The Pink Menace — Gardeon and the post-Worlds Metagame

By: Stephane Ivanoff · Posted Aug 23, 2019 at 6:45 PM · 0 Comments

[cardimg name=”Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”130″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Worlds is over, but the 2020 season has started. For the first time in years, the results from Worlds will be directly applicable to the post-Worlds format, and there’s a lot to take away. Sure, expected decks like [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] and various [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] variants showed up, but that’s not the whole story. As usual for such a unique and high-level competition, players from all around the world brought surprising picks — some we expected, and some we certainly didn’t. I won’t talk about all of these decks in this article. However, I want to give you a picture of where the meta is heading, at least as I see it, based on what we saw at Worlds. Then, I’ll talk about my own unexpected pick for Worlds, Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX.

Worlds Takeaway

The main mistake I made in the articles I wrote in the month leading to the World Championships was underestimating the importance of gust effects. Obviously, everyone knew that any deck that could include [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card] should do so, but I gave lists of decks such as Malamar, [card name=”Blacephalon-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] and Dark Box that didn’t include them. Although my understanding of the format evolved especially as we reached Worlds and my playtesting intensified, I took too long to realize what Worlds made evident: gust effects are not simply strong, they’re fundamental. Almost every deck that wants to have a shot in this format needs to be playing one. Every single deck in the Top 16 of Worlds played either Custom Catcher or [card name=”Ninetales” set=”Team Up” no=”16″ c=”name”][/card]. Some only include three copies (or two) of Custom Catcher since they can’t access it reliably enough to use more than one pair in a game anyway, but the general idea is the same: whether you’re Malamar, Dark Box, Blacephalon-GX, [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card] Box… you need to be playing Custom Catcher. Decks that can’t use it, unless they’re some kind of Stall or lock deck, have no place in the metagame.

In addition to being a gust effect, Custom Catcher can also be used to draw cards. It’s obviously not its main use but I’m certain that every player that included Custom Catcher in their list has used it more than once during Worlds to draw. Whether you’re trying to come back from a [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card], digging for a [card name=”Welder” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”189″ c=”name”][/card] to use, or simply desperately trying to save yourself from a terrible opening hand, Custom Catcher’s single effect is valuable. It’s especially strong for aggressive decks, since they’ll often have to face Reset Stamp, and they’ll generally have more ways to get rid of cards in their hand than slower decks.

Here’s another observation: Welder is the best Supporter in the game by far and, in my opinion, the best card in Standard altogether. There were 24 copies of this card in the Top 8 of Worlds. In the Top 4, every deck played four Welder! There are several reasons for that. First, it combines well with [card name=”Giant Hearth” set=”Unified Minds” no=”197″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Fiery Flint” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Fire Crystal” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”173″ c=”name”][/card]. Second, as an Energy accelerator, it is the simplest and most effective one. Sure, one Malamar will accelerate more Energy over the course of a game, but it’s a Stage 1 that must be put into play, instead of a Supporter that can be instantly played as long as you have Energy (that you can easily draw into). Finally, as a draw Supporter, it simply adds cards to your hand, unlike [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card] that reshuffles or [card name=”Lillie” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] that requires you to thin your hand beforehand. This means that Welder works better when your goal is to get two Custom Catcher in your hand — something which, as I wrote above, is a central part of the game right now.

So where does that leave us? It’s obviously nothing more than a modelization, but I identify four categories of deck in the format.

A. Aggressive Decks

You know what I’m talking about: Mewtwo & Mew-GX, Pikachu & Zekrom-GX, Blacephalon-GX / [card name=”Naganadel” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”108″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card]. These four decks can draw cards very quickly thanks to [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card], use Custom Catcher or Ninetales to target vulnerable Pokémon, and simply aim to take Prize cards as fast as possible. Of these four decks, three use Welder, showcasing its incredible power. The last one, PikaRom, has its own forms of powerful and reliable Energy acceleration.

I don’t think it’s possible to rank these decks yet, since despite similar game plans (put a bunch of Energy in play and use the most powerful attacks available), they have different strengths and weaknesses. Mewtwo & Mew-GX, for example, is the most versatile, but is uniquely weak to Power Plant. Blacephalon-GX trades favorably with Tag Teams, but requires more set-up than the other decks, which means it can be outsped, as we saw in the finals.

