All About the Wall — Milotic ex / Farigiraf ex After Rotation

Hello everyone! Journey Together is here, and with it, the world moves into the new post-rotation format. VSTARs and Vs are finally gone, and with them some of the format’s strongest archetypes. We’ve had a few articles now going over the post-rotation meta as a whole; if you haven’t taken a look at those yet, I strongly recommend doing so, because in today’s article, we’ll be taking on that meta. That is, I’ll be going over an archetype that has established itself as the great anti-meta deck of the format: the triple wall of [card name=”Milotic ex” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”42″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Farigiraf ex ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”108″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card].

This deck is one of my favorites from the new format, and while it doesn’t beat everything, it does sport an impressive matchup spread. Look at the projected post-rotation meta and it becomes apparent why this deck is so dangerous. Simply put, many of the top post-rotation cards can’t damage one or more of this deck’s Pokemon. Milotic ex may not shut out every ex card, but it is invulnerable to [card name=”Dragapult ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Charizard ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card], any Ogerpon ex, [card name=”Terapagos ex” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card], any of the Eeveelutions, [card name=”Pikachu ex” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Ceruledge ex” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card], to name a few. Farigiraf ex walls many of the dangerous Pokemon that Milotic can’t, including [card name=”Raging Bolt ex ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Miraidon ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”81″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”141″ c=”name”][/card]. Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex walls [card name=”Archaludon ex” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Gholdengo ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card], Milotic ex, and many other random Pokemon with Abilities. Between the three of them, these Pokemon can effectively stop an enormous chunk of the meta. If you don’t happen to play one of the few decks that can get around the walls, then you may be looking at a quick loss — or a win if you’re on the right side of the wall!

Interestingly, all of the cards in this deck are ones that were already in the format; not a single one from Journey Together ended up making the list. This deck’s increase in strength comes not from the new set, but rather from the consolidation in the meta that comes as a result of the format rotation. Now that the deck doesn’t have to deal with strong alternate attackers like [card name=”Radiant Charizard” set=”Crown Zenith” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card], or decks like Lost Box or [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”211″ c=”name”][/card] that counter its strategy with varied attackers, it is in a position to do much better.

[cardimg name=”Milotic ex” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”237″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Prior to Champions League Fukuoka, the Milotic ex deck was a common sight at City League tournaments, but I was somewhat surprised to see it do as well as it did at the big event. This isn’t because I lack confidence in the wall deck itself (quite the opposite), but rather because I expected the player base to be more prepared for it. It is an anti-meta deck after all, and you might think that it would be easy enough to play around — just tech in an attacker that can get around your deck’s wall, and you’re good to go. As it turns out, though, it’s not that easy. The fact that the wall deck was able to pick up half of the Top 8 spots at Champions League Fukuoka is an impressive testament to this. The reality of this deck is that even if you know it’s coming, it still isn’t all that easy to beat. One of the things about playing this deck is that it is not some slow, eventually-wear-them-down sort of stall deck. It doesn’t just try to hide behind the walls and hope for the best — rather, it tries to attack quickly itself, to immediately put pressure on the opponent. This makes it much harder to play around, since not only does an opponent have to have some way around the deck’s various protective Abilities, but they also have to be able to quickly utilize it, lest they fall too far behind. A simple one-of tech isn’t going to do the trick here — not when the wall deck can just KO it, and then keep taking Prizes while they try to recover and re-establish it.

Milotic ex / Farigiraf ex does have some bad matchups, and it is possible to build your deck to beat it, but it tends to take a pretty substantial investment in card space to do so. It’s the sort of deck that you’ll definitely want to be aware of, and even if you don’t end up playing it yourself, you will want to make sure you test against it — it’s easy to think that you have an effective game plan against it when in practice that might not be the case. In either case, a list to go off of would certainly help! Here is my current Milotic ex / Farigiraf ex / Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex list:

