Spread Your Wings and Fly — A Broken Deck for Standard

[cardimg name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Hello everyone! This is Grant here and for once I am actually excited about the Standard format, thanks to two particular decks. While the next Regional is Expanded in Costa Mesa, I won’t be there and I haven’t touched Expanded since Dallas. I feel like any opinions I have on that format would be useless and uninformed. I did recently attend Collinsville and am preparing for the upcoming Charlotte Regionals, which is the first Regional in my home state in around a decade or so (since before I was playing). Both of these events are Standard, so that is the format that I have been playing recently.

The two decks I am hyped on at the moment are actually Spread ([card name=”Tapu Koko” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM30″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Necrozma-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”63″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Espeon-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Meowstic” set=”Radiant Collection 2″ no=”RC15″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]) and [card name=”Xerneas BREAK” set=”Steam Siege” no=”82″ c=”name”][/card]. These are two severely underplayed decks but I think they are better than anything else out there. I’ll briefly go over the tournaments that I played Spread at, then we will look more closely at the list. I won’t go into Xerneas BREAK today because I have only played like five games of it, whereas I’ve probably played over 100 games of this spread deck. If the testing for Xerneas BREAK goes well, be on the lookout for it in my next article.

Collinsville Regionals

This is the list that I ran at Collinsville Regionals. The basic idea of the deck is to use Tapu Koko and/or Necrozma-GX to set up a win condition, where Espeon-EX or Meowstic wipe your opponent’s board. Garbodor and [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] supplement this strategy by slowing down your opponent in order to let you pull off this combo. However, each matchup calls for a different game plan, which we will discuss more a bit later. Here’s how my rounds went.

• Round 1 vs. [card name=”Buzzwole-GX” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Lycanroc-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] WW
• Round 2 vs. Buzzwole-GX / [card name=”Mew” set=”Fates Collide” no=”29″ c=”name”][/card] LWL (Oops)
• Round 3 vs. [card name=”Ho-Oh-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”21″ c=”name”][/card] WW
• Round 4 vs. [card name=”Espeon-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”61″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] /[card name=”Dawn Wings Necrozma-GX” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”63″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Max Elixir” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] WW
• Round 5 vs. Ho-Oh-GX WLW
• Round 6 vs. Espeon-GX / Garbodor LW (I scooped instead of tie)
• Round 7 vs. [card name=”Magnezone” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”83″ c=”name”][/card] LWW
• Round 8 vs. [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] WLL
• Round 9 vs. Magnezone ID

5-3-1 Top 256

So my record was quite poor in the end. However, if all the games had run their natural course, it would have put me at 6-2-1, which sounds a bit better. I would have tied round six and would have most likely won round nine because Magnezone is an auto-win. As you can see, my losses came from Buzzwole-GX and Greninja BREAK, which are two matchups that I should normally win. My opponents simply drew very well and I did not.

I also suffered from bad Prizes in round two, and I made a minor misplay in game two of round eight that may have cost me the match. I got a second Garbotoxin Garbodor out because I was concerned with a potential [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] play (which my opponent did not run in their list). I have seen a lot of Greninja BREAK lists run Counter Catcher and if he used that on my Garbotoxin Garbodor with 30 [card name=”Po Town” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] damage, I would have lost. I should have surmised from his mulligans that he did not run Counter Catcher, as he already revealed [card name=”Max Potion” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card], and Greninja BREAK only has so much space. I ended up needing that second [card name=”Trubbish” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card] to evolve into a Trashalanche Garbodor instead of a Garbotoxin Garbodor. Since I won game one in two turns, I did not have much information on my opponent’s list. Games two and three were extremely close but I had atrocious hands near the end of Game 3 which cost me the match. He also ran two [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] and found both of them at crucial points in games two and three.

ARG Charlotte

[cardimg name=”Mewtwo” set=”Evolutions” no=”51″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

I decided to play the same deck in ARG Charlotte, but I cut a Psychic Energy for a [card name=”Mewtwo” set=”Evolutions” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] to help against Buzzwole and Espeon. I expected a lot of Garb variants, and Mewtwo helps against most of them.

