“Can We Build It? Yes, We Can!” — The “Fairy” Important Art of Deck Building
Hey there PokeBeach readers! Over the past month, I’ve written four articles detailing nearly every deck I think is viable in the current Standard format. If you have not read any of them and want my insight on specific decks, check out my articles on Gardevoir and Lucario, as well as my overall meta snapshot. Since between myself and my fellow writers we’ve covered nearly everything viable in Standard, today I will instead address an important skill in the Pokemon Trading Card Game that often goes overlooked: deck building. I will be giving insight into my deck building process from building a skeleton to fleshing out the tech options, and by the end, I hope to make you a deck building pro!
The Process of Building a Deck
The first thing I do when building a deck is create a skeleton list. A skeleton list is a list that only has the absolute essentials for a deck to function. I believe it is important to create skeleton lists for decks to help you identify the deck’s main strategy, as well as any potential weaknesses that can be shored up once you flesh out your skeleton list with techs. The list is supposed to have less than 60 cards. In this process, you boil down your deck to the cards that you could never cut, such as four Ultra Ball.
Your skeleton list could include things like: your main Pokemon line; some amount of support Pokemon, like [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Octillery” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card]; draw Supporters; setup Supporters, like [card name=”Brigette” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”161″ c=”name”][/card]; utility Supporters, like [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”143″ c=”name”][/card]; [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”161″ c=”name”][/card]; Pokemon Tools; Stadium cards; and Energy. Some decks will have other cards that will be considered staples for that strategy, such as [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card] in Stage 2 decks and [card name=”Kiawe” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”144″ c=”name”][/card] in [card name=”Ho-Oh-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Volcanion-EX” set=”Steam Siege” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card] decks, but for the most part this template should cover nearly every single deck in the format.
One thing I notice newer players and/or deck builders do when first creating skeleton lists is building a list with greater than 60 cards and then paring it down. While I used to do this, I have realized that this is a poor deck building strategy. If you have more than 60 cards in your skeleton list, that means you have not pared your list down to only essentials. If you do not identify the absolute core cards from the beginning, you are liable to cutting them later on after testing and tweaking your deck, which we never want to do. You can avoid this ever occurring in the first place by figuring out the essentials with a skeleton and then building out your list from there.
Once I’ve created a deck skeleton, I go into my next step: teching out my list. In this step, I decide what matchups I want to beat, what cards are not essential to helping the consistency and strength of the deck but that I still may want to include, and whether or not I want to increase card counts of essential cards to increase my odds of hitting that card. This is my favorite step in terms of deck building, as this is where you really get to make your list unique. Once you have identified the core cards for a deck, you can take the remaining spots and build your deck to beat nearly any deck in the format if teched correctly.
If you find that after testing a certain matchup, you are still struggling versus it, you can either add a few more specific techs for that matchup, or go completely back to the drawing board and try out a new strategy with your techs. For example, if I am playing [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] with two [card name=”Gallade” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”84″ c=”name”][/card], zero [card name=”Max Potion” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card], and zero [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card], and I am still struggling with [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] decks, I could go back to my skeleton and try adding two Max Potion and two Parallel City. I will still be playing Gardevoir, but I have built this list to deal with Zoroark in an entirely different way than my previous build.
This may seem like a lot to absorb in just writing, so I believe the best way to demonstrate the concept is through examples. Let’s take a look at a deck skeleton and then tech it in different ways to show how you can shape a list to your liking based on the criteria listed above. For this exercise, I’m going to be building my favorite deck in the format, Gardevoir.
Gardevoir-GX Skeleton
[decklist name=”Gardevoir Skeleton” amt=”47″ caption=”” cname=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”137″][pokemon amt=”16″]3x [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”140″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Gallade” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”84″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Kirlia” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Ralts” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”52″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Octillery” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”33″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Remoraid” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”32″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”20″]3x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”101″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Brigette” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”161″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”143″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”161″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”162″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”149″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”11″]7x [card name=”Fairy Energy” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”7″][/card]4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”166″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/energy][/decklist]
This initial skeleton only has 47 cards in it. That leaves us 13 deck spaces to add non-essential techs to make our list stronger. Let’s go over each card in the list and determine how they correlate with the template.
[premium]
4-2-3-1 Gardevoir-GX / Galladw Line
This is the main Pokemon line of the deck, and occupies the main line spot. 4-2-3-1 is the bare minimum that you want in this deck, as this is the least amount of commitment you can reasonably make to this line while still getting the pieces out consistently.
2-2 Octillery
[cardimg name=”Octillery” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”33″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
This is the support Pokemon section of the skeleton. [card name=”Octillery” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] serves as the draw support to help you set up your main Pokemon line, and thus has made its way into the skeleton. One can argue that only a 1-1 line should be considered part of the skeleton, but I believe any deck that runs Octillery in this format (such as Gardevoir, [card name=”Lucario-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM100″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Lycanroc-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Buzzwole-GX ” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] / Lycanroc) should run at bare minimum a 2-2 line.
