Winning by Doing Nothing — Snorlax Stall for Vancouver and Beyond

Hello PokeBeach readers! Isaiah here, and I am happy to be writing another article for you all. Last time, I discussed one of my favorite decks in the current format, [card name=”Banette ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card], and its prospects before rotation. Following the Goiania Regional Championships in Brazil this past weekend, my position on this deck and where it lies in the format remain largely unchanged. I still believe that the deck is pretty strong for the Vancouver Regional Championship, and it’s super fun, too. I recommend trying it for a League Cup if you’re concerned about playing it for a Regional Championship.

As expected, Banette ex had no results in Goiania, but I don’t think this makes the deck bad — it’s just unpopular and probably had a zero-percent play rate. Aside from that, the results from Goiania were all over the place. The decks in Top 16 were fairly normal, with a healthy mix of the current meta, but in Top 8, the breakdown was bizarre. Two [card name=”Roaring Moon ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card], a [card name=”Gardevoir ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card], and an [card name=”Entei V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”22″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Iron Valiant ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card] all lost in Top 8, which is not too crazy, but in Top 4, we see that [card name=”Klawf” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] finally got its first Top 8-or-better at a major event, which is a remarkable feat considering how mediocre the deck typically is in Day 2. The other deck in Top 4 was a simple [card name=”Chien-Pao ex” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”61″ c=”name”][/card] deck, which is not too much of a standout, though I do think its success is a continuation in a chain of spike results from an archetype that hasn’t put up many huge results until recently. The main thing I want to talk about today, however, is the Goiania finals match, where an [card name=”Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] ultimately lost to [card name=”Snorlax” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Pidgeot ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card].

After months of the pure version of Snorlax seeming like the better version, Pidgeot ex managed to swoop in at the very end of the format to finally claim a Regional Championships win — and honestly, I’m somewhat surprised. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love this version of Snorlax, and I am ecstatic that it finally won an event. But after months of trying to make the deck work reliably myself, I had written off this variant as unplayable. It struggled way too much with [card name=”Giratina VSTAR” set=”Lost Origin” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card], and with that deck in the middle of its rapid ascension to the top of the Paradox Rift format, it seemed like Pidgeot ex was doomed. The deck still saw some amount of success, but with so much working against it, it was unable to produce the big win I felt it was capable of.

That is, until Marco Cifuentes had a pretty perfect run with the deck, dodging many of its most difficult matchups and even squeaking out a win against a Giratina VSTAR player. Overall, I think that Marco’s list is pretty much perfect, so it’s going to be the focal point of this article.

Marco Cifuentes’s Pidgeot ex Control

[cardimg name=”Pidgeot ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”225″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

In reality, “Pidgeot ex Control” is probably a more applicable name for this deck than “Snorlax Stall,” as it only includes one copy of Snorlax, but it does use Snorlax in enough of its game plans that the names are at least interchangeable. Deviating from the classic Block-and-pass strategy for much of the early game, this deck spends most of each game building up a huge hand and ripping cards out of the opponent’s hand with [card name=”Luxray V” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card]. Eventually, once the time comes, the deck pivots into a Block strategy, slowly running the opponent out of ways to attack if Block does not win the game outright.

The addition of Pidgeot ex is what makes this deck tick, though, since it makes it far less reliant on [card name=”Rotom V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card]. This means that the deck is much less vulnerable to [card name=”Spiritomb” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card] techs, which can otherwise sometimes cripple the pure version. However, as I alluded to earlier, while Pidgeot ex is this deck’s biggest strength, it is also its biggest weakness, especially when facing Giratina VSTAR. This is where [card name=”Radiant Charizard” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”11″ c=”name”][/card] comes in, offering an efficient response once it gets moving. While Radiant Charizard is far from perfect, it is remarkably effective at handling the Giratina VSTAR problem while also doing substantial work to smooth out other matchups, too.

Pretty much every card in this deck serves a significant purpose, which allows it to be one of the most versatile decks in the game. However, this also causes some space and consistency issues from time to time, which are ultimately two of the deck’s biggest problems other than the Giratina VSTAR matchup.

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Deck List

[decklist name=”pidg” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Pidgeot ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”164″][pokemon amt=”12″]2x [card name=”Pidgeot ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”164″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Pidgey” set=”151″ no=”16″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Snorlax” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”55″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Luxray V” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”50″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Rotom V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”58″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Radiant Charizard” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”11″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Chi-Yu ex” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”40″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mimikyu” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Spiritomb” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”89″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mawile” set=”Lost Origin” no=”71″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”44″]4x [card name=”Arven” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”166″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Penny” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”183″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Erika’s Invitation” set=”151″ no=”160″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Miss Fortune Sisters” set=”Lost Origin” no=”164″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Klara” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”145″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Cyllene” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”138″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Sidney” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”241″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Giacomo” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”182″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Cheryl” set=”Battle Styles” no=”123″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Peonia” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”149″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]3x [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”182″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”160″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”181″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”191″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”186″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Battle VIP Pass” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”225″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”196″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Hisuian Heavy Ball” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”146″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Switch Cart” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Lost Vacuum” set=”Lost Origin” no=”162″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Bravery Charm” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”173″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Forest Seal Stone” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Defiance Vest” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”162″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Defiance Band” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Stormy Mountains” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”161″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Artazon” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Magma Basin” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”144″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”4″]2x [card name=”Double Turbo Energy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”151″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Fire Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”116″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

Card Inclusions

As you can probably tell, this deck plays a ton of one-of cards, but each of these cards has a uniquely important purpose, allowing the deck to feasibly access every win condition in the game, and often in more ways than one. As a result, examining cards on their own is not nearly as useful as examining cards in packages that contribute to the same goal.

