Is Mill Back? — A Look at Great Tusk Mill

Hey PokeBeach readers, Ciaran here with another article for you today! Hopefully you’ve been seeing success at your tournaments and you’re ready for rotation. Today, I want to look at a deck that might be flying a bit under the radar right now: [card name=”Great Tusk” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card]. I want to go over what an ideal build might look like, how to play the deck, and its position in our upcoming meta.

Winning by deckout is the least common win condition, and it’s rare that we have a deck in the meta that uses milling as its main focus. We have seen success from [card name=”Snorlax” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] recently, but that’s more of a control deck. [card name=”Durant” set=”Battle Styles” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] saw some fringe play during the 2022-23 season, peaking with a Top 4 at the 2022 Brisbane Regional Championships, but we have to go all the way back to the 2011-12 season to find our last true Tier 1 mill deck, which focused on the [card name=”Durant” set=”Noble Victories” no=”83″ c=”name”][/card] from Noble Victories. They even printed a [card name=”Heatmor” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”19″ c=”name”][/card] to directly counter the card! Similar to that Durant, Great Tusk can mill four cards a turn, but only as long as you play an Ancient Supporter during that turn.

Milling your opponent to zero cards in deck isn’t easy. If they can take a Knock Out every turn, you will simply run out of time. Assuming we can get a minimum of six Land Collapse attacks off, that’s only 24 cards milled, and between setup, initial draw for turn, and Prize cards, our opponent will start the game with 46 cards in their deck. If we subtract the 24 from our minimum mills, that still leaves 22. Now, our opponent will have to play and draw cards to get set up, so they will help us mill along the way, but we still need to find ways to buy extra turns for Great Tusk to get as many Land Collapses off as possible. Let’s start by going over the most successful Great Tusk list from the recent Champions League Fukuoka, so I can show off how the deck does what it does.

Top 16 Champions League Fukuoka List

[decklist name=”Great Tusk” amt=”60″ caption=”Top 16 Fukuoka Champions League” cname=”Great Tusk” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”97″][pokemon amt=”8″]4x [card name=”Great Tusk” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Mimikyu” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Comfey” set=”Lost Origin” no=”79″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Radiant Greninja” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”46″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Pidgeot V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”42″]4x [card name=”Professor Sada’s Vitality” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”170″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Explorer’s Guidance” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”147″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Eri” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”199″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”182″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”123″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Earthen Vessel” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Trekking Shoes” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”91″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”132″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”149″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Hisuian Heavy Ball” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”146″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]3x [card name=”Bravery Charm” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”173″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Rescue Board” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”159″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Ancient Booster Energy Capsule” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”159″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Hero’s Cape” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”152″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]3x [card name=”Artazon” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”3″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”10″]4x [card name=”Double Turbo Energy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”151″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Fighting Energy” set=”EX Emerald” no=”106″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Psychic Energy” set=”EX Emerald” no=”105″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/energy][/decklist]This is the list Takeru Yamano used to get Top 16 at the Champions League Fukuoka tournament in February. I’d say this list is extremely simple and consistent, but I will discuss some cards we can add to spice up the deck later on.

Pokemon

First, let’s take a look at the Pokemon lineup. I think the four copies of Great Tusk are self-explanatory — it’s going to be our main attacker — but there are a couple of things I want to point out.

Land Collapse takes two Colorless Energy, so we can satisfy the attack cost using [card name=”Double Turbo Energy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”151″ c=”name”][/card], but more interestingly, we can also use any type of Basic Energy. This opens up opportunities to play interesting tech Pokemon. Great Tusk’s second attack also has some utility. It does 160 damage for four Energy, and while this seems trivial on the surface, it actually has some use cases. Most opponents will limit the amount of Pokemon they have in play, and won’t expect you to attack for damage. If a deck like [card name=”Chien-Pao ex” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”61″ c=”name”][/card] has only one [card name=”Baxcalibur” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] in play, you can take it out to buy yourself time. You won’t use this attack often, but it’s important to be aware of it as an option.

[premium]

[cardimg name=”Professor Sada’s Vitality” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”239″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

[card name=”Radiant Greninja” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”46″ c=”name”][/card] is used not just to draw cards, but also to get Energy in the discard pile so we can use [card name=”Professor Sada’s Vitality” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”239″ c=”name”][/card].