Aggressive decks are very well-suited to the new format as they can already do very strong things (Reshiram & Charizard-GX, for example, can hit for 300 damage on turn 2 with Double Blaze GX, even on a Benched Pokémon thanks to Ninetales), whereas slower decks don’t have powerful options yet. Usually, the way this balance works is that decks with Big Basics will be strong early game but might struggle to take their last Prizes whereas slower setup decks, typically Evolutions, will require more time but do stronger things once set up (the perfect example was the [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] deck). However, Evolution decks are basically a joke in the current format. The balance is broken, and the metagame clearly favors huge Basic Pokémon, so if you’re searching for a deck to play, you should look there first.

B. Green’s Exploration decks

[cardimg name=”Green’s Exploration” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”209″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

There are two [card name=”Green’s Exploration” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”175″ c=”name”][/card] decks in the format: Reshiram & Charizard-GX and [card name=”Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card]. In both cases, they trade speed for defensive options. They can still do a lot of damage early (Reshiram & Charizard-GX can do 230 damage on turn 2 pretty reliably, for example) but not as much as the decks in the first category; however, they can make better use of Power Plant, Reset Stamp and, in the case of Gardeon, Fairy Charms. Green’s Exploration also gives you a very reliable way to search for Custom Catcher, which mean that the biggest issue of the format (the lack of Gust effects) is not one for these decks.

C. Defensive decks

If there’s a meta, there’s anti-meta decks. GX Pokémon, especially Tag Teams, dominate the format, so it makes sense that anti-GX decks would pop up. This third category is not as well-defined as the others, but I include decks that work because they target weaknesses in the format. For example, Hampus Eriksson advanced to Day 2 with a 6-0 record playing [card name=”Beheeyem” set=”Unified Minds” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card]. This deck works because Mysterious Noise prevents the use of many key Items such as Custom Catcher, and [card name=”Alolan Ninetales” set=”Team Up” no=”111″ c=”name”][/card] walls many decks in the format, including every deck in the first two categories. (It’s possible to tech for it, but most players didn’t.) Dylan Gunn made top 32 with a Stall deck featuring [card name=”Keldeo-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”47″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Bronzong” set=”Team Up” no=”101″ c=”name”][/card] which, again, capitalized on common weaknesses in aggressive decks, namely a lack of answers to walls such as Alolan Ninetales and Bronzong. It should be noted that neither of these decks run Custom Catcher, since it’s not needed for either deck’s win condition.

A third deck that can fit in this category (although it’s debatable) is the [card name=”Pidgeotto” set=”Team Up” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] Control deck brought by Team DDG and friends. I haven’t had time to look closely at the deck so I’m not sure how it will perform in the meta, but it does fit some criteria of anti-meta decks.

D. Malamar

Let’s not beat around the bush: Malamar has performed terribly at Worlds, both in Day 1 and Day 2. Despite being the second most-played deck in the room in Day 2, its best result was 24th place. I believe this is because everything Malamar does is done better by other decks. Aggressive decks can outpace it and win while Malamar struggles to set up. Malamar lists without Custom Catcher simply don’t bring enough to the table, but Malamar lists with Custom Catcher are even more inconsistent. Despite having some advantages in the new format, overall, Malamar simply isn’t as well-equipped as other decks.

I expect Malamar to drop off quite a bit in popularity in the events to come, but I believe there’s still a place for the deck in the meta, and that is as an anti-anti-meta. As I’ve discussed in past articles, Malamar benefits from having the best non-GX attacker in the game: [card name=”Giratina” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card]. Decks were well prepared for it, with [card name=”Hoopa” set=”Unified Minds” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card] being particularly popular, but that will probably change since Malamar hasn’t done well. In that case, I can see Malamar decks being played to counter the Keldeo-GX and Beheeyem decks that might get more popular. In the absence of its specific counters, Malamar can trade well enough with more aggressive decks, as long as it has a good enough opening few turns.

If I was attending a League Cup tomorrow, I’d probably play either Mewtwo & Mew-GX or Beheeyem. The former has a lot of options and can win many games through sheer aggression, whereas the latter works pretty well against GX decks as long as they don’t tech heavily for you.