Retreat Lock Package

Naturally, Snorlax and [card name=”Mawile” set=”Lost Origin” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card] are the core of how this deck wins a game. Pretty much every play you make in most matchups is done with the sole intention of trapping a Pokemon that the opponent cannot use in their Active Spot.

This is done most easily against a deck like [card name=”Charizard ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] that has a bunch of Pokemon that are easy to trap, such as Rotom V and [card name=”Mew” set=”Celebrations” no=”11″ c=”name”][/card]. It gets a bit more complex against a deck like [card name=”Gardevoir ex” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”29″ c=”name”][/card], which is pretty good at limiting its Bench solely to things that can attack, and, if they do have to put something like [card name=”Radiant Greninja” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”46″ c=”name”][/card] into play, they can often also play [card name=”Professor Turo’s Scenario” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card] to keep you from trapping it. Situations like this are where [card name=”Luxray V” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Miss Fortune Sisters” set=”Lost Origin” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card] are especially valuable, as they help you run your opponent out of methods to move the Pokemon you have chosen to trap. Usually, you focus on using these cards in the early game and only switch to the trapping strategy in the later stages of the game, once you know that the trap will stick.

[card name=”Erika’s Invitation” set=”151″ no=”160″ c=”name”][/card] is also a huge component of the locking package. If the opponent is intelligent, they will elect not to place something like Rotom V or Radiant Greninja on their Bench, because they understand that doing so can lose them the game. Erika’s Invitation is important as a way to force them to bench a card like this against their will, and it also gets you knowledge of their hand, which is extremely valuable.

Sometimes, you can run the opponent out of Energy just by spamming Counter Catcher and Boss’s Orders alongside Fang Snipe throughout the game. In these cases, an important strategy to keep in mind is that Fang Snipe does zero damage when you have two Double Turbo Energy attached to Luxray V, meaning that you can rip Trainers out of their hand and not risk Knocking Out their Active Pokemon.

Radiant Charizard Package

[cardimg name=”Radiant Charizard” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”11″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

This package was first suggested by Hale Obernolte at the Portland Regional Championships as a way to potentially stand up to Giratina VSTAR. Once the opponent has taken three Prize cards, you can pivot from being an annoying control deck to being an aggressive Radiant Charizard deck, similar to how Piper Lepine used Radiant Charizard with [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card] way back at the 2022 Baltimore Regional Championships. Putting down Radiant Charizard ex, attaching a [card name=”Defiance Band” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card], and blowing up a Giratina VSTAR sets the opponent back significantly, possibly putting them in a position where they will struggle to respond, especially if you can pair it with an [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”name”][/card].

If they fail to respond, a [card name=”Switch Cart” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] and a Counter Catcher will allow you to blow up the next Giratina V or VSTAR, and doing this realistically puts the opponent so far behind that they can’t come back. Even if they do restabilize, [card name=”Klara” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card] lets us recover our Radiant Charizard, and if Counter Catcher is live, or if we are able to wait a turn before playing a Boss’s Orders, we can easily Knock Out another Giratina V or VSTAR.

Radiant Charizard also offers a solution to the Roaring Moon ex matchup, which can otherwise be difficult, by doing the exact same thing. It is an attacker worth one Prize card that easily can take two and be paired with an Iono, which is enough against pretty much any deck in the game.

The inclusion of Fire Energy is a bit annoying, as it makes it so you can’t play [card name=”Crabominable V” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card], but fortunately, [card name=”Chi-Yu ex” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] exists as a way to discard cards off the top of the deck for Fire Energy. While this is not important for Radiant Charizard plays, it fits in the with the Fire Energy part of the package.

The Pokemon Tool Cards

I already touched on the importance of Defiance Band as a way to reach numbers with Radiant Charizard, but that’s just one of the many Pokemon Tool cards in this deck. [card name=”Forest Seal Stone” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] has become an absolute staple of the format, thanks to [card name=”Arven” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”166″ c=”name”][/card]. In this deck, it is especially important, as it’s the easiest way to find Pidgeot ex. In a way, it allows you to turn your Forest Seal Stone into free access to a card of your choice every turn, rather than a hard once-per-game.