[card name=”Pidgeot V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] is in the deck so we don’t deck out. Ironically, Great Tusk mills through its own deck quite quickly through cards like [card name=”Explorer’s Guidance” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”200″ c=”name”][/card]. Pidgeot ensures we don’t deck out, but it’s also important because you can’t play Professor Sada’s Vitality or Explorer’s Guidance with a zero-card deck. By endlessly using Vanishing Wings, we ensure that our Great Tusk can mill four cards into the late game.

[card name=”Mimikyu” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] might seem a bit counter-intuitive, since if it’s in the Active Spot, we aren’t milling cards, but it’s actually integral to the deck. A lot of decks will put as few Pokemon into play as possible to play around [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card]. For example, a [card name=”Charizard ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] deck might only put into play a Charizard ex and [card name=”Pidgeot ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card]. By putting Mimikyu in the Active Spot, you force them to put a Charmeleon or [card name=”Radiant Charizard” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”11″ c=”name”][/card] into play. Another nice thing about Mimikyu is that, eventually, decks might not have an answer to it. One of the best parts about milling with Great Tusk is that in addition to lowering the number of cards in our opponent’s deck, we also have the chance to mill valuable cards. If you can mill all your opponent’s single-Prize Pokemon and recovery cards, such as [card name=”Super Rod” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”149″ c=”name”][/card], then you can just plop Mimikyu down and win on the spot.

[card name=”Comfey” set=”Lost Origin” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] is definitely the strangest card in this list, and looks a bit out of place. Comfey is in the deck to take advantage of the two copies of [card name=”Rescue Board” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card]. We want to start with Great Tusk every game, but sometimes we will start with one of our other Pokemon, such as Pidgeot V or Mimikyu. In that case, we need a Rescue Board to retreat. Even if we use one in the early game to retreat, though, we still have the other copy. We can throw it on a Comfey, and it gives us a nice pivot that lets us see two extra cards a turn for the rest of the game. I’m not super convinced that this is needed in the deck, and there might be more utility by including other switching options, but I thought it was a cool innovation to point out.

There are some other Pokemon that I think warrant consideration, such as [card name=”Mawile” set=”Lost Origin” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Roaring Moon” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card]. One of the weaknesses of this deck is that it is fairly linear in its strategy. We have Mimikyu to mix things up, but we mainly rely on milling. By the time we get to the late game, we should have depleted a majority of our opponent’s switching resources. Most decks don’t even play many copies of cards such as [card name=”Switch” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card]. Mawile can punish this by trapping a helpless Pokemon in the Active Spot until our opponent slowly decks out. Most decks play Pokemon such as [card name=”Manaphy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”126″ c=”name”][/card], or [card name=”Lumineon V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card]. If those ever hit the board, we can look to trap them as a win condition.

Roaring Moon might seem odd at first, but it helps with another problem this deck has, which is dealing with a singular attacking threat. Often our opponent will just set up one efficient attacker and try and use it to win the game. We already play a bunch of Ancient cards and Professor Sada’s Vitality, so Roaring Moon is the most efficient attacking Pokemon we can use to take out threats. Land Collapse needs Colorless Energy to attack, so we can easily fit in some Darkness Energy to use Roaring Moon. This strategy might be a little too much to pull off, so I don’t have Roaring Moon in my build currently, but it is something to keep in mind.

Supporters

Let’s start with the Ancient Supporters. To get the full four mill from Land Collapse we need to play an Ancient Supporter every turn, which limits the utility of what we can include in our deck. Right now the only two Ancient Supporters are Professor Sada’s Vitality and Explorer’s Guidance. Both are fine Supporters, but neither is super powerful in this style of deck. Granted, without the Ancient Supporter clause on Land Collapse, Great Tusk might be a bit too strong! Professor Sada’s Vitality helps us keep a stream of Great Tusk ready to attack, making it so we just need to attach one more Energy to keep our attacks going. My initial thoughts on Explorer’s Guidance were that the card felt fairly mediocre. Looking at the top six cards is strong in the sense that we usually find useful cards, but the cost of discarding four is steep. I’ve found that I burn through my deck quite quickly with this card, and it makes resource management a key part of playing it!