A Look at Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX

My own deck at Worlds was Gardeon, a deck I’ve liked since its release in Unbroken Bonds, despite its lack of success. I felt very early that the deck could be strong post-rotation. I actually remember discussing it with Henry Brand, who also had the idea independently, while we were playtesting for NAIC!

The idea of Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX came to me as I was looking for decks that would be perfectly suited to the new Standard environment. Unlike Malamar for example, which certainly could still be played but didn’t seem made for the format, Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX had some traits that were interesting:

The lack of [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] wasn’t an issue, since it could run Green’s Exploration to search for Custom Catcher. I’ve discussed above how important Custom Catcher is to the format, and having a deck that can reliably use it seemed very strong to me.
It could still run [card name=”Cherish Ball” set=”Unified Minds” no=”191″ c=”name”][/card] to search for its Pokémon, where other decks would have more consistency issues.
With no Field Blower in the format, its Tools ([card name=”Choice Helmet” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card] and the various Fairy Charms) became much better. It could wall decks that weren’t prepared for it.

The main issue for Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX in the pre-Worlds format was its weakness to Reshiram & Charizard-GX but, with [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] gone, it couldn’t get OHKO’d anymore for less than six Energy cards, so it would survive much better.

[cardimg name=”Xerneas-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”90″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

I didn’t want to use [card name=”Mismagius” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card] since it was impossible to search for [card name=”Misdreavus” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] anymore (I didn’t want to include [card name=”Mysterious Treasure” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card] in the deck for this sole purpose), so I looked at other cards that could be searched in the deck. Cherish Ball allowed us to search for GX Pokémon, so I looked at those and found [card name=”Xerneas-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card]. This was the perfect inclusion in this deck. Since it only gave up two Prizes, even if the opponent were to Knock it Out, they would still have to KO two Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX. More importantly, Xerneas-GX’s Sanctuary GX fit perfectly in the deck. Gardeon used to run many healing cards such as [card name=”Acerola” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Max Potion” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card] but these rotated out. The new plan, instead, was to simply retreat when a Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX was damaged. I could then tank a hit with another one, and finally send out Xerneas-GX and use Sanctuary GX to heal completely and KO my opponent. With this plan, I didn’t need to include [card name=”Mixed Herbs” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”184″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Super Scoop Up” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card], which would even be too weak, and could focus on building my list to add more defensive options.

While I was working on the deck, Reshiram & Charizard-GX lists also became more and more focused on healing. With [card name=”Great Potion” set=”Unified Minds” no=”198″ c=”name”][/card], Mixed Herbs and Choice Helmet, they adopted a very defensive mindset as well, but with the opportunity to deal more damage. Some people told me they didn’t see the point in playing Gardeon when Reshizard was better. While I admit that Welder is an amazing card, there are some reasons to play Gardeon instead:

Thanks to Fairy Charms, some of its matchups are better. Blacephalon-GX struggles with [card name=”Fairy Charm UB” set=”Team Up” no=”142″ c=”name”][/card], although the new inclusion of [card name=”Heatran-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card] may change that. Pikachu & Zekrom-GX plays [card name=”Lysandre Labs” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”111″ c=”name”][/card] to deal with [card name=”Fairy Charm L” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”172″ c=”name”][/card], but if they don’t get it in time, they’ll simply have to hit a wall.
Magical Miracle GX is a great option and can win games you shouldn’t win. Combined with [card name=”Power Plant” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Wondrous Labyrinth Prism Star” set=”Team Up” no=”158″ c=”name”][/card], it can simply lock the opponent out of the game.
Speaking of Power Plant, Gardeon uses it better than Reshizard since the latter sometimes need other Stadiums in play, such as [card name=”Heat Factory Prism Star” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”178″ c=”name”][/card] or Giant Hearth. It can also use [card name=”Fairy Charm P” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”175″ c=”name”][/card] to protect itself from [card name=”Gengar and Mimikyu-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card], a threat to Green’s Exploration decks.

On Day 1 of Worlds, I was surprised to see that many Japanese players, but also some Americans and Europeans, had brought Gardeon. From what I saw of the Japanese players, some of them played lists that were very close to mine! That meant that my own pick wasn’t a surprise, but it was also reassuring to see many Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX make it to Day 2, as it proved my deck choice was viable. After a long hesitation, I decided to stick with the deck.