The other two Pokemon Tools in this deck are [card name=”Bravery Charm” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”173″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Defiance Vest” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”162″ c=”name”][/card], which both contribute to the important goal of staying alive. While Snorlax has a lot of HP in comparison to most Basic Pokemon, it’s not a lot of HP in this format. Pushing it up to 200 HP is a huge difference! Defiance Vest is the more important card in my opinion, though, as it works much more effectively over multiple turns. For example, if you are Block-trapping a [card name=”Bibarel” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] against a Chien-Pao ex deck, Defiance Vest makes it so they need to hit Tail Smash four times instead of just two, which is a massive difference. On average, the opponent will need to attack with that Bibarel eight times instead of four, which is huge, especially if you can throw in a [card name=”Penny” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card] at some point. Additionally, Defiance Vest is useful when attached to Pidgeot ex because it allows it to survive a Lost Impact, which makes the game astronomically harder for the opponent when you can play a [card name=”Cheryl” set=”Battle Styles” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] to heal it off completely.

The Resource Loop

It’s crazy that way back in 2022, with Sander Wojcik’s [card name=”Mewtwo V-UNION” set=”Sword and Shield Black Star Promos” no=”SWSH159 ” c=”name”][/card] deck, we were talking about the same resource loop we’re still using in 2024, and will likely still be using into 2025. While this specific list doesn’t play [card name=”Team Yell’s Cheer” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”149″ c=”name”][/card], the core idea of [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”182″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Cyllene” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] to keep resources in the deck has remained a staple of control strategies as long as it has been legal. These two cards coupled together allow you to have a pseudo-infinite number of cards in the deck, and access to limitless Supporter cards while you slowly work to run the opponent out of resources. Despite the importance all the other groups of cards in this deck, I am confident that the deck would not exist if it were not for Cyllene and Pal Pad together.

Block Snorlax Going Forward

At the start of April, rotation will finally be upon us, and with it, a new era for Block Snorlax. The departure of [card name=”Peonia” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”149″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Echoing Horn” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card] will prove significant, dramatically reducing the deck’s flexibility in some matchups. But, on the flip side, the loss of [card name=”Path to the Peak” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card] makes Giratina VSTAR much weaker, the loss of [card name=”Gardevoir” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”61″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Level Ball” set=”Battle Styles” no=”129″ c=”name”][/card] all but kills off Gardevoir ex decks as we know them, and [card name=”Mew VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] finally leaves the format, reducing the level of Spiritomb in the meta.

Snorlax will then have many more good matchups, and the bad matchups will get less popular, and that’s without even mentioning the new cards Snorlax gets access to. [card name=”Eri” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”146″ c=”name”][/card] is the big standout newcomer, offering a way to rip Items out of the opponent’s hand without having to use something like Luxray V. This will make the game much smoother, especially since we’re losing Cheryl and Klara, effectively killing off any chance of the Pidgeot ex version continuing to be played. ACE SPECs are also a huge deal for Block Snorlax strategies, with both [card name=”Hero’s Cape” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”152″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Prime Catcher” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”157″ c=”name”][/card] being potentially useful. (Granted, Hero’s Cape is seeing considerably more play in the main archetype in Japan right now.) Prime Catcher’s existence also poses a possible threat to Block Snorlax, as it offers another way to switch provided that the Snorlax player has a second Pokemon in play, but just one way to switch is not realistically going to make a difference, so I do not expect this to be a particularly big issue.

I think Block Snorlax’s most glaring flaw at the moment is that [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card] has started to make a comeback, and with four [card name=”Jet Energy” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”190″ c=”name”][/card], it’s going to be pretty hard to trap anything without them easily escaping and taking a Knock Out. Even if you do trap something like an [card name=”Archeops” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card], it still does a lot of damage to a Snorlax, which will make the matchup pretty difficult to win. Even still, with so many changes to the card pool, Block Snorlax is showing a lot of promise in the Temporal Forces format, and — as we have already started to see in Japan, where it achieved three of the Top 16 spots at Champions League Fukuoka — the deck is certainly going to be at the top of the metagame.

Conclusion

The introduction of Counter Catcher allowed Snorlax-based control strategies to soar to a level I never expected. I remember when the rotation to the current E-block format happened, I messed around with a goofy Snorlax deck with something like four [card name=”Cross Switcher” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”230″ c=”name”][/card] and four [card name=”Pokémon Catcher” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”187″ c=”name”][/card], which was ultimately pretty bad — I scrapped it before the Europe International Championships even happened. Now, the deck has transformed into a behemoth of a control deck, with a variety of win conditions against almost every deck that exists in the current format.

In the final weeks of the current format, before we enter the world of Temporal Forces, I imagine this deck will make a big splash at the Vancouver Regional Championships as people try to take advantage of unprepared players. Once we finally do move into the Temporal Forces format, though, be prepared for Snorlax to take a stranglehold on deck-building — it might remind us of 2018 and 2019, where people were basically forced to play [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] as a way to try and survive a long game. Block Snorlax is certainly here to stay.

With that, this article draws to a close. As always, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to leave a comment, or reach out to me on social media. Until next time!

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