The one non-Ancient Supporter in this list is [card name=”Eri” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”199″ c=”name”][/card]. This is a super strong disruption supporter, being able to snipe powerful Item cards from our opponent’s hand. A common strategy opponents will use against Great Tusk is to not play any draw Supporters, thus keeping their deck as large as possible. By doing this, however, they’re probably going to be holding onto key resources such as Switch, [card name=”Lost Vacuum” set=”Lost Origin” no=”162″ c=”name”][/card], and Super Rod. While you have to forego milling an extra three cards with Great Tusk if you play Eri, being able to discard Item cards on one turn might buy you additional turns to mill later in the game. An underrated part of the card is that it gives you perfect information to work with. If you know what options your opponent has in their hand, you can play around them. If they don’t have an efficient way to retreat, then you can look to gust up a Pokemon on their Bench — or maybe they don’t have an efficient way to Knock Out a Great Tusk with additional HP, so you look to find a [card name=”Bravery Charm” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”173″ c=”name”][/card].

[cardimg name=”Erika’s Invitation” set=”151″ no=”196″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

There are some other disruption supporters I have considered, mainly [card name=”Erika’s Invitation” set=”151″ no=”160″ c=”name”][/card], but the cost of playing a non-Ancient Supporter is so high, I don’t want to start including too many. I think Erika’s Invitation has a very high payoff, though, so I’ll make a case for it. If our opponent starts with an ideal Pokemon, then they don’t need to bench anything else. Without good targets on their Bench for us to gust, it might be difficult for us to buy time using Counter Catcher. If we can Erika’s Invitation a support Pokemon, such as Lumineon V, [card name=”Bidoof” set=”Crown Zenith” no=”111″ c=”name”][/card], or Manaphy, then we have an easy target to strand in the Active Spot for the rest of the game. However, if your opponent knows you play Erika’s Invitation, they might preemptively use [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] to discard those targets. That, in combination with the chance to just straight-up whiff, has me on the fence about Erika’s Invitation in the deck for now.

[card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”name”][/card] is also something I’m considering. It might seem counter-intuitive to put cards back into the opponent’s deck, but the disruption aspect late in the game can be super powerful. If you combine an Iono to one or two cards with a Counter Catcher, it can be very hard to draw out of, especially since we’ve been depleting our opponent’s resources throughout the game. If we are able to stick our opponent with a bad hand and a bad Pokemon in the Active Spot, then we can mill uninterrupted.

Items

We have a full four copies of [card name=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”182″ c=”name”][/card] to help us find an Ancient Supporter every turn. It is crucial that we play one every turn so we can keep using Land Collapse for four, and since we can only play eight copies of Ancient Supporters right now, Pokegear is the next-best thing. To go alongside Pokegear, we have two copies of [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”172″ c=”name”][/card]. Between using, prizing, and discarding with Explorer’s Guidance, we can run low on Ancient Supporters as we progress to the late game, so Pal Pad is an easy way to replenish them and ensure we can stream them every turn.

There are three copies of [card name=”Trekking Shoes” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] in this list to help consistency, but these can probably be cut if we want to play more tech cards. There are also a full four copies of [card name=”Earthen Vessel” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card], which are just here to enable Concealed Cards with Radiant Greninja and Professor Sada’s Vitality as early as possible. Four might be a bit overkill, but it helps get the deck going in the early game!

Four [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] helps us find our Pokemon early, especially the Radiant Greninja. The [card name=”Hisuian Heavy Ball” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”146″ c=”name”][/card] helps fish out a Pokemon that finds its way into the Prize cards. There are two copies of Super Rod to recover our Pokemon and Energy if we need to. Two copies has felt sufficient to me.

[cardimg name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”120″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Finally, this list has three copies of Counter Catcher. In my opinion, this should always be four. Counter Catcher is so crucial to buy time for additional Land Collapses. Gusting up Pokemon that can’t attack forces your opponent to continually find ways to switch, burning resources and forcing them to dig deeper into their deck. Since we don’t take Prizes with this deck most of the time, we will almost always be losing. Counter Catcher should be online for a minimum of five turns most games. Ideally, we find a way to gust every time our opponent has a Pokemon in the Active Spot capable of Knocking Out Great Tusk.

An interesting card to consider is [card name=”Hand Trimmer” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”150″ c=”name”][/card]. If your opponent builds up a big hand, you can use this to force them to discard until they have five. This is mainly important for weakening Iono in the late game. If you time it right, you can severely limit how many cards your opponent gets to put back into their deck. One problem I have with the card is that it forces both players to discard, and I’ve found Great Tusk usually has a large hand size and discarding resources is less than ideal. For now, I don’t have this card in my build, but it is something to consider.