Two Tapu Lele-GX
This is self explanatory as to what role it fills. While I would not play two Tapu Lele in Gardevoir (as you will see in my lists later, I play three), two is the bare minimum you could get away with while still being consistent.
Three N, Two Cynthia
Three [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] and two [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card] make up the bare minimum number of draw Supporters one can run in Gardevoir. Like with the Lele count, I would not play this few draw Supporters in Gardevoir, but this is the bare minimum you could get away with without losing out on consistency.
Two Brigette
These are the two setup Supporters Gardevoir runs. While some other decks run higher counts of setup Supporters, two is all Gardevoir needs. Like with the 2-2 Octillery line, one might think that one Brigette is all that should be considered in this skeleton, but I believe that two Brigette is absolutely essential to help get out our Octillery quickly.
Two Guzma
Like the Tapu Lele, these are pretty self explanatory. We only run two Guzma in our skeleton, as Gardevoir can recover and reuse Guzma thanks to Twilight GX. A third can be teched in later if desired, but only two are absolutely necessary for the deck to function.
Four Ultra Ball
These encompass the Pokemon search portion of the skeleton. While you can run more Pokemon search cards, such as Evosoda, they are not absolutely necessary to keep the deck consistent
Four Rare Candy, One Super Rod
These are the essential Items to Gardevoir and cannot be toyed with. I considered adding [card name=”Max Potion” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card] here, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized Max Potion belongs more as a tech, as it is not necessary in every single game, so we will discuss that later when we talk about different ways you can tech a deck.
I have chosen to group [card name=”Super Rod” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”149″ c=”name”][/card] into the essential Items of the deck, as you need a way to recover either your Gardevoir, Octillery, Energy, or all of the above. You only absolutely need one Super Rod; the second is a possible tech we will look at later.
[cardimg name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
Two Choice Band
[card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] is essential to Gardevoir for the mirror match and to help it hit damage numbers in other matchups, and as such takes up the Tool spot in this deck skeleton. The deck cannot function with just one Choice Band, and three is a little unnecessary, so only two Band have made it into the skeleton list.
Zero Stadiums
In some decks, Stadiums just are not that crucial to the deck’s strategy. Obviously, if this was a Fighting deck that played [card name=”Brooklet Hill” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card], those would be in our skeleton list. However, since the Stadium of choice in Gardevoir, [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card], is not essential to the deck’s strategy, I have chosen to not include a single Stadium in this deck’s skeleton. However, we will definitely consider Stadiums later when deciding how to tech out this list.
Seven Fairy, Four Double Colorless
This is the minimum Energy you should be running in Gardevoir in order to hit them consistently while still giving you enough Energy to be able to Knock Out whatever you need to. I would not go below this ever in Gardevoir for any reason.
So there we have it, a full skeleton for [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card]. From here, we can take the list in many different ways, all depending on how you want to tech the deck and what matchups you are most afraid of. Let’s say we’re scared of beating the mirror match and Buzzwole / Lycanroc decks, as well as wanting to increase our skeleton Pokemon and Supporter counts in order to increase our consistency. With this in mind, let’s take a look at a list based off this skeleton where I tech the list out to achieve these goals.
Gardevoir List #1
[decklist name=”Gardevoir List #1 ” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Mewtwo” set=”Evolutions” no=”51″][pokemon amt=”20″]3x [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”140″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Gallade” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”84″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Kirlia” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Ralts” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”91″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Octillery” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”33″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Remoraid” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”32″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Mewtwo” set=”Evolutions” no=”51″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”29″]4x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”101″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”143″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Brigette” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”161″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”161″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Max Potion” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”164″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”162″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Evosoda” set=”Generations” no=”62″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”149″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”11″]7 x [card name=”Fairy Energy” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”7 “][/card]4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”103″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/energy][/decklist][cardimg name=”Kirlia” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”92″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
4-3-3-2 Gardevoir-GX / Gallade Line
As you can see, I have chosen to add both a third [card name=”Kirlia” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] and a second [card name=”Gallade” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”84″ c=”name”][/card] into the list. The third Kirlia, especially in combination with the two [card name=”Evosoda” set=”Generations” no=”62″ c=”name”][/card] I added, will help me get out more Stage 2 Pokemon consistently without relying on hitting my [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”129″ c=”name”][/card] at the right time. The second Gallade adds extra consistency with Premonition, as well as gives me more consistent outs to dealing with [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card]. That’s not something I highlighted, but instead a byproduct of increasing my Pokemon counts.