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[decklist name=”Triple Walls” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Munkidori” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”95″][pokemon amt=”15″]3x [card name=”Milotic ex” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”42″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Feebas” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”41″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Farigiraf ex ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”108″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Girafarig” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”83″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Girafarig ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”66″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”112″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Munkidori” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”95″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”33″]4x [card name=”Arven” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”186″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”80″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Celebrations” no=”23″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Crispin” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”133″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Boss’s Orders (Ghetsis)” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”172″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”186″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”84″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”91″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Buddy-Buddy Poffin ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”144″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Earthen Vessel” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”188″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”160″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Poké Vital A” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”62″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Technical Machine: Evolution” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”178″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Technical Machine: Turbo Energize” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”179″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Counter Gain” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”170″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Rigid Band” set=”151″ no=”165″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Town Store” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”196″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”12″]3x [card name=”Water Energy” set=”Crown Zenith” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Psychic Energy” set=”Crown Zenith” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Fighting Energy” set=”Crown Zenith” no=”157″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Darkness Energy” set=”Crown Zenith” no=”158″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

Decklist Explanation

The deck’s Pokemon are its three walls and good ol’ [card name=”Munkidori” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card]. The Munkidori provides both healing and extra damage output, both of which are quite nice to have. The healing helps bolster the deck’s defensive strategy by adding to the amount of damage the opponent will have to do with any alternate attacker they might have. Munkidori’s damage is particularly good against Budew and against [card name=”Gardevoir ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card] decks, and it can be a non-ex attacker in emergency situations.

[cardimg name=”Arven” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”235″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

[card name=”Arven” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”249″ c=”name”][/card] is this deck’s main consistency Supporter, as it is perfect in the early game for setting up your board. [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Celebrations” no=”23″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”80″ c=”name”][/card] bolster that with some draw support, but Arven will be your Supporter of choice early. It’s important to the point that the list also includes two [card name=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”186″ c=”name”][/card], just to increase your chances of finding it. The four [card name=”Crispin” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”133″ c=”name”][/card] provide this deck with the Energy acceleration it needs to not be slow. With this deck’s varied set of three-Energy attackers, having as many Crispin as possible is also a must.

This deck doesn’t actually play many Item cards; the idea is that you should be able to find the ones you need via Arven, so you don’t need to play a bunch of multiples for consistency. [card name=”Poké Vital A” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”62″ c=”name”][/card] is this deck’s ACE SPEC, though [card name=”Hero’s Cape ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”152″ c=”name”][/card] can also be used. The idea here is that you want to make it even more difficult for any one-of tech that might get around your wall Pokemon to be able to actually get a KO. Poke Vital A heals off more damage, can be used in conjunction with other Tools (such as [card name=”Rigid Band” set=”151″ no=”165″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Counter Gain” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card]), and can’t be countered by Tool removal, whereas Hero’s Cape has the advantage of being able to be searched out by [card name=”Town Store” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”196″ c=”name”][/card] and is better in some niche situations, particularly against decks that might be able to OHKO Ogerpon with an alternate attacker. Personally, I prefer the former, but both are good.

[card name=”Technical Machine: Evolution” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”178″ c=”name”][/card] is excellent in this deck, as it lets you play around an opposing strategy of KOing your evolving Basics. [card name=”Feebas” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”35″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Girafarig” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”83″ c=”name”][/card] are vulnerable to being KO’d, but that doesn’t matter if you can evolve them right away! This will come up a lot, particularly against [card name=”Dusknoir” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Dragapult ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] decks. [card name=”Technical Machine: Turbo Energize” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”179″ c=”name”][/card] is nice for powering up whatever you evolved so that they can also become attacking threats rather quickly. It’s the same deal as with Crispin — you want to be able to attack so you aren’t as vulnerable to those counter techs. Counter Gain gives you another way to power up, and gives the deck the potential to go from zero Energy to attacking in a single turn. To find all of these nice Tools, the deck plays a pair of Town Store as its Stadium of choice. Of course, Arven can also find those Tools, which helps you to set up an opening combo.