Tools

Tools help increase Great Tusk’s HP. While 140 HP isn’t trivial, it isn’t very difficult for most decks to Knock Out. This list plays three Bravery Charm, an [card name=”Ancient Booster Energy Capsule” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card], and a [card name=”Hero’s Cape” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”152″ c=”name”][/card] to help keep our Pokemon alive. Every turn our opponent doesn’t take a Prize card is another turn we get to mill four cards, so getting one of these Tools down every time we attack is super important. Most decks besides Charizard ex aren’t playing Lost Vacuum, so we should be able to have our Tools stay in play. This deck takes advantage of [card name=”Hero’s Cape” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”152″ c=”name”][/card] the best, in my opinion. A 240-HP Great Tusk is not easy to Knock Out, and it hopefully buys us a turn whenever it comes down.

There are also two copies of Rescue Board to help retreat into Great Tusk when we don’t start with it, and to provide a pivot throughout the game.

Stadiums

This list runs three copies of [card name=”Artazon” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card]. I think the card is pretty strong, helping us at all stages of the game. The downside of it in most decks is that it helps the opponent get set up, but with this deck, we want our opponent to put extra Pokemon into play, so the benefit of the Stadium is pretty one-sided.

Another Stadium I think is super strong in this deck is [card name=”Calamitous Wasteland” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”175″ c=”name”][/card]. I went over earlier how strong gust is in this deck, and by increasing our opponent’s Retreat Cost, we make it even harder for them to stream attacks. Every time our opponent has to finish their turn without an attack, that’s one step closer to victory. Calamitous Wasteland is also super strong in the early game if our opponent starts with a Pokemon they don’t intend to attack with. They might be able to play around it, but if it makes them waste even one turn a game, then it carries its weight. With [card name=”Path to the Peak” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card] lost to rotation, a lot of decks are lowering Stadium counts, so it won’t be uncommon for this one to stick around the whole game once you play it.

We could also consider [card name=”Town Store” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”196″ c=”name”][/card] to help us fish out our Tool cards, but I haven’t had too many issues drawing into them throughout the game. I think the other Stadiums are stronger for now.

Energy

This list packs four Double Turbo Energy, four Fighting Energy, and two Psychic Energy. Double Turbo lets us use Land Collapse for a single attachment, which is important for pulling off an attack early in the game. It’s also strong into the late game, but normally by then we’ve used Professor Sada’s Vitality and can use single-Energy attachments. Double Turbo also lets us use Great Tusk’s second attack more easily in situations where we need to take out a threat.

I’m of the opinion that the Psychic Energy aren’t really necessary. They enable you to use Mimikyu’s Ghost Eye attack, but I think having the option to use Donphan’s second attack more consistently is more important. Maybe keep one in the list, but I’d prioritize Fighting Energy.

As mentioned earlier, we can run any type of Basic Energy in this deck. For now, there aren’t a lot of attacking Pokemon to add, but as new cards come out, keep them in mind!

An Energy card I think should be staple to Great Tusk is [card name=”Jet Energy” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”190″ c=”name”][/card]. It greatly increases our chances of attacking turn one when we don’t start Great Tusk. All we need is a Professor Sada’s Vitality and the Jet Energy to pull off the turn-one Land Collapse! Great Tusk also has a Retreat Cost of three, so if we want to pivot to our Mimikyu, a Jet Energy enables it much more easily. In a pinch, it can also enable Comfey to pull off a Flower Selecting.

My List

[decklist name=”Ciaran’s Great Tusk” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Pidgeot V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”137″][pokemon amt=”9″]4x [card name=”Great Tusk” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Mawile” set=”Lost Origin” no=”71″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mimikyu” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Comfey” set=”Lost Origin” no=”79″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Radiant Greninja” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”46″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Pidgeot V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”40″]4x [card name=”Professor Sada’s Vitality” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”239″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Explorer’s Guidance” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”147″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Eri” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”210″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”182″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”132″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”123″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Hisuian Heavy Ball” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”146″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”91″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Earthen Vessel” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”149″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Bravery Charm” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”173″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Rescue Board” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”159″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Hero’s Cape” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”152″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Calamitous Wasteland” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”175″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Artazon” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”11″]4x [card name=”Double Turbo Energy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”151″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Jet Energy” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”190″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Fighting Energy” set=”EX Emerald” no=”106″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Psychic Energy” set=”EX Emerald” no=”105″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/energy][/decklist]This is where my 60 currently sits. I constructed this based on my initial games with the deck, and by researching other builds being played in Japan. Hopefully it came across during the article how much I value gusting with this deck. I’ve included Mawile and two copies of Calamitous Wasteland to help enable this strategy. I also kept the Comfey package for now, as it’s a pretty low-maintenance draw engine to set up, but if I want to find more tech space in the future, it might get cut.

