Snorlax Stall for EUIC and Beyond

Hello again everyone! The European International Championships are fast approaching, and the Temporal Forces metagame is rapidly evolving. Many players have been complaining about a high prevalence of [card name=”Snorlax” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] Stall at the top end of the Pokemon TCG Live ladder, so I decided to try it out! The deck feels similar to the previous format in the way it operates: you trap something that can’t attack in the opposing Active Spot and prevent it from retreating with Snorlax’s Block ability, then wait for your opponent to deck out. A dedicated retreat lock deck has never been a top contender before, so this is new for the Pokemon TCG!

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

On the surface, this deck seems easy to defeat. After all, you can just avoid putting non-attackers into play. However, the Snorlax deck has access to [card name=”Erika’s Invitation” set=”151″ no=”160″ c=”name”][/card], which can pull Basic Pokemon out of the opponent’s hand and put them into their Active Spot. Even without Erika’s Invitation, the Snorlax Stall deck plays four copies of [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card], which will be active for most of the game as Snorlax never intends to take early Prize cards. The Snorlax deck plays very few Energy cards, so you have tons of space to play specific answer cards. [card name=”Mimikyu” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] is one — even if a deck has an answer to Mimikyu, they are often unable to KO it in one attack, so you can gain time by promoting it.

Your main draw engine in this deck is [card name=”Rotom V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card]; as you usually never attack, you can end every turn with Instant Charge. While three cards at a time doesn’t seem like a lot, you quickly amass a massive hand and get close to the bottom of your deck. Once this happens, you have two copies of [card name=”Cyllene” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card], two copies of [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”172″ c=”name”][/card], and one copy of [card name=”Team Yell’s Cheer” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”149″ c=”name”][/card] to slowly loop your Supporters over and over again. Every time you hit a heads on a Cyllene, you can recover a Pal Pad, which recovers two more Cyllene. This loop can fail, but it involves flipping double tails on Cyllene multiple times in a row and is made very unlikely by the inclusion of the second Cyllene and Team Yell’s Cheer. Since you have no access to your Prize cards now thanks to the rotation of [card name=”Peonia” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”149″ c=”name”][/card], you also have a [card name=”Pidgeot V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card], which will prevent you from ever decking out. If you have a Cyllene in the Prizes, your loop has the potential to fail with just four tails in a row, which is relatively likely given the amount you will be using Cyllene.

This deck got a huge boost from Temporal Forces with the introduction of [card name=”Eri” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”146″ c=”name”][/card], which looks at your opponent’s hand and lets you discard up to two Item cards from it. This is incredibly strong in this type of deck, as it lets us strip the opponent’s switching cards from their hand before they use them. Knowing the opponent’s hand is also very important for this deck, as we can use it to time our Erika’s Invitation properly.

Sometimes, opponents will discard their entire hand with multiple [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] and just set up one attacker, but we can play an [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”name”][/card] in this situation to force them to draw more cards, setting up either an Eri or an Erika’s Invitation for the following turn. We also use [card name=”Arven” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”186″ c=”name”][/card] as a setup engine since it lets us find a [card name=”Forest Seal Stone” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] and a Nest Ball for a Rotom V. There are also other useful Tools we can get with Arven later in the game, like Bravery Charm and [card name=”Hero’s Cape” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”152″ c=”name”][/card] to make Snorlax more difficult to Knock Out. There are a ton of variations in the archetype, and I’ll take this article to go over what I have found to be most preferable!

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[decklist name=”Snorlax Stall” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Chi-Yu ex” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”40″][pokemon amt=”8″]4x [card name=”Snorlax” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”55″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Rotom V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”58″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Pidgeot V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mimikyu” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”37″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Chi-Yu ex” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”40″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”49″]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]3x [card name=”Eri” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”146″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Erika’s Invitation” set=”151″ no=”160″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Giacomo” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”252″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Cyllene” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”138″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Team Yell Grunt” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”184″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Miss Fortune Sisters” set=”Lost Origin” no=”164″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Hero’s Cape” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”152″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Defiance Vest” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”162″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Bravery Charm” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”173″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Technical Machine: Devolution” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”177″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Forest Seal Stone” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” 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=”Super Rod” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”149″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”132″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”186″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”160″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”181″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Temple of Sinnoh” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”155″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Artazon” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”3″]1x [card name=”Psychic Energy” set=”Call of Legends” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Fire Energy” set=”EX Ruby and Sapphire” no=”108″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

Chi-Yu ex

Many Snorlax Stall decks in the post-rotation format have been playing a copy of [card name=”Chi-Yu ex” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] for the mirror match. Since your opponent is unable to KO any of your Pokemon, having a way to discard cards from their deck is important. If both players play Chi-Yu ex, then the game becomes a milling race, so getting the first use of Jealously Singe is very important. We play two copies of Fire Energy as well as a Switch Cart to facilitate using Chi-Yu ex as early as possible. In certain situations, if you’re far enough behind in the Jealously Singe race, you might also use Flame Surge to build up a KO on their Chi-Yu ex.