Gameplay

When playing this deck, you want to go second so you can use one of your good Supporters (likely Arven) and one of your Technical Machines to set up your board. Your most common opening play will be Arven for [card name=”Buddy-Buddy Poffin ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”144″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”84″ c=”name”][/card] and Technical Machine: Evolution so you can immediately get into play the wall Pokemon that you want. Which particular Pokemon that will be will depend on the matchup. If it’s a matchup where you would prefer to use Ogerpon, then you’ll likely go for something like Nest Ball and Technical Machine: Turbo Energize instead. Do keep in mind that Buddy-Buddy Poffin can only get Feebas; you unfortunately can’t use it to find Girafarig (as it has too much HP). Once you have your Pokemon of choice, the next step will naturally be to power it up. This part of the game can feel a bit slow at times, but with Crispin, Turbo Energize, and your regular attachments, you can typically be doing damage by turn 3. Turn 2 attacks can be difficult, since you have to devote an Energy to the Pokemon using Technical Machine: Evolution, but if that Pokemon survives your opponent’s second turn, then it is possible. If you end up going first, it is also of course possible, so long as the Pokemon with your opening Energy attachment doesn’t get Knocked Out.

From that point, your goals will be to get your second attacker powered up, to get Munkidori into play (if it’s a matchup where you want it), and to focus on how your opponent might be able to play around your wall Pokemon. In some matchups, that might mean looking out for a particular tech attacker. In others, it might mean targeting their Dusknoir pieces with [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card]. Sometimes you may find yourself taking a turn off so you can use another Technical Machine: Evolution, so you aren’t reliant on a single wall for the whole game. It all ultimately depends on the matchup.

Specific Matchups

Vs. Dragapult ex

Main wall: Milotic ex

[card name=”Dragapult ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] is stopped by Milotic ex, but not by the other two walls, so Milotic should be your focus in this matchup. Where this matchup can potentially go wrong is with the vulnerability of Feebas to Phantom Dive; a single Phantom Dive can KO not one but two Feebas, so even if you get all three into play, your opponent will only need one [card name=”Dusclops” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”19″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Dusknoir” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] to wipe out your entire field. You therefore want to be a bit cautious about putting Feebas into play. If you’re in a position where the opponent can’t evolve into a Dragapult ex on the following turn (such as turn 1 when going first), then they’ll be safe to play down, but otherwise, you’ll want to wait until you can use Technical Machine: Evolution to bypass the turn of vulnerability. This will be a go-to strategy in most matchups, but it is especially important in this one, since you can’t be safe by just putting multiple Feebas into play like you might against something without spread damage.

If your opponent is playing a standard Dragapult ex / Dusknoir deck, then there is exceedingly little that they can do to take out Milotic ex. To KO even one, they’ll need to use two Cursed Blast and attack with something to get the last bit of damage. That’s still a two-for-two trade though — to win with that strategy, they’d have to do it a second time, and find a way to take two other Prizes before you can do the same. The best attacker that most lists will have against you is [card name=”Fezandipiti ex” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”84″ c=”name”][/card]. Rigid Band and Munkidori can both help to slow down any damage that comes from Fezandipiti ex, though I would recommend waiting to put Munkidori into play until you’re at a point where you can actually use it. Two uses of Cruel Arrow and one Cursed Blast can KO a Milotic ex if you can’t heal it, so it can seem somewhat dangerous if you’ve been a bit slow to set up. If you can, it’s a good idea to target their Fezandipiti ex via Boss’s Orders, especially if they begin to power it up. Keep in mind that with Crispin they can get attacking in two turns just like you. Overall, this is a strong matchup, which bodes well given that Dragapult ex is one of the stronger decks in the new format.

Vs. Tera Box

Main wall: Farigiraf ex

[cardimg name=”Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”215″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Tera Box is one of the better new decks to rise with Journey Together, and it had a strong showing at Champions League Fukuoka, including a notable Top 16 performance by Tord Reklev. The deck attacks with a wide variety of attackers of various types, including [card name=”Teal Mask Ogerpon ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”64″ c=”name”][/card], Lillie’s Clefairy ex, [card name=”Terapagos ex” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”141″ c=”name”][/card], and even [card name=”Pikachu ex” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]. The huge type spread gives it a strong attacker into a lot of the meta, and the energy acceleration of Teal Mask Ogerpon ex means that it can attack quickly, as early as turn one. Add in [card name=”Noctowl” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] for a huge consistency boost, and you have a deck that is primed to be a top-tier option.