The List

Here was my list for this event:

[decklist name=”W19 Gardeon” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”130″][pokemon amt=”5″]4x [card name=”Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Xerneas-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”90″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”45″]4x [card name=”Green’s Exploration” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”175″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Coach Trainer” set=”Unified Minds” no=”192″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Bill’s Analysis” set=”Team Up” no=”133″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Mina” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”183″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”182″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Cherish Ball” set=”Unified Minds” no=”191″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Switch” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Tag Switch” set=”Unified Minds” no=”209″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Great Potion” set=”Unified Minds” no=”198″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Fairy Charm L” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”172″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Fairy Charm UB” set=”Team Up” no=”142″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Fairy Charm P” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”175″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Choice Helmet” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Energy Spinner” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”170″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Power Plant” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”183″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Wondrous Labyrinth Prism Star” set=”Team Up” no=”158″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”10″]10x [card name=”Fairy Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”99″ c=”deck2″ amt=”10″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

[premium]

4 Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX, 1 Xerneas-GX

There’s not much to say about this Pokémon line. Mulligans will be common, but your odds of starting with Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX are about 88%. When I first started playing this deck, I ran 50 opening hands and found that I managed to get a turn 1 Fairy Song on another Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX about 80% of the time. The list has changed since then and I didn’t run these tests again but I think the odds have stayed about the same.

4 Green’s Exploration, 2 Bill’s Analysis

[cardimg name=”Mina” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”211″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Green’s Exploration is, of course, the basis for the deck. Its ideal on turn 1 since you can search for Cherish Ball and [card name=”Energy Spinner” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”170″ c=”name”][/card] or, if you already have either a Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX or an Energy (or both), other cards such as Power Plant, a Fairy Charm, or [card name=”Switch” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”132″ c=”name”][/card]. [card name=”Bill’s Analysis” set=”Team Up” no=”133″ c=”name”][/card] is pretty much a Green’s-lite, but it does a decent job of finding you useful cards, especially when you’re searching for a specific Trainer such as Custom Catcher.

4 Coach Trainer

This Supporter lets Gardeon be what it is. The idea is simple: draw cards, get a big hand, and then you can choose between many options. When going second, Green’s Exploration is generally better, but if I’m going first and I have the choice of playing either Green’s or [card name=”Coach Trainer” set=”Unified Minds” no=”192″ c=”name”][/card], I’m generally going for Coach Trainer, since it gives me more options for the next turn.

1 Mina

I’m not 100% sold on this card. It was useful, but it was in situations where I was probably winning anyway. The idea behind [card name=”Mina” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card] is to accelerate Energy so you can use Magical Miracle GX a turn earlier in matchups where it’s important, such as Reshiram & Charizard-GX. When going second, you can have 3 Energy on your field at the end of turn 1. Then, if you attach two turns in a row, you have three Energy in play on turn 3. With Mina, you can have a sixth Energy and Magical Miracle GX. If you’re going first instead, then you can simply attach on turn 1, attach and Fairy Song on turn 2, and attach and Mina on turn 3 to have, once again, six Energy in play.

4 Pokégear 3.0

Green’s Exploration decks want to find their key Supporter as soon as possible, so [card name=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”182″ c=”name”][/card] is a staple.

4 Cherish Ball

Don’t play any less! If you’re going second and you don’t get the turn 1 Fairy Song, you’re in a very bad spot. You need to maximise your odds of getting the Fairy Song, and that means playing four copies of Cherish Ball.

4 Switch, 3 Tag Switch

My plan for the deck was to switch around my Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX, letting them take damage, then switching to Xerneas-GX to heal all of that damage. That plan requires several switching cards, and [card name=”Tag Switch” set=”Unified Minds” no=”209″ c=”name”][/card] also helps to move the Energy around so you can use a surprise Sanctuary GX. That plan doesn’t work as well in practice because of how widespread Custom Catcher is, so maybe these counts should be lowered a little. Tag Switch is also useful to move Energy to a clean Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX to use Magical Miracle GX.

2 Great Potion

Although I don’t want to play too many healing cards because it’s not the focus of the deck, Great Potion is useful against Malamar. Giratina can 2HKO Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX, and Great Potion prevents that, even if you take damage from Spell Tag.

