Marching To a New Rhythm: The Impact of Lost March

Prior to the release of Lost Thunder, our Standard metagame was controlled by five tier one decks: [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Buzzwole-GX” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Rayquaza-GX” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Shrine of Punishment” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”143″ c=”name”][/card] decks. Those five decks have quite a few new challengers. Lost Thunder is an absolutely massive set that contains multiple ready-to-go archetypes. Blacephalon-GX / Naganadel, Sceptile-GX, Zeraora-GX, and Magcargo-GX all appear to be competitive, while Alolan Ninetales-GX is arguably the most versatile GX to come out since Zoroark-GX. Shrine of Punishment builds will have a host of brand-new options, and the aforementioned five decks will have new options available to them.

Among these new deck archetypes, none have been as polarizing as Lost March. For Expanded players, or Standard players from the late XY era, the term “march” is a terrifying one with regards to Pokemon, quickly bringing to mind spooky images of pumpkins, spiders, and lamps. Night March provided players with a deck capable of incredible damage output, speed, and consistency. Proponents of the new Lost March concept foresee the same results, this time coming from cottonweeds and tiny birds. The market trends for the Lost March cards have confirmed this hype; the cards in the deck have been among the most pre-ordered cards from Lost Thunder, and the prices of each have risen to among the most expensive at their rarity. Despite playing no new Pokemon-GX, the Lost Thunder cards in the deck total — at the time of writing this — over $100. Not exactly budget friendly!

While the market shows that there is plenty of hype for Lost March, the debate of whether or not the deck is worth that hype is contentious. Here are the results from a recent Facebook group poll on the deck’s place in the Standard meta:

I wouldn’t take online polls and discussion as the end-all be-all of whether a deck is good or not, but this does give us an indication that there is not a consensus of tier one that might be expected from the market hype. While some players have bought in and are happy to proclaim the arrival of the new BDIF, other players have the opposite reaction. Is the deck actually worthy of the hype and money, or are its detractors correct in their appraisal of the deck as underwhelming?

The Starting List

While we haven’t had any tournaments in the US or Europe with Lost March legal for play, we do have one tournament with results to draw upon. The Tokyo Champions League tournament had 1,235 Masters, and with Explosive Impact legal for the event, it gives us our one data point for this Standard format.

Unfortunately, the data from the event is lacking in comparison to the USA/Europe events, but there are two important things that we learned. First, Lost March only got one of the Top 32 spots in the event, though it did have a few other finishes that, while falling short, had a strong record at 7-2. Second, we got example deck lists that we can use as a starting point for our own Lost March lists. All of the lists shared, while slightly different in terms of tech cards, had a lot of the main core of the deck remain the same. The Japanese lists will be our starting point for Lost March in this article. Take a look at this one, which, in addition to finishing in the Top 16 of the Senior division, is the one I would consider the best deck to use as the representative of the shared lists:

[decklist name=”Japan Lost March” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Alolan Vulpix” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”21″][pokemon amt=”23″]4x Jumpluff (LOT #14) 4x Skiploom (LOT #13)4x Hoppip (LOT #12)3x Natu (LOT #87)4x Trumbeak (LOT #165) 2x [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card] 1x [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”113″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Alolan Vulpix” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”21″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”30″]4x [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card] 4x Professor Elm’s Lecture (LOT #188) 2x [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2 “][/card]4x Lost Blender (LOT #181) 4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”135″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x Net Ball (LOT #187) 2x [card name=”Timer Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”134″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”91″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”7″]4x [card name=”Grass Energy” set=”EX Ruby and Sapphire” no=”104″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Double Colorless” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”136″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

For those unfamiliar with the Lost March concept, the main attackers in the deck are Jumpluff and Natu, both of which utilize the Lost March attack that gives the deck its name. The goal is to get as many Pokemon as you can into the Lost Zone via Skiploom, Trumbeak, and Lost Blender; then continually attack your opponent for high amounts of damage via your non-GX attackers. The deck plays high counts of cards to search out your Pokemon, headlined by the many search cards and the brand-new Supporter Professor Elm’s Lecture, which can grab your Hoppip, Skiploom, and Natu for you.