Of course, you might have noticed something about all of the above attackers: every one of them is a Basic ex. Indeed, none of the main Tera Box attackers can hit through Farigiraf ex’s Armor Tail, making this an easy enough matchup if you can evolve one of your Girafarig. At best, they can hit for 70 with [card name=”Fan Rotom” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”118″ c=”name”][/card]; hardly enough to make a dent in Farigiraf’s 260 HP. The card you will need to look out for is [card name=”Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card], as Demolish does get to ignore Armor Tail, and then your opponent gets to wall you right back, forcing you to be able to counter with your own Ogerpon. Notably, none of the top Champions League lists actually played Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex, as it requires them to play a sixth Energy type, but given how strong the wall deck finished, I would expect it to become a more common tech. If your opponent doesn’t play it, then this matchup is nearly an autowin. If they do, then you have to be a bit more clever. Munkidori can be used to prevent Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex from being able to 2HKO Farigiraf ex, and you can use Poke Vital A to slow them down even further. One approach I like in this case is to actually gust around the Ogerpon to take or set up KOs on other Pokemon, so you’re advancing your cause while powering up an Ogerpon of your own. Keep in mind that they likely will be able to OHKO your Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex, so you will need that one hit to count. Finally, the Tera Box deck can be vulnerable to disruption, so be sure to save your Iono for the late game when you can make them count.

Vs. Raging Bolt ex

Main wall: Farigiraf ex

As with the Tera Box deck, Raging Bolt is an aggressive Basic attacking deck that cannot deal with a Farigiraf ex. Their best bet will be to go after you with a non-ex tech like [card name=”Koraidon” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”116″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Slither Wing” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card], which can theoretically 2HKO a Farigiraf ex if you can’t heal it. Focus on Farigiraf and Munkidori, and keep in mind that Iono will be strong in the late game if it comes to it. On the off chance that your opponent does play Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex, your strategy against it will be similar to against Tera Box — use Munkidori to damage it while keeping your Farigiraf alive, then clean it up with your own Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex. It’s slightly more difficult for Raging Bolt decks to play that tech than it is for the Tera Box decks, and so I’ve seen it included considerably less often than the non-ex techs, but do be aware of the possibility.

The above matchups are all quite favorable, and are basically autowins if the opponent isn’t specifically teching to beat you. However, there are some less favorable matchups in the format as well, such as the following.

Vs. Gholdengo ex

Main wall: Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex

[card name=”Gholdengo ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card] can be walled by Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex, but this matchup is made tricky by the inclusion of [card name=”Dragapult ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] in the post-rotation Gholdengo lists. For consistency reasons, many of the Gholdengo ex lists are playing [card name=”Drakloak” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”129″ c=”name”][/card]; since the lists also play a wide variety of Energy to take advantage of [card name=”Energy Search Pro” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”176″ c=”name”][/card], this means that they can slot in Dragapult ex as an alternate attacker without needing to commit any additional resources to playing it. This means that the Gholdengo lists you’re likely to see will have a way around Ogerpon, and while Dragapult ex can be walled by Milotic ex, Milotic is easily OHKO’d by the Gholdengo ex, so they can get around you either way. If you can get two Munkidori into play with Energy attached, then you can prevent a potential Phantom Dive double-KO, but that still only works if they don’t have their own Munkidori. Milotic ex’s Hypno Splash can work sometimes as a desperation play, ideally in conjunction with Iono. If you happen to be up against pure Gholdengo ex, without the Dragapult ex, then the matchup is much easier, but it’s otherwise tricky. It is probably worth noting that the second-place finish at Fukuoka was tainted by controversy, so it may not be quite as strong as the results might suggest, but as this doesn’t seem to be widely known, I don’t believe it will influence the number of people who try out the deck. Moreover, the matchup still isn’t great, so it’s one that you would rather not run into.

