include [card name=”Kyogre” set=”Celebrations” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card] are also weak against Mew VMAX. This is reflected by Lost Box’s lack of results compared to how much it is played. It is worth mentioning that the [card name=”Radiant Charizard” set=”Crown Zenith” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] build got Top 16 at Portland, and the interesting [card name=”Supereffective Glasses” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”152″ c=”name”][/card] version made Top 16 at San Antonio. Two Kyogre decks made Top 32 at Portland as well. Surprisingly, I have not played against a single Lost Box deck in the Paradox Rift format (across 47 rounds).

The biggest benefit to Lost Box is that it’s strong against Giratina VSTAR, but frankly, that alone isn’t enough to put the deck on the map.

Rapid Strike

Rapid Strike was identified early on as the deck with the best overall matchups. However, its consistency is perhaps the worst in the entire format. Rapid Strike is carried by its strong matchups, and simply prays to draw enough playable hands to leverage its overpowered board-wipe strategy. Rapid Strike also cannot beat Mew VMAX or [card name=”Snorlax” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] Stall, but it is strong against everything else. It is the deck that feels like the biggest gamble, and this has kept most top players away from it. Rapid Strike did nab a single Top 16 finish in Portland, as is par for the course with the deck. It is doing alright considering how few people are actually playing the deck. There isn’t much else to say about it.

Other Decks

Snorlax Stall had two finishes in Top 32, with one being the [card name=”Pidgeot V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”188″ c=”name”][/card] version featuring Radiant Charizard. Stall is extremely weak against [card name=”Giratina VSTAR” set=”Crown Zenith GG” no=”GG69″ c=”name”][/card] and other Lost Zone decks, but it destroys [card name=”Charizard ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”223″ c=”name”][/card]. The matches against [card name=”Miraidon ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”244″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Mew VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”269″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Gardevoir ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”245″ c=”name”][/card] can go either way, and heavily relies on the opponent’s skill and experience playing against Stall. Snorlax is doing well for how few people play the deck, and actually has one of the best conversion rates. However, it is unlikely you will run into it at a Regional. If you choose to play it, you are running a high risk of getting destroyed by Giratina.

One deck that has fallen off the face of the planet is [card name=”Chien-Pao ex” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”61″ c=”name”][/card], though it did have one Top 32 finish at Portland Regionals. Chien-Pao matches up well into Charizard, Giratina, and Gardevoir, which is fantastic. On the other hand, it is not good against Miraidon or Mew. With just its on-paper matchups, Chien-Pao is a risky but very playable meta call. Unfortunately, the deck suffers from some inconsistency, and can still commonly lose to its favorable matchups. Chien-Pao will continue to fade into irrelevance in terms of both usage rate and results.

The new Paradox Rift Pokemon, [card name=”Roaring Moon ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”251″ c=”name”][/card] had one Top 32 at Portland. Roaring Moon is fast, powerful, and consistent. It is a fun and appealing deck to play. However, it definitely has the worst matchups in the entire format. There is not a single top deck that Roaring Moon is definitively favored against, and this makes it extremely difficult for the Pokemon to make any sort of run in the current meta.

Giratina VSTAR

[cardimg name=”Giratina VSTAR” set=”Crown Zenith GG” no=”GG69″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Now we arrive to the main event. Giratina VSTAR is quickly becoming one of the most popular decks in the format due to its overall power level and lack of bad matchups. Giratina took first AND second place at Portland, and had five more Top 32 spots. Although this is the same number of overall spots as Mew VMAX, Giratina was undoubtedly the star of the show. Giratina’s biggest weakness is in fact Mew, but the matchup is very playable, as seen from Giratina’s victories against Mew in Portland’s top cut. Most of Giratina’s other matchups are either slightly favorable or slightly unfavorable, but you get the point. There are very few glaring weaknesses of the deck, and it is fairly playable into any matchup.

Giratina VSTAR’s power level is nuts. It is a 280 HP monster swinging for 280 damage, with a bonus free KO thrown in. This is also combined with tricks like [card name=”Roxanne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”150″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Sableye” set=”Lost Origin” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Path to the Peak” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”213″ c=”name”][/card], creating an unholy abomination that has the potential to steamroll anything in its path.

Giratina is not a new deck. It has been around for awhile. But right now is the best it has ever been, and that is saying something. All Giratina lists are very similar, yet there are a few interesting differences to discuss. As a whole, Giratina is cutting [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”269″ c=”name”][/card] and going down to one Sableye. Most decks that dislike Sableye run [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”126″ c=”name”][/card] to counter it, so Giratina players see Sableye as less of a priority and more of a situational option. Iono is sometimes useful, but Giratina decks play two copies of Roxanne, which is far superior as soon as your opponent takes that third Prize card.

Jon Eng won Portland with a list that features [card name=”Manaphy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] and a third Basic Water Energy. This is clearly built for the mirror match. Manaphy shuts down Radiant Greninja. Although this does not outright win the mirror, it severely limits the opponent’s options. Manaphy is also great against anything else with snipe attacks, and is particularly strong against Rapid Strike and Chien-Pao ex. The third copy of Basic Water Energy is sometimes omitted, but it makes Radiant Greninja an easier attacker. This, of course, has the potential to shut decks out of the game if you get it going fast enough. Giratina is usually slow on the Lost Zone count when it goes first, but a strong start can leverage Radiant Greninja to apply tons of pressure. Moonlight Shuriken is notably useful in the mirror match, as many do not play Manaphy.

Sam Hough got second place with a variant that obviously targets Charizard ex. He uses [card name=”Technical Machine: Devolution” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”177″ c=”name”][/card] and a fourth copy of Path to the Peak. Playing Charizard against him was not fun. The Tool card makes the Charizard matchup laughable, though it is largely useless against everything else. When Charizard is 17% of the field, this option makes sense. The fourth Path to the Peak is more widely useful, as spamming the Stadium card in every matchup is pretty good. It is a high-impact card against Charizard ex, Mew VMAX, Miraidon ex, and Gardevoir ex, which are all of the top decks in the current Standard format meta. Of course, Jon’s list was strictly better when the two faced off in finals, but a second place finish is still incredible.

Another common tech in Giratina is [card name=”Avery” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card]. This supporter primarily targets Gardevoir, Mew, and Chien-Pao. At the very least, it draws three cards, which is not too shabby. Avery is somewhat more consistent than usual now that Giratina is commonly playing two copies of [card name=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”186″ c=”name”][/card]. Pokegear is great for general consistency with its high chance of finding [card name=”Colress’s Experiment” set=”Lost Origin” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card], but perhaps more importantly, it digs for crucial [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”189″ c=”name”][/card] or Roxanne plays that Giratina heavily relies on.

My personal favorite is playing two [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card] AND two Boss’s Orders, which is seen in the 10th place list from Portland. This isn’t particularly flashy, but having consistent gusting options is awesome. There are some crazy plays the Counter Catcher enables, and having one copy is just not consistent enough for my liking.

In any case, Giratina VSTAR is on the rise, as there is no reason for it not to be. Given how difficult it is to counter and its extraordinary inherent strength, you should be either playing Giratina or expecting to face several of them. Be wary of techs like Avery and Devolution. They won’t always have it, but keeping them in mind could just save your game.

Thanks for reading!

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