I considered Erika’s Invitation, but I haven’t found it necessary. A lot of decks will put gust targets into play for you, or they might just start with something bad. They can also do the Ultra Ball play I described earlier to play around the card.

I’ve included one copy of Iono. I discussed the rationale above — it helps us buy time in the late game. I’m not 100% sure this needs to be in the deck, but I’ve liked it so far.

I included two copies of Jet Energy to help pull off the turn-one attack more consistently, and to get Mawile into the Active Spot when needed. I decided to keep one Psychic Energy, but I don’t feel super strongly about it. I also cut the Ancient Booster Energy Capsule since I’ve found the extra 10 HP to be extremely marginal. It only really comes up against Charizard ex that play [card name=”Vitality Band” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”197″ c=”name”][/card] (almost none), against [card name=”Gardevoir ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card] (not really meta), and in niche scenarios against Roaring Moon. I’d rather stick with Bravery Charm since it can be used on any of my Pokemon.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with this list. It executes the strategy consistently and has a couple tricks up its sleeve with Mimikyu and Mawile. I think there’s room for innovation, but this is a good starting point for your testing.

What Does a Good Meta Look Like For Great Tusk?

[cardimg name=”Baxcalibur” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”130″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Great Tusk will thrive in metagames that have slower decks and/or decks that rely on setup Pokemon, such as [card name=”Bibarel” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] or Baxcalibur. Any deck that requires some setup usually isn’t attacking right away, which gives Great Tusk the chance to pull of multiple Land Collapses before the opponent can even take a Prize card.

One of the great things about this deck is that every time you attack, you have the chance to mill high-impact cards. Over the course of a game, you will hit strong resources, be they switching cards, recovery cards, Supporters, or key Pokemon. It is important that you keep track of what’s hitting your opponent’s discard and adjust your strategy accordingly! One tip I can give is to familiarize yourself with the most common deck lists of meta archetypes. You should do this in general, but it is of heightened importance with this type of deck. If you have a rough idea of what outs your opponent might be playing, you can make educated guesses on what they’re capable of every turn.

A poor metagame for Great Tusk is any in which there are fast-attacking low-maintenance decks. Cards like [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card] are great at dealing with Great Tusk, since they can take Knock Outs quickly and with little setup. Decks like these put you on a clock, and you have to find ways to disrupt them before they take six Prizes in no time flat.

General Tips and Closing Thoughts

Before I close out the article, I thought I’d give some general plays to look out for. One thing I wanted to point out is that you don’t always need to put two Energy into play with Professor Sada’s Vitality. If you only have two Energy cards in the discard and you have multiple copies of Professor Sada’s Vitality, it might make sense to leave one in the discard so you can use Sada again the following turn. It’s fairly easy to power up Great Tusk, so I normally find it advantageous to leave some flexibility.

Another thing is to keep count of your opponent’s deck and hand at all times. Obviously we need to track how many cards are in their deck, since it’s our win condition, but our opponent’s hand is an important resource for them. Iono will be important late-game for our opponent to put cards back into their deck, and it scales as they take Prize cards. Ideally, you can keep a rough idea of how many turns it will take you to win the game through milling. You can also get even more advanced and start counting what resources would need to be played to keep countering your moves. Things like “My opponent needs to play X switch cards or X Lost Vacuum to take Prizes.” By doing this, you can keep a better count of how many cards you will have to go through to win the game.

Great Tusk is one of the more unique decks we’ve had in a long time, and I think it’s really fun to play (not against, though!). I’m not sure the deck will be able to break into Tier 1, but I think it will have its place in the meta. It’s also a deck to keep your eye on as new disruption tools get introduced in new sets. Moreover, it’s an archetype that can always be explored further. Maybe a pseudo build that focuses more on control elements could see success. It’s a deck I will continue to experiment with, and I hope you’re inspired to try it out, too. Let me know in the comments what you think of Great Tusk! Best of luck in all your games, and hopefully I’ll be back writing for you again soon!

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