Three Tapu Lele-GX
Adding a third [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] helped me achieve two goals: increase my Pokemon consistency, as well as increasing my overall consistency thanks to Tapu Lele’s incredible Ability, Wonder Tag. Plus, it satisfies my personal goal of playing three Lele in all of my Gardevoir lists, as I have found it to be the strongest count.
One Mewtwo
[card name=”Mewtwo” set=”Evolutions” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] was added to help achieve my goal of beating [card name=”Buzzwole-GX” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Lycanroc-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card]. Mewtwo can hit a Buzzwole that only has one Energy attached for 140 damage if it has a [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] attached, giving me a great non-GX counter to Buzzwole’s early aggression. Plus, Mewtwo can’t be one-shot easily by Buzzwole like my other Basics, giving me some durability early game that I would otherwise be lacking against this deck.
Four N, Three Cynthia
I chose to up both of these Supporter counts by one to give me more consistency outs. A Supporter increase also means more Supporters to grab with Tapu Lele, the count of which I increased as well.
Three Guzma
I increased the Guzma count not because I had a specific matchup in mind, but more so to give me more Supporters to grab with Tapu Lele. Guzma is universally good in every matchup, so this is a card count increase that will benefit my deck every game.
Three Max Potion
[cardimg name=”Max Potion” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”128″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
These were added to give me an edge in the Gardevoir mirror, as well as versus Buzzwole decks and Zoroark decks. In the Gardevoir mirror, the matchup is won by using Gardevoir with only one Fairy Energy and a Choice Band. This forces your opponent to overextend to take Knock Outs on your Gardevoir, while only making you discard one Energy when you [card name=”Max Potion” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card]. Versus Buzzwole, it is crucial to keep your Gardevoir fresh of chip damage from Jet Punch to keep them out of range of a Dangerous Rogue GX or Knuckle Impact Knock Out. Finally, Zoroark decks are almost always forced to two-shot Gardevoir unless they have access to Dangerous Rogue GX, so Max Potion allows Gardevoir to trade efficiently versus their GXs while surviving much longer.
Two Evosoda
Two Evosoda were added to give me some extra consistency in getting out my Pokemon lines, whether it be my [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card] line or my [card name=”Octillery” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] line. I included Evosoda partially to synergize with the three Kirlia I have chosen to play in this list, as the third Kirlia gives us another target to evolve to with Evosoda.
Two Super Rod
I added a second [card name=”Super Rod” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”149″ c=”name”][/card] to help recover both the Energy we will be losing due to playing Max Potion as well as to help me recover all of the additional Pokemon I have chosen to play in this list. This allows us to stream Gardevoir more effectively.
As you can see, with my additions to the deck, I have satisfied my goals. To satisfy my matchup goals of beating Gardevoir and Buzzwole decks, I added Max Potions and Mewtwo. Then, to increase my consistency, I upped counts in my Gardevoir line, my Tapu Lele, my Supporters, and Super Rod, as well as adding two Evosoda to help me get out my Pokemon lines consistently.
Now, let’s see how different goals can lead to drastically different lists after techs have been included. This time, I will be teching my list to help combat Zoroark decks and [card name=”Greninja” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] decks. I have also decided that I want to run a heavier Supporter line while giving myself options versus Ability lock decks that play [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]. Now that my goals have been established, let’s take a look at a list built off our skeleton that achieves this.
Gardevoir List #2
[decklist name=”Gardevoir List #2″ amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Giratina” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY184″][pokemon amt=”19″]3x [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”140″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Gallade” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”84″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Kirlia” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Ralts” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”91″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”155″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Octillery” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”33″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Remoraid” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”31″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Giratina” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY184″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”30″]4x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”101″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”Steam Siege” no=”114″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”143″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Brigette” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”161″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Fates Collide” no=”113″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”162″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”149″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”11″]7x [card name=”Fairy Energy” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”7″][/card]4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”166″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/energy][/decklist]
As you can see, this list is pretty different than the last list, even though both used the same skeleton! This is a great illustration of the joys of deck building: after you’ve included the essential cards, the rest of your deck is completely up to you and how you want to build it! Let’s go over all of the cards not in the skeleton and discuss how they address the goals I established before making this list.
Two Gallade
I decided not to increase the Kirlia count this time as I did not include Evosoda in this list. The only addition I made to the skeleton [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] line was a second Gallade. Gallade was included to give me more odds of hitting it against Zoroark-GX decks, which was one of my stated goals. Plus, it adds a little bit of additional consistency with its Ability, making it a fine addition to the deck.
One Giratina Promo
[cardimg name=”Giratina” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY184″ align=”right” c=”custom”]”What’s that? You want to improve your Greninja matchup?”[/cardimg]
[card name=”Giratina” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY184″ c=”name”][/card] promo was added to the list to give myself a fighting chance against Greninja decks. Without Giratina, the matchup is nearly an auto-loss, as you have to rely on your opponent drawing dead to win. However, with Giratina, you have a much better chance and, in the end, are favored.