Compared to the other shared lists, this one is relatively streamlined. Those shared lists all have a few things in common; all include 4-4-4 lines of Jumpluff, four Trumbeak, and at least three Natu; all play at least 10 cards that specifically search Pokemon, typically with four [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”135″ c=”name”][/card], four Net Ball, and two of either [card name=”Timer Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”134″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Great Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card]; some number of Lost Blender; and heavy counts of Professor Elm’s Lecture. The unique parts of this list opposed to other lists are the [card name=”Alolan Vulpix” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”21″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card].

Deck Strategy

Lost March is a deck where the strategy you use doesn’t change based on what your opponent is playing. Rather, the key to playing Lost March successfully is to know how to optimally use the cards in your hand to achieve your goals. That goal is as follows: get enough Pokemon in the Lost Zone to get OHKOs on your opponents, and then continually attack them for Knock Outs until you win.

On the first turn of the game, your goal should be to get as many Hoppip in play as you can while setting up your hand so that you can easily acquire Skiploom on the next turn. This is where the heavy counts of search cards and Professor Elm’s Lecture come in handy. You want to accomplish this without benching your [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card], as doing so gives your opponent an opportunity to skip ahead on the Prize trade themselves. If you can, you want to bench your [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM13″ c=”name”][/card] this turn; I normally use an Ultra Ball to acquire it as it improves consistency for the rest of the game, especially where most of your cards can be quickly used and/or discarded out of your hand. If I start with Professor Elm’s Lecture, my play is almost always grab three Hoppip, unless I am going second and have been able to get the others either in my opening hand or through search cards, in which case I grab an Alolan Vulpix, provided I have an Energy that can get it Active. If you can’t get all of your Hoppip in play, ignore the Alolan Vulpix in favor of more Hoppip. The only exception is if you are facing the prospect of a bricked hand on your second turn, in which case you may need to use the Alolan Vulpix to grab a Tapu Lele-GX. The reasoning behind the emphasis on Hoppip is simple: if you don’t get them in play, you can’t get your Skiploom in play, which will limit your damage output and slow down Lost March. One of the strongest opposing strategies against this deck is to Knock Out the Hoppip, so if you don’t manage to bench plenty of them, you can find yourself in a precarious position.

Once you’ve got out all of your Pokemon, whether or not you actually attach an Energy will be dependent on board state. Remember, Skiploom’s Floral Path To The Sky Ability puts all cards attached to Skiploom into the Lost Zone, so don’t attach any Energy to your Hoppip! This means not attaching any Energy on your first turn, as you want to save any Grass Energy for the Jumpluff that you can hopefully get out the following turn; if you have a Skiploom already in your hand, then holding the Energy is optimal. When I do attach an Energy on turn one, I either attach to Oranguru, or use it as a way to retreat into Alolan Vulpix. At the end of the first turn, your board should contain a ton of Hoppip, and your hand should have some combination of Skiploom, ways to get Skiploom, Energy, and a Supporter that gets you into more cards. In an ideal circumstance, you might have another Professor Elm’s Lecture in hand on top of that, which can easily solve the problem of acquiring Skiploom, though if you don’t have any Energy, it may not be the ideal play depending on how quickly your opponent is attacking you.

The second turn will play out similarly to the first, except that this time you are looking for Skiploom instead of Hoppip. Once you evolve the Hoppip, immediately use the Ability to swap them with Jumpluff; there’s no need to hesitate unless facing a spread deck. At this point, you can start attaching Energy and attacking, ideally for OHKOs. Until you can get to the point where you are OHKOing your opponent’s Active, you want to continue to use your resources and dig through your deck to find ways to get Pokemon into the Lost Zone, whether it’s via Trumbeak, Lost Blender, or by finding more Skiploom that you didn’t get earlier. After you get to that point, then your focus changes to acquiring Energy cards, as well as [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] and Counter Catcher so that you can continuously get those OHKOs every turn for the rest of the game. You want to be aggressively thinning your deck to maximize your chances of drawing into those Energy cards, so use your Item cards with reckless abandon. If you miss a single turn of attacking, then your chances of losing drastically increase, so do everything you can to ensure those continuous attacks.