Technical Machine: Devolution

[cardimg name=”Gengar” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”57″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

[card name=”Technical Machine: Devolution” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”177″ c=”name”][/card] is an interesting tech, but it’s mainly included in this deck as an answer for [card name=”Charizard ex” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card] decks playing [card name=”Gengar” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]. Gengar’s Night Gate Ability gives your opponent the option to switch their Active Pokemon with one of their Benched Pokemon, making your retreat lock strategy impossible. Many players use Rare Candy to get their Gengar into play, so if you manage to discard the rest of their Rare Candy with Eri or [card name=”Miss Fortune Sisters” set=”Lost Origin” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card], then put the Gengar back into their hand with Devolution, you can effectively cut off their use of Night Gate for the rest of the game. Devolution also removes their Charizard ex and their [card name=”Pidgeot ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card], which is a useful bonus. Technical Machine: Devolution also gives this deck a solid game plan against any Stage 2 deck, especially [card name=”Chien-Pao ex” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”61″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Chien-Pao” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] and the Pidgeot ex version of Snorlax Stall. Using Eri and Miss Fortune Sisters to run them out of Rare Candy and then using Devolution to remove access to their Stage 2 Pokemon is almost always a solid strategy, and can often catch opponents by surprise.

Three Temple of Sinnoh, Two Giacomo

The [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card] matchup is very difficult for Snorlax Stall since they have so many Energy cards to work with, including four copies of [card name=”Jet Energy” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”190″ c=”name”][/card]. While this matchup is still difficult even with the techs, playing three copies of [card name=”Temple of Sinnoh” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card] and two [card name=”Giacomo” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”182″ c=”name”][/card] gives you an opportunity to win it. Giacomo discards a Special Energy from each of your opponent’s Pokemon, which is really useful in the Lugia matchup. You can continually bring up new Pokemon with Counter Catcher and force your opponent to attack with them, thereby spreading Energy around their board. Most Lugia VSTAR lists typically play 17 Energy, so discarding as many of them as possible with Giacomo is important. Temple of Sinnoh is also crucial to this strategy, as you turn both Jet Energy and [card name=”Double Turbo Energy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”151″ c=”name”][/card] into regular Colorless Energy, limiting your opponent’s ability to be efficient with their attachments.

This matchup is part of the reason why I’m playing the quad Snorlax version of the deck without Pidgeot ex, as you can easily get to a board with only Snorlax in play. This prevents your opponent from using Boss’s Orders on your Benched Pokemon to break the retreat lock. If you don’t manage to scam a [card name=”Lumineon V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] into play, it’s likely that you will need to trap an [card name=”Archeops” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card] in the Active Spot while slowly running them out of Energy with Giacomo. Temple of Sinnoh is also helpful against any other deck playing Jet Energy, namely Lost Zone [card name=”Giratina VSTAR” set=”Lost Origin” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card], as you can shut off one of their main switching options.

One Psychic Energy

Psychic Energy feels like a weird inclusion in this deck, but it has a specific purpose: Mimikyu’s Ghost Eye attack. This attack is very niche, as it doesn’t even answer the most popular counter to Mimikyu, Flare Veil [card name=”Charmeleon” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”8″ c=”name”][/card]. However, what you do answer is [card name=”Skwovet” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”151″ c=”name”][/card]. Many decks that use the [card name=”Bibarel” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] engine also play a copy of Skwovet to break up their clunky hands and draw fresh new hands with Industrious Incisors. However, Skwovet serves a dual purpose against Snorlax Stall, as its Nest Stash Ability prevents its user from ever decking out. You have no way to actively mill your opponent outside of Chi-Yu ex’s Jealousy Singe, and you can’t use that because it lets your opponent retreat their Active Pokemon to take the Knock Out on your Chi-Yu. You can’t mill your opponent with just Supporter cards while leaving Snorlax in the Active Spot, so normally Skwovet makes the game a 0–0 draw.

This is where the Psychic Energy comes in. You do have access to your opponent’s Items with Eri and Miss Fortune Sisters, so you can discard all of their copies of [card name=”Super Rod” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”149″ c=”name”][/card], then use Mimikyu to take the KO on their Skwovet. You have the time to check their whole deck with Miss Fortune Sisters and Eri, so you can guarantee that when you KO the Skwovet, it will never come back. I contemplated including a [card name=”Lost City” set=”Lost Origin” no=”161″ c=”name”][/card] to send it to the Lost Zone, but with Eri and Miss Fortune Sisters, you really don’t need it. Once you have taken the KO on the Skwovet, you can simply go back to trapping some Pokemon in the Active Spot and waiting for your opponent to deck out. This is mostly useful against Charizard ex / Bibarel and [card name=”Arceus VSTAR” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] / Giratina VSTAR.