• Round 1 vs. [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] / Lycanroc-GX W
• Round 2 vs. Buzzwole-GX / Lycanroc-GX W
• Round 3 vs. Zoroark-GX / [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] W
• Round 4 vs. Buzzwole-GX / Lycanroc-GX L (I only got one turn and one Basic, essentially donked)
• Round 5 vs. Fighting / Garbodor W
• Round 6 vs. [card name=”Passimian” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”73″ c=”name”][/card] W
• Round 7 vs. Fighting / Garbodor ID
• Top 8 vs. Zoroark-GX / Lycanroc-GX WLW
• Top 4 vs. Zoroark-GX /  Garbodor WLW
• Finals vs. Fighting / Garbodor ID / Split Prizing

Interestingly, eight of my ten rounds were against some sort of Fighting variant. In Top 8 and Top 4, I had very favorable matchups but my opponents managed to cheese me out of game two which was quite annoying. In game three of Top 8, my last two Prizes were both Trubbish, which made the game extremely difficult. My math may be off, but I believe the odds of that happening are around one in a 1000.

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Card Choices

[cardimg name=”Tapu Koko” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM30″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Three Tapu Koko

For once, Tapu Koko gets to be the “main attacker.” Although you always choose to go first when possible, a turn one Flying Flip feels so good. Tapu Koko is primarily useful against Zoroark-GX, as its Riotous Beating requires it to always have many Pokemon in play. It is extremely difficult for Zoroark-GX players to play around Tapu Koko. After just three Flying Flips (or two with Po Town damage), you can use Espeon-EX to KO [card name=”Zorua” set=”Shining Legends” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Ralts” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Rockruff” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”73″ c=”name”][/card], and many more evolving Basic Pokemon.

Three Trubbish, Two Garbodor, and Two Garbodor

Both Garbodor cards are extremely strong and oppressive. This deck abuses both of them to their full extent. Garbotoxin Garbodor slows down Zoroark-GX and weakens cards like Gardevoir-GX and [card name=”Volcanion-EX” set=”Steam Siege” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card]. It is useful in many matchups and buys you some time to spread damage. Trashalanche obviously grows more and more powerful as the game goes on, and oftentimes having multiple Trashalanche Garbodor in play to provide an alternate win condition. The Trashalanche Garbodor is important against the likes of Buzzwole-GX and Espeon-GX, as Acid Spray with a [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] is a clean OHKO. Don’t forget about Acid Spray! I use it quite often.

Two Tapu Lele-GX

This deck only needs two [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] because they are predominantly used early-game. Ideally, you will have Garbotoxin Garbodor online for the entire game past turn two or turn three (barring opposing Field Blower plays), which makes Tapu Lele-GX somewhat less useful than it is in other decks. Tapu Lele-GX is also a great attacker for this deck as it can check big-Energy threats such as [card name=”Zygarde-EX” set=”Fates Collide” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card], Ho-Oh-GX, and even Zoroark-GX.

One Drampa-GX

[card name=”Drampa-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] was included to provide even more help in the Zoroark-GX matchup. Righteous Edge combined with N and Garbotoxin Garbodor is just stupid. You discard one of their four [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Shining Legends” no=”69″ c=”name”][/card], and if they manage to attach another DCE you can just discard that one too! Worst case scenario, Drampa-GX gets rid of two Double Colorless Energy before it goes down, and you just finish the Zoroark-GX (with the third Double Colorless Energy) with an Espeon-EX or something. Best case scenario, Drampa-GX gets rid of their Double Colorless Energy and stops the opponent dead in their tracks.

Righteous Edge is a fantastic option when you don’t have [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] on Tapu Koko and you don’t want to lose the Tapu Koko. Berserk is valuable to the deck too, as it’s one of the deck’s few raw power options. And of course, Big Wheel GX occasionally contributes to wins by bailing you out of dead hands.