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General Matchups

For Lost March, the matchup spread depends not on how Lost March can tailor its strategy to beat opposing decks, but, rather, how well those opposing decks can tackle Lost March. In general, how the games go will boil down to this table:

If they can take more than that number of Prize cards, they will win; if they take equal to or less, they will lose. This table assumes two things: first, that you will be able to successfully stream attackers once you get them into OHKO range. Second, they have to KO you one Pokemon at a time, without any tricks such as spread attacks or Glutton GX from [card name=”Guzzlord-GX” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”63″ c=”name”][/card]. This means that the more reliant on Pokemon-GX your opponent is, the more time Lost March has to set up its Knock Outs, and vice versa. This means that decks such as [card name=”Shrine of Punishment” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”143″ c=”name”][/card] variants can be difficult to deal with, since you effectively have to take the first Knock Out every game in order to win; but decks such as [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] can be fairly easy, since you have plenty of time to reach the damage numbers necessary to win and make a comeback.

Let’s look at how our current meta decks fit into that table:

Matchups

Malamar (Traditional)

[cardimg name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

In this matchup, the winner is determined by how quickly the [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] player can get up and attacking, and whether or not they have to bench any Pokemon-GX. The matchup is a bit easier because Malamar doesn’t have many early-game attackers and requires a bit of setup before they can reliably hit into you. That doesn’t mean they can’t do it by turn two, but you are spared the turn one attacks that other single-Prize decks can manage. If they start with a Pokemon-GX, then the matchup becomes more favorable for Lost March.

[card name=”Chimecho” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card] is a card that can seem annoying, but it’s not a problem for Lost March as you can still attack into it with Natu, or [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card] if you managed to bench it. If they’re attacking with Chimecho, this means they aren’t taking Prizes, which gives you more of a chance to set up. If you do manage to Knock Out the Chimecho, not only will you be ahead in Prizes, but you’ll have no problem continuing to attack with your established hand — a scenario that means almost certain victory for Lost March.

Malamar (Spread)

Malamar / Giratina / [card name=”Tapu Koko” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM30″ c=”name”][/card] Spread was the deck that won the Tokyo Champions League tournament, and with that win has got a good amount of hype for its potential success in our own tournaments.

This is bad news for Lost March, because this matchup is awful. Spread decks are one of the most difficult things for Lost March to deal with on account of the low HP of the deck’s attackers; and this Malamar deck has quite a few built-in spread options. Between Tapu Koko and [card name=”Shining Arceus” set=”Shining Legends” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card], they can repeat spread attacks just as easily as you can get off Lost March attacks, while Giratina and Spell Tag can add to that damage to put it over the top.

Lost March has a particularly difficult time, not only due to its low HP, but because of the deck’s design, as it can be rather difficult to stagger your attackers to prevent multi-Prize turns. You still need to get quick Knock Outs on them if you want to have a chance, which means that you have to get out multiple Jumpluff early. You need to reach a scenario where you have enough Pokemon in the Lost Zone to effectively get OHKOs; six and seven are the numbers you need to KO Tapu Koko and Shining Arceus, respectively. Then you will have an opportunity to wait before turning any more of your Skiploom into Jumpluff. By doing this, you can remove some of the damage by using Skiploom’s Ability.

This matchup is a tricky one, requiring you to get set up and take KOs early in the game.

Buzzwole-GX / Lycanroc-GX / Alolan Ninetales-GX

This deck has a spread option, but one that isn’t nearly as devastating. Not only can [card name=”Buzzwole-GX” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]’s Jet Punch not Knock Out any of your Benched Pokemon in one hit, but it comes from a Pokemon-GX which offsets any advantage they might be able to gain from multi-Prize turns.

This is a matchup in which Weakness comes into play, as you can hit for Weakness on both Buzzwole-GX and [card name=”Lycanroc-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card]. Your attacks will come a bit faster, which is important, because their attacks will come quickly as well. You should expect them to be able to get KOs from as early as turn one. The key to this matchup is to take advantage of their GX attackers to swing the Prize trade. Amusingly, their best attacker into you will be Alolan Ninetales-GX, which can overwhelm you if you can’t get it into OHKO range.

Zoroark-GX Variants

A lot will depend on what exactly the variant is. If Zoroark-GX is the main attacker, or if it’s being paired with another Pokemon-GX, then this becomes one of the easier matchups, provided that you can continuously stream attackers. They won’t miss attacks, and will be attacking you continually for Knock Outs from turn two onward, but their reliance on Pokemon-GX to do so means that you’ll have plenty of time to get them into OHKO range. One thing to note is that most Zoroark-GX decks will be playing [card name=”Acerola” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card], so most of your earlier attacks will have little effect. For this reason, I like to conserve Energy and attackers rather than try to two-shot the Zoroark-GX.