Four N, Three Cynthia, Three Professor Sycamore
In this list, I have decided to play ten draw Supporters. I upped my counts of [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card] by one each while including three [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card]. With ten draw Supporters, I have certainly satisfied my goal of playing more draw Supporters than in my previous list where I only played seven. Ten draw Supporters also helps me combat Ability lock decks to a certain extent, as I will have more outs to seeing more cards in my deck without needing to draw into them with Octillery or needing to use Tapu Lele-GX to search them out.
Two Field Blower
I added two [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] to satisfy my goal of having a stronger matchup versus Garbodor variants. Without Field Blower, I essentially forfeit my matchup versus those decks. With two, however, the matchup versus both [card name=”Espeon-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”61″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Drampa-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] variants is essentially a 50-50. Field Blower also helps against opposing Parallel City, which can give this deck some trouble if played early game to reduce the effectiveness of [card name=”Brigette” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”134″ c=”name”][/card]. Finally, adding Field Blower gives me a better chance in the mirror as an additional benefit, as controlling your opponent’s Choice Bands is crucial for winning the long game.
Two Parallel City
Finally, I added two [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card] to satisfy my goal of having a stronger matchup versus [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] decks. Parallel City severely limits their damage to your Gardevoir when you consider your Resistance to Dark, as well as preventing Zoroark from Knocking Out your [card name=”Kirlia” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card], again due to its Dark Resistance. An additional effect Parallel City offers against Zoroark decks that play [card name=”Lycanroc-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] is that you can clear your own excess Bench Pokemon in order to take your Gardevoir out of range of a Dangerous Rogue GX Knock Out. Finally, Parallel City helps out in the mirror, as limiting your opponent’s Bench to three in the early or mid game can prevent them from setting up a full board state and/or bench a crucial Tapu Lele.
My List
Now that I have shown you how to tech out your own lists, let’s take a look at my current Gardevoir list so we can examine how I decided to tech my deck. My goals when building this list were the following: strong [card name=”Buzzwole-GX” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card], mirror and Garbodor matchups; Stadium control; and a heavy Supporter count. Let’s take a look.
[decklist name=”Gardevoir List #3″ amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Mewtwo” set=”Evolutions” no=”51″][pokemon amt=”18″]3x [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”159″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Gallade” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”84″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Kirlia” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Ralts” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”91″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”155″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Octillery” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”33″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Remoraid” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”32″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Mewtwo” set=”Evolutions” no=”51″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”31″]4x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”101″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”Steam Siege” no=”114″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”143″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Brigette” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”161″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”161″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Max Potion” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”164″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”162″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”149″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”11″]7x [card name=”Fairy Energy” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”7″][/card]4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”166″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/energy][/decklist]
As you can see in my list, I decided to tech for the Buzzwole matchup by including a copy of [card name=”Mewtwo” set=”Evolutions” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card]. I satisfied my goal of combatting Garbodor decks as well as playing a heavy draw Supporter line by playing nine Supporters, and further solidified my Garbodor matchup by playing two copies of Field Blower. By adding two Field Blower, I feel confident in my ability to control the Stadium war, but I still wanted to add my own copy of Parallel City to take advantage of the added control, and to give me a slightly stronger mirror match. I decided to play one Parallel in this list instead of two due to space reasons — I needed to find space for [card name=”Max Potion” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card] as well to help my mirror matchup, as one copy of Parallel is not enough on its own to make the mirror stronger.
When I first started playing [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] back in December, I had some pretty concrete opinions about card counts. I thought three [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] was absolutely essential and could not be cut from the deck, and I believed that I could not live without at least three Max Potion as I thought they were a core strategy to the deck. After reconsidering the deck using Chris Fulop’s suggestion of a 2-2 [card name=”Octillery” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] line to give the deck more consistent draw power, I was able to strip the rest of the deck to its bare essentials in order to find room for all of the techs I wanted to fit. Without using this method, I would still be playing too many Guzma and Max Potion for my liking, and still believe they were crucial cards.
Conclusion
Thank you all for reading my latest article! I tried to write a completely different style of article this time than I am used to writing, so hopefully my message and tips came across well. Deck building is an incredibly fun process, and I hope that I was able to demonstrate this as well as show how someone can always alter their list to their own liking or to fit a specific metagame while still keeping the main core of the deck intact.
As always, if you like what I have to say, please let me know in the Subscriber’s Secret Hideout, and be sure to check out my Twitch stream (twitch.tv/organsman) and Twitter (@OrgansmanTCG).
Until next time,
Eric
[/premium]