One Necrozma-GX

Necrozma-GX’s Black Ray GX is an amazing and absurd attack. It is great against decks like Ho-Oh-GX, [card name=”Vikavolt” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Tapu Bulu-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM32″ c=”name”][/card], and even Zoroark-GX sometimes. It sets up [card name=”Meowstic” set=”Radiant Collection 2″ no=”RC15″ c=”name”][/card] plays and Espeon-EX plays. Prismatic Burst isn’t a bad attack either. For a Double Colorless Energy, a Psychic Energy, and a Choice Band, it OHKO’s Buzzwole-GX and Espeon-GX. For three Psychic Energy and a Choice Band, it OHKO’s just about anything, except for Zoroark-GX and Gardevoir-GX. This shortcoming can be overcome with some assistance from a Tapu Koko Flying Flip or Po Town damage.

One Espeon-EX

Espeon-EX is a win condition against most Evolution-based decks such as Zoroark-GX and Gardevoir-GX. Miraculous Shine is amazing combined with Tapu Koko, Po Town, and even Black Ray GX. When this card works, it is absolutely broken.

One Espurr and One Meowstic

[cardimg name=”Meowstic” set=”Radiant Collection 2″ no=”RC15″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Meowstic’s Ear Influence attack allows you to rearrange your opponent’s damage counters for only one Psychic Energy. This is a win condition and also allows for strong follow-ups after a Black Ray GX or multiple Flying Flips. While a 1-1 line is a bit inconsistent, I play two recovery cards to help access this line when it is needed. I opt for Meowstic over [card name=”Tapu Lele” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card] because Tapu Lele’s Energy requirement is very messy. I don’t want to run [card name=”Rainbow Energy” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] and worry about attaching two Energy cards to it. I also don’t want to use [card name=”Counter Energy” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”100″ c=”name”][/card] because it is unreliable and difficult to find at specific times.

As for [card name=”Espurr” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card], I currently run the Scratch Espurr because it has 10 more HP than the sleep-inducing [card name=”Espurr” set=”Radiant Collection 2″ no=”RC14″ c=”name”][/card] and can also take advantage of Choice Band. Even with a suboptimal Espurr start, Scratch can at least start applying damage. There is another [card name=”Espurr” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”59″ c=”name”][/card] that changes your opponent’s weakness to Psychic until the end of your next turn, but it is somewhat useless because of how easy it is to erase that effect.

One Mewtwo

I cut a Psychic Energy from my Collinsville list to include Mewtwo. Mewtwo makes the Espeon-GX / Garbodor matchup favorable when it used to be around 50-50. It also further improves the Buzzwole-GX matchup, which is great when one considers just how much Buzzwole-GX is being played right now. Mewtwo is also nice against Fire decks and other things that have heavy Energy costs. Its 130 HP makes it difficult to KO, especially combined with Fighting Fury Belt.

One Brigette

[card name=”Brigette” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”134″ c=”name”][/card] is useful for this deck, and you usually want to go for the turn one Brigette when you have the option. However, it is not as crucial as it is for decks such as Zoroark-GX and Gardevoir-GX. I am content with one Brigette. I cannot justify cutting anything for a second Brigette, and I’d probably add a fourth Po Town before I add a Brigette. Usually I am alright when I whiff Brigette, but I definitely enjoy having it turn one.

Zero Guzma

When you think about it, [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] is not very useful because you spread damage and can manipulate KO’s at will. Again, the list is tight and Guzma does not justify a spot over any other cards that are already in the list.

Four Professor Sycamore, Four N, and Four Cynthia

Since this deck relies on Garbotoxin Garbodor, it does not have the luxury of being able to use Trade or Abyssal Hand. The draw engine is not stable, so you need to max out the draw Supporters. I found that 12 is fairly consistent. Always having access to a draw Supporter is critical to the deck’s success. Four [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card] also lightens the load on N, so you can be more selective about when you decide to use N to disrupt your opponent.