The reason I went for the one-Psychic-two-Fire Energy split is because it lets you prize one Energy and still KO the Skwovet. If you prize the Psychic, you can attach two Fire to Chi-Yu ex and use Flame Surge to KO Skwovet. If you prize either Fire, you can still use Ghost Eye, and it’s preferable to attack with Mimikyu over Chi-Yu where possible.

One Defiance Vest, One Bravery Charm

[cardimg name=”Defiance Vest” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”162″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

There are a ton of options for defensive Tools in this deck, but I decided to go with a split of Bravery Charm and [card name=”Defiance Vest” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”162″ c=”name”][/card], plus the ACE SPEC Hero’s Cape. Bravery Charm is nice in the early game to give your Pokemon more HP, but Defiance Vest is an overall stronger card if your opponent has to use multiple attacks to KO your Snorlax. Sometimes, you don’t have the opportunity to trap a Pokemon that can’t attack, but with Defiance Vest, you can prevent at least some Pokemon from dealing meaningful damage to you. The new [card name=”Miraidon” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] from Temporal Forces comes to mind as an example of this. Its Peak Acceleration attack does 40 damage, usually increased by [card name=”Iron Crown ex” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”81″ c=”name”][/card]’s Cobalt Command Ability. If you trap a Miraidon that’s using Peak Acceleration for 80 damage, this is reduced by 40 with Defiance Vest. This means your opponent takes a four-hit KO on your Snorlax, which gives you ample time to use the Cyllene loop to recover a [card name=”Penny” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card] and heal your Snorlax once it gets to 120 damage. You can also use Defiance Vest to move an Archeops with a Double Turbo Energy attached from a two-hit KO to a three-hit KO on a Snorlax. Defiance Vest is a great way to solidify a win for Snorlax, and I think it’s absolutely worth the inclusion in this format.

Matchups

Instead of going through all of the matchups one by one, I will instead go through some of the common play patterns and important card inclusions that other decks have. I have already spoken a bit about several matchups, but it’s also important to keep all their standard card counts in mind, above and beyond their main attackers and resources.

Lost Zone Giratina VSTAR

• Four Switch Cart
• Three Jet Energy
• One [card name=”Prime Catcher” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”157″ c=”name”][/card]
• One Artazon
• One Lost Vacuum

The switching cards are obviously important for any matchup, but it’s also important to think about their Stadium bumps in this one. Because you have Temple of Sinnoh to shut off Jet Energy, it’s important to keep their typical Stadium counts in mind. One line you can go for is to have just one Snorlax in play, as this prevents your opponent from using Prime Catcher. Erika’s Invitation is one of your best cards in this matchup, so it’s also important to keep Iono in mind. If your opponent doesn’t have a Basic Pokemon in hand and is not drawing cards, you can use Iono to force them to draw more cards.

Turbo Iron Hands

• One Prime Catcher
• Two Psychic Energy

The most relevant cards in Turbo [card name=”Iron Hands ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card] are Prime Catcher and their two copies of Psychic Energy. Their count of Psychic Energy is important because that’s their only way to use Miraidon’s Sparking Spike and Iron Crown’s Twin Shotels. Because of this, when they use the second Psychic Energy, you can bring up an extra Iron Crown ex and trap it in the Active Spot forever. You can even use the same line you use against Giratina VSTAR: a lone Snorlax to prevent your opponent from playing Prime Catcher.

Lugia VSTAR

• 17 Energy
• Four Jet Energy
• Four Double Turbo Energy
• Two Stadium cards
• One [card name=”Master Ball” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”153″ c=”name”][/card]

Keeping the typical counts of Lugia VSTAR in mind is very important. Most Lugia VSTAR decks play Master Ball, so you don’t have to worry about Prime Catcher. Once you outlast their two Stadium cards, you can have confidence that your Temple of Sinnoh will be stuck in play, shutting off their Jet Energy forever. The Energy count is important to keep in mind because it will dictate which Pokemon you can trap in your opponent’s Active Spot. Typically, this will be an Archeops or a Lugia VSTAR that your opponent doesn’t have enough Energy to attack with. You wouldn’t need to have just one Snorlax in play, but doing this can still be a useful strategy to prevent your opponent from retreating with a Boss’s Orders.

Charizard ex

• One Professor Turo’s Scenario

Most Charizard ex lists only play one copy of [card name=”Professor Turo’s Scenario” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card] as their sole switching card. Once you’ve managed to get through the Turo, it’s unlikely that they will have another way to switch their Active Pokemon. I would recommend holding an Erika’s Invitation for the Pokemon that got picked up with Turo, as it has to go back into their hand. If your opponent saves the Turo until they can discard the Pokemon with Ultra Ball, you can use the same Iono trick I mentioned before. If you do end up having to soak a few hits from a Charizard ex, Mimikyu is a great option to buy time.

Conclusion

Snorlax Stall gives you a play experience unlike any other Pokemon TCG deck. Instead of attacking specific recourses or taking Knock Outs, the game boils down to a few crucial cards. Give it a try yourself — you may end up being the infamous control player at your next League Cup!

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