Rayquaza-GX

Against [card name=”Rayquaza-GX” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card], the matchup improves drastically if they start with a Pokemon-GX on their board, or if they have to bench one over the course of the game. It also improves if they can’t get out a [card name=”Vikavolt” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] on turn two and can’t attack you as quickly. Given that they have fairly squishy attackers, as well as a bit of a reliance on Pokemon-GX, I’ve found Rayquaza-GX decks to be an easier matchup for Lost March. If they can achieve a non-GX Pokemon board state, you want to target down their Vikavolt to try and make it more difficult to stream attackers. If they do have Pokemon-GX down, target them to get ahead.

Blacephalon-GX / Naganadel

This matchup may seem easy as well; after all, Blacephalon-GX / Naganadel relies on a GX attacker, and requires some setup to get going. The difference is that the attackers in Blacephalon-GX decks are easier to set up, and can attack quicker than Rayquaza-GX decks can. Naganadel poses the biggest threat, as it’s a non-GX attacker that can power itself up, especially once your opponent has access to [card name=”Beast Ring” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card]. If they play multiple copies of Spell Tag, they have an opportunity to get multi-Prize turns themselves. Try and play around that using [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] to dodge the Pokemon that has the Spell Tag attached, and force them to hit into whatever Pokemon they first damaged with Spell Tag. Avoid playing down Natu if you know they are playing Spell Tag.

Sceptile-GX

This Pokemon might be bulky, but Sceptile-GX is slow. Even better, it’s a Pokemon-GX! This best of both worlds scenario is perfect for Lost March, making this one of the best matchups you can run into. That is, if they don’t play [card name=”Alolan Exeggutor” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”2″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Decidueye-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”12″ c=”name”][/card], either of which can quickly turn this great matchup into a poor one. Target their Pokemon-GX if you can and try to deal damage as fast as possible.

If your opponent is playing Decidueye-GX, then do what you can to KO their [card name=”Rowlet” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM01″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Dartrix” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] before they can fully evolve, as Feather Arrow will let your opponent take one of those dreaded multi-Prize turns. Luckily, their setup is slow compared to other decks, so if can get enough Pokemon into the Lost Zone to OHKO it, you can manage to outpace them.

Magcargo-GX / Magcargo

Another deck that has been getting hype, Magcargo-GX / [card name=”Magcargo” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card] represents a positive matchup for Lost March. They are consistent, but they’re both reliant on attacking with Pokemon-GX and can be a bit on the slow side when it comes to chaining attackers. [card name=”Bodybuilding Dumbbells” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”161″ c=”name”][/card] is the deck’s greatest counter to Lost March, as it forces you to have 11 Pokemon in the Lost Zone plus a [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”162″ c=”name”][/card] in order to OHKO the Magcargo-GX. Most lists that have come out so far haven’t been running any Acerola or healing cards, so this is a matchup in which setting up 2HKOs is a viable option, and should be your go-to strategy if you can’t get around the Bodybuilding Dumbbells.

Shrine of Punishment Decks

[cardimg name=”Shrine of Punishment” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”143″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

You won’t be affected by the [card name=”Shrine of Punishment” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”143″ c=”name”][/card], but you will be affected by the hoard of non-GX attackers that almost all Shrine of Punishment decks play. Both you and your opponent will be forced to take six Knock Outs in order to win — so the winner will often be determined by who can do so first, or if there’s any way for one player to get multiple Knock Outs in one turn. You don’t have any way to fulfill that latter requirement, but your opponent might, especially if they’re playing a spread variant. Against non-spread variants, you want to get KOs fast, as do they. You do have a bit of a reprieve in that several of the traditional Shrine of Punishment decks don’t have great options for a turn one Knock Out; the one exception being Buzzwole, but thankfully Hoppip has Fighting-type Resistance. They also have lower levels of HP compared to Pokemon GX decks. Against [card name=”Buzzwole” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Weavile” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] decks, Garbodor is the biggest threat, so you should aim for that with your Knock Outs; Weavile has limited damage output once you get your Skiploom off of the field, while Buzzwole has to deal with your Resistance, limiting its OHKOs to the Sledgehammer turn and for a brief time after Beast Ring. If you can get ahead in the Prize trade, then you’ll likely win this matchup. If you can’t, or your opponent plays spread options, then you will likely lose.