Four Float Stone, Three Choice Band, and Three Fighting Fury Belt

[cardimg name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Four [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] is essential. With no Guzma in the deck, your Garbotoxin Garbodor better have a Float Stone on it at all times! Three Fighting Fury Belt is extremely important. Against Zoroark-GX, Tapu Koko with a Fighting Fury Belt can be devastating. Fighting Fury Belt allows Tapu Koko to survive a full-powered Riotous Beating and also adds a bit of damage. Flying Flip does 30 to the Active, so after two of them you reach 60 damage which puts Zorua in devolve range and Zoroark-GX in Berserk range. Fighting Fury Belt can also be used on your GX’s in other matchups to make them survive attacks such as Choice Banded Crossing Cut GX and Phoenix Burn.

Three copies of Choice Band are also required. Choice Band allows Mewtwo, Acid Spray from Garbodor, and Prismatic Burst to OHKO Buzzwole-GX and Espeon-GX. It also makes Flying Flip and Righteous Edge hit 50 to the Active which is relevant on occasion. Berserk can now hit 180 which is relevant in all sorts of scenarios. Choice Band Energy Drive 2HKO’s things easily. And finally, Trashalanche gets an extra 30 damage which is a HUGE deal way more often than you would think. I’ve taken an obscene amount of KO’s with Trashalanche thanks to Choice Band.

One Super Rod and One Rescue Stretcher

I think both of these recovery cards are necessary. I often recover pieces of the Garbodor line and the Meowstic line. Additionally, there are lots of one-ofs that you may want to reuse or recover if you discarded them earlier. I also use [card name=”Super Rod” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”149″ c=”name”][/card] for two or three Psychic Energy most of the time. Six can feel a bit low when you often use two for Flying Flip and continuously need more for things such as Trashalanche, Ear Influence, and Miraculous Shine. You could run [card name=”Energy Retrieval” set=”Shining Legends” no=”59″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Energy Recycler” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card], but having an extra option to recover Pokemon comes in clutch every so often.

Matchups

Zoroark Variants – Favorable

There are many Zoroark-GX variants: Gardevoir-GX, Garbodor, Lycanroc-GX, [card name=”Golisopod-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”17″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Weavile” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card], etc. All of them are favorable and you approach all of them in a similar way. Garbotoxin Garbodor is the key. When the Zoroark-GX decks can’t use Trade or Wonder Tag, it becomes a clunky and inconsistent mess. Zoroark-GX relies on Abilities and runs few Draw Supporters, so Garbotoxin Garbodor is absolutely crippling. On top of that, you want to start using Flying Flip to spread damage as soon as possible. After just three Flying Flips, most Pokemon are within Espeon-EX’s Miraculous Shine range. After four Flying Flips (or two and Po Town), even Trubbish and [card name=”Wimpod” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”16″ c=”name”][/card] are within Espeon-EX range. You always want to have Fighting Fury Belt on Tapu Koko! It’s broken!

In addition to Fighting Fury Belt, Tapu Koko, and Garbotoxin Garbodor, you also have N and Drampa-GX. N plus Garbotoxin destroys Zoroark-GX. Righteous Edge is useful for all the reasons I mentioned above, and you can follow up with Berserk, another Righteous Edge, or retreat into Flying Flip depending on the situation. Black Ray GX, Trashalanche, and Meowstic are situationally useful in this matchup. You won’t always use them, but you will sometimes use them to win the game. Use your judgement based on how the game is going to determine if you need Necrozma-GX, Trashalanche, or Meowstic. Espeon-EX is the star against Zoroark-GX decks and is your primary win condition.