Vs. Gardevoir ex

Main attacker: Farigiraf ex

[card name=”Gardevoir ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card] has taken a hit from the rotation, but it is still a good deck, and it is the other notable bad matchup for Milotic ex / Farigiraf ex. You don’t have any way to wall [card name=”Drifloon” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Scream Tail” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card], and they can OHKO you, so the Prize trade isn’t in your favor. Your main path to victory will be through Farigiraf ex, as it can OHKO Gardevoir ex thanks to Weakness. If you can build up a Prize advantage in the early game, repeatedly KOing Gardevoir ex can give you the win. If your opponent happens to not OHKO you, then Munkidori can also put in a lot of work. Even if they do, though, you can use it as a non-ex attacker to slow down their Prize-taking pace. Gardevoir decks are also much weaker to Iono now that Refinement [card name=”Kirlia” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”68″ c=”name”][/card] has rotated out, so you can steal some games with a [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] + Iono + Gardevoir ex KO combo if they can’t draw out of it. Because you do have that OHKO potential, I don’t think this matchup is as bad as the previous two, but I still wouldn’t call it favorable.

Vs. The Mirror Match

Main attacker: Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex

The mirror match mostly comes down to one Pokemon: Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex. Demolish hits through any of the opposing Abilities, so it can’t be stopped by Milotic ex or Farigiraf ex. Additionally, Cornerstone Stance means that the only Pokemon that can deal decent damage to it is itself, since Milotic and Farigiraf both have Abilities. Having two of them in the list helps a lot here, since you can have one acting as a wall in the Active Spot and simultaneously set up your second one with Technical Machine: Turbo Energize. It also gives you the option of retreating a damaged one to attack with a second one. This can allow you to heal the first one more with Munkidori, potentially giving it an additional turn of surviving. Even with two Munkidori, you cannot OHKO an opposing Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex, nor can you prevent a 2HKO. However, they are still important, as their impact can add up over multiple turns. When attacking, target everything at your opponent’s Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex, as nothing else in the deck is a threat.

Many of the other, more off-meta decks in the format tend to be positive matchups; while I’m not going to go over them all here, just know that most of them tend to get stuck behind one of the wall Pokemon. When playing against one, keep in mind what your walls can do, and try to figure out quickly which will be the best in that matchup. Against Basic ex decks (like [card name=”Miraidon ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”81″ c=”name”][/card]), you’ll want to use Farigiraf ex, while against any Tera ex deck (like an Eeveelution deck, for instance), you’ll want to use Milotic ex. Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex can be a bit trickier to figure out when to use, but if all the attackers you see use Abilities, then that’s a good sign. If you’re in a situation where you have no idea, like if your opponent just has a lone Fezandipiti ex or something that doesn’t reveal anything, you can opt to simply go with one each of Milotic and Farigiraf — even if one of them isn’t useful, so long as they can’t get past the other, you’ll still be able to beat them easily enough. If you can play quickly, keep in mind that this deck can win in a best-of-three by simply taking Prizes, so don’t hesitate to scoop up the first game if you’ve realized that you need to be using a different strategy against an unfamiliar deck. The more familiar with the wider meta you are, the better you’ll do with this deck, so if you do end up playing it for a big event, be sure to brush up on the card pool.

It is worth noting that this deck is necessarily going to be meta-dependent, and will likewise vary in competitive viability based on how much people respect it. That is, if the player base as a whole thinks that the deck is a threat, and either plays something that can beat it or makes sure to include substantial counters to it, then the outlook for Milotic / Farigiraf at that particular time will be poor. On the flipside, if the player base thinks that isn’t the case and doesn’t respect it properly, then you can see results like you saw in Champions League Fukuoka. There are plenty of examples of anti-meta decks in the past going through this cycle, and this is the newest one. Overall, it’s a strong deck, and one that I would absolutely recommend familiarizing yourself with, either to be able to play it when the time is right or so you aren’t surprised by it when you do run into it at an event.

With that, we’ve come to the end of this article, but as always, if you have any questions, be sure to ask below in the comment section! Best of luck to everyone in the new format, and stay safe! Thanks for reading!

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