Overall, the results are fairly mixed. Spread is an awful matchup, but, aside from that, every deck ranges from beatable to highly favorable so long as things go well.

Problems with Lost March

Despite the streamlined strategy and deck makeup, Lost March has a number of flaws that become apparent when playing the deck — flaws which will certainly impact its competitiveness if unaccounted for. These flaws include:

• Low HP
  • Problems against non-GXs
  • Problems against Spread
• Clunkiness
  • Damage output restrictions
  • Difficulty using Guzma
• Prizing issues

Some of these flaws are ingrained in the deck. The problem of low HP, for example, isn’t one that can be changed. It’s a flaw that the deck has to be able to overcome, or be able to tech against the problems it causes. In this case, the low HP of your attackers means that it will be trivially easy for your opponent to Knock Out your Pokemon. To solve this, Lost March needs to be able to take Prizes even quicker than its opponents. In the case of opposing Pokemon-GX focused decks, this is easy, as your non-GX Pokemon army of Lost Marchers can take advantage of a 2-for-1 Prize trade, and use its speed and hard hitting to come out on top. Where this breaks down is when your opponent doesn’t play heavy counts of Pokemon-GX, as you no longer have that advantage. Because of the ease your opponent has in Knocking Out your Lost March Pokemon, you can almost guarantee that they’ll have an easier time than you will; in effect, their deck becomes the fast, hard hitting deck in comparison to yours. Decks that have spread options take advantage in a similar way, as they will easily take multi-Prize turns on your low-HP Pokemon, and take advantage of the same 2-for-1 Prize trade that you try to take advantage of in GX-focused matchups. While spread is theoretically possible to tech for via [card name=”Machoke” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”64″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Sky Pillar” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”144″ c=”name”][/card], in practice neither are particularly effective, and add to the clunkiness that provides Lost March with its second major problem.

The “so long as things go well” qualifier to our above matchup spread hides within it an important fact: if things do not go well, then Lost March will lose. Looking at our general matchup table with our low HP issue in mind, it becomes apparent that there is not a margin for error with this deck — a single missed turn of attacks can be the difference between victory and defeat. With such a low margin for error, the consistency of the deck needs to be incredible, and the above list falls short of that. When it goes off, the deck works like a charm; but too often the high Pokemon and limited Supporter count can cause a high number of questionable hands. Adding to that issue is the extreme reluctance in which you want to bench [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] due to the difficulties it can cause you; once you put a Pokemon-GX on your Bench, you have to consider it an additional Prize for your opponent — similar to missing an attacking turn. As a side consequence of this potential clunkiness, I found it difficult to utilize [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card]. I find myself needing to dig for more Energy or Natu so that I can keep my attack going continuously. This is the main reason why I stated above that I like the [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] in the provided list, as it provides another option in those situations.

Finally, Prizing issues can be a small issue for the deck — not as large as the other flaws, but certainly worth taking note of. At times, this deck can feel like playing [card name=”Greninja” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] in the sense that you’ll look through your deck, realize that you have two Skiploom prized, and that the game will be very difficult. Luckily, Lost Blender and Trumbeak help alleviate this issue rather well, so I don’t think a card like [card name=”Gladion” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] is necessary.

If I were to stop here, I would conclude that Lost March is no more than a tier two deck at best, and given the outlook of the meta even that may be optimistic. The matchups it has against the top decks aren’t great, and there are many flaws for the deck to overcome. With that said, I wouldn’t expect any dedicated Lost March players to call it quits at this point; I think the above list has plenty of room for improvement and optimization. 

An Improved List

When a new concept like Lost March is revealed, the initial versions of the deck are strikingly lackluster compared to refined builds as time goes on. As the Lost March lists become more refined, and the deck’s strategies more ingrained, some of those many flaws may disappear. While I don’t think there’s an easy solution to the spread issues that the deck faces, I do think something can be done about the other issues, such as consistency. 