Buzzwole Variants – Favorable

[cardimg name=”Buzzwole-GX” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”57″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

There are two main Buzzwole-GX variants: Lycanroc-GX and Garbodor. Again, they are both approached in a similar way. The main difference is that you sometimes want Garbotoxin Garbodor against the Lycanroc-GX version and you almost never want it against the Garbodor version. Against both variants, Trashalanche takes priority. Garbodor Acid Spray (and Prismatic Burst from Necrozma-GX) with a Choice Band OHKO’s Buzzwole-GX. Mewtwo with a Choice Band also OHKO’s Buzzwole-GX with three Energy. As you can see, Buzzwole-GX is easy to deal with. The real fight is with Lycanroc-GX and Zygarde-EX.

Usually, Tapu Lele-GX and Trashalanche are used to chip away at the Grass-weak attackers. Hopefully you can 2HKO, but sometimes a Fighting Fury Belted Zygarde-EX using Cell Storm takes three hits to KO. Trashalanche is obviously situationally useful, but sometimes it can put Zygarde-EX in range of a KO while forcing Zygarde-EX to commit three Energy to Land’s Wrath (the non-heal attack) in order to KO Trashalanche. Fighting Fury Belted Lele can also force Zygarde-EX to use Land’s Wrath, but unfortunately you give up two Prizes that way.

Black Ray GX is sometimes useful in this matchup, sometimes not. Same goes for Garbotoxin Garbodor. Sometimes you can use Garbotoxin + N to lock the opponent out of Abyssal Hand and get them stuck, but usually you want Trubbish to become the other Garbodor. Meowstic, Drampa-GX, Tapu Koko, and Espeon-EX are rarely useful against the Fighting decks. However, don’t forget that a Choice Banded Psyshock from Espeon-EX OHKO’s Buzzwole-GX. It’s not affected by effects, but it still is affected by Weakness and Resistance. The stars are Trashalanche, Tapu Lele-GX, and Mewtwo.

Ho-Oh-GX – Favorable

For some reason, a lot of people have been playing Ho-Oh-GX lately. The deck is absolutely terrible and it getting 9th at Collinsville was a complete fluke. Any player with Energy cards and brain cells should be able to beat it, though I will agree that Ho-Oh matches up well against Fighting decks. You definitely want to establish Garbotoxin Garbodor in this matchup so that Phoenix Burn has a hard time KO’ing your GX’s and EX’s, especially when they have Fighting Fury Belt. Your main attackers are Tapu Lele-GX, Necrozma-GX, Mewtwo, and Meowstic to clean up. Drampa-GX, Tapu Koko, and Trashalanche are occasionally useful but not always. N beats Ho-Oh too. Espeon-EX is useless in these matchups. Choice Banded Flying Flip does 100 damage to an Active Ho-Oh-GX which I find hilarious.

Vikavolt / Tapu Bulu-GX – Favorable

N plus Garbotoxin, Black Ray GX, Fighting Fury Belt, Tapu Koko are your bread and butter. Meowstic cleans up. Tapu Lele-GX, Mewtwo, Drampa-GX, and Trashalanche are all solid attackers in specific situations. Espeon-EX is situationally useful, though you ignore it more often than not. Fighting Fury Belt is huge in this matchup. It screws up Tapu Bulu-GX’s math on basically everything. This matchup is definitely favorable thanks to Garbotoxin Garbodor, though you can lose if they go first and draw perfectly.

Closing Thoughts

Most of the commonly played decks fall into one of the above categories, which makes Spread favored against everything. It is also slightly favored against Espeon-GX / Garbodor thanks to the addition of Mewtwo. This deck is busted because of its amazing matchups. However, without a stable draw engine it is quite clunky and often finds awkward hands. The deck and its strategy is pretty degenerate too. However, all of its advantages against the other decks in the meta more than make up for its clunkiness. It even beats random stuff like [card name=”Garchomp” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card], Magnezone, [card name=”Empoleon” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”34″ c=”name”][/card], and Passimian, so there’s really no matchup you have to worry about. Zygarde-EX is annoying to deal with, but it is more manageable than I initially thought.

I highly encourage you to try out this deck. It is stupidly good. Thanks for reading!

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