With the problems of the deck in mind, I’ve done my best to improve it and solve those issues. This is the list that I have come up with, and have been using in my recent testing:

[decklist name=”Modified Lost March” amt=”32″ caption=”” cname=”Oranguru” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”113″][pokemon amt=”22″]4x Jumpluff (LOT #14) 4x Skiploom (LOT #13)4x Hoppip (LOT #12)3x Natu (LOT #87) 4x Trumbeak (LOT #165) 2x [card name=”Marshadow” set=”Shining Legends” no=”45″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”113″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”30″]4x [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card] 2x Professor Elm’s Lecture (LOT #188) 2x Sightseer (LOT #189) 2x [card name=”Lillie” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”135″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”91″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card] 3x Net Ball (LOT #187) 2x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”123″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Timer Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”134″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card] 2x Lost Blender (LOT #181) 2x [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”8″]4x [card name=”Grass Energy” set=”EX Ruby and Sapphire” no=”104″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Double Colorless” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”136″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Super Boost Energy Prism Star” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”136″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

The first change I’ve made is to take out the Tapu Lele-GX. When you can sum up the card’s usefulness in the deck as “never play this Pokemon down unless absolutely necessary” and “if you play this down, you drastically increase your chances of losing”, then it’s best to find a replacement. My solution is including [card name=”Marshadow” set=”Shining Legends” no=”45″ c=”name”][/card] as a pseudo-Supporter to be used instead of whatever you would grab with Wonder Tag. The results have been promising! Not only do you take away the risk of starting a Pokemon-GX, but you have an opportunity to play another Supporter card before or after using Let Loose. This gives the deck a hand disruption option which, while not commonly needed, is nice to have if the necessity arises.

I cut the [card name=”Alolan Vulpix” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”21″ c=”name”][/card] as I wasn’t finding it to be a consistent option when going second, and found it to be useless at any other time in the game. I replaced it with a [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card], which I have added two of, as they give you a more reliable way to search out [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card] in addition to increasing your odds of getting out Hoppip.

[cardimg name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”91″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

I’ve changed the Supporters around in this list. In order to improve the deck’s mid-game and late-game consistency, I’ve cut down on the number of Professor Elm’s Lecture and increased the draw Supporter count to eight, adding in a pair of [card name=”Lillie” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] and Sightseer. Lillie has been equally useful as a turn one Supporter as Professor Elm’s Lecture, if not more; while Sightseer has been useful in reducing the prevalence of clunky hands full of Energy or late-game Professor Elm’s Lecture, though the latter has been further reduced by cutting its numbers. I may try builds of this deck without any Professor Elm’s Lecture, but for now I think the card has more than enough usefulness to stay put.

I have replaced all counts of Guzma with Counter Catcher. Without the Tapu Lele-GX in the deck, you can now guarantee that your opponent will never have an opportunity to take a multi-Prize turn, barring any spread attacks. Because of that, you won’t be in many positions where you need to use Counter Catcher to get ahead in the Prize race but will be unable to — either you will already be ahead, or you will have access to Counter Catcher. The clunkiness and difficulty in using Guzma was one of the issues I was having with the deck; by turning them all into Item cards, the dilemma of deciding between a draw Supporter and a Guzma is now gone.

Finally, I’ve cut down on my counts of Lost Blender, finding them less necessary to solve the issue of prizing Pokemon than I expected. I’ve added in a [card name=”Super Boost Energy Prism Star” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card] as a potential counter to Shuckle-GX. If I wasn’t expecting to see it, I would replace it with another Grass Energy or a fourth Net Ball.

With this list, most of the strategy and matchups remain the same. The key differences are that you can more safely bench Marshadow than you could with Tapu Lele-GX. Turn one Lillie is a great play, and you no longer need to think about when to optimally use Alolan Vulpix. More than anything, the success of this deck is built around how well it runs. Expect to see more optimized Lost March lists on that front, rather than tech-heavy versions which might try and adapt to the deck’s issues with spread decks. Even with a more optimized list, I don’t believe the deck is good enough to be considered tier one. I could see it making that jump once well refined lists become widespread. Until then, this deck is tier two; playable with flaws, but with plenty of potential.

As always, feel free to ask any questions you might have either here, via a message, or in our Subsriber’s Hideout! Thanks for reading!

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