2 Fairy Charm L, 1 Fairy Charm UB, 1 Fairy Charm P, 1 Choice Helmet

Thanks to Green’s Exploration, we can play an assortment of Tools and use the one best suited to every situation. I decided the night before the tournament to play a second copy of Fairy Charm L because of all the PikaRom I was expecting and, of course, didn’t end up facing any. You should still play at least one unless you expect absolutely no PikaRom at all. Fairy Charm UB is for Blacephalon-GX and [card name=”Ultra Necrozma-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card], whereas Fairy Charm P is for Gengar & Mimikyu-GX and Mewtwo & Mew-GX. Choice Helmet is good in the mirror match and against Reshiram & Charizard-GX. It’s also pretty useful against Dark Box: it prevents [card name=”Mega Sableye and Tyranitar-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”226″ c=”name”][/card]’s Greedy Crush from getting an OHKO on Xerneas-GX (because of Resistance).

10 Fairy Energy, 1 Energy Spinner

The correct number is either this, or this plus one more Energy Spinner. I did miss the second Energy Spinner a few times, when I had already used one and got Reset Stamped into a hand with no Energy but a Green’s, or when my only one was Prized. If you’re only playing one, remember to be careful with it. For example, it can be tempting to use Energy Spinner on turn 1 going second to get three Energy in hand but, if you don’t need that Energy right now, there’s a decent chance it will be Stamped away before you can use it, and then your Spinner will be unavailable for the rest of the game. It’s better to keep the Energy Spinner in hand. Maybe you’ll end up using it on turn three for a single Energy, but that’s not even a bad thing anyway, since you don’t really need to get three Energy in your hand.

Matchups

Pikachu & Zekrom-GX

This matchup is favored for [card name=”Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] with two [card name=”Fairy Charm L” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”172″ c=”name”][/card], and close to even (but slightly favored in my opinion) with only one. There will be some games you’ll win just because Power Plant sticks and your opponent can’t draw with [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]. Otherwise, Fairy Charm L is strong. If you can get it on your Active Pokémon early on, it creates a dilemma for your opponent: they’ll want to play Lysandre Labs to attack through it, but that means they can’t play [card name=”Thunder Mountain Prism Star” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”191″ c=”name”][/card], which can prevent them from attacking a turn early. Your opponent might get one OHKO thanks to [card name=”Raichu and Alolan Raichu-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card] at some point, but apart from that, it’s hard to KO a Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX, so you can see the damage coming and use Xerneas-GX to throw it back to them.

Malamar

[cardimg name=”Giratina” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”97″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

There are several ways to play [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card], but all of them include [card name=”Giratina” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card]. I like to think that the default plan of any Malamar deck is to attack with Giratina, and any other attacker is a tech that deviates from that plan. Gardeon deals well with that default plan, thanks to Great Potion. This is a matchup where you need to use Sanctuary GX. The tempo of the game looks like this: use Kaleidostorm to KO an opponent. They’ll deal 130 with Giratina (maybe 170 if they put [card name=”Spell Tag” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”190″ c=”name”][/card] damage on you). Heal with Great Potion and attack again. Shadow Impact won’t be enough for a KO. Then, use Sanctuary GX to heal and take another KO, which goes through Spell Tag. You can then attack again with Xerneas GX or switch back to Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX, but in any case, your opponent shouldn’t be able to take six Prizes before you take your last three. You need to keep your [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card] in this matchup: they can allow you to KO a Malamar when the Active Giratina has a Spell Tag that would be dangerous to pop, or you can bring up a GX Pokémon when you use Sanctuary GX in order to Knock it Out for two Prizes.

Of course, there are other attackers in Malamar decks. Ultra Necrozma-GX is the most dangerous. Thankfully, it is weak to Fairy, and your opponent will usually have to charge it up on the Bench, so you can use Custom Catcher and Kaleidostorm to KO it. [card name=”Garchomp and Giratina-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”146″ c=”name”][/card] is in a similar situation. If you already have damage, it will KO you easily, but it will give up three Prizes in exchange, which is good for you. Finally, [card name=”Gengar and Mimikyu-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] is the most dangerous threat, but you can use [card name=”Fairy Charm P” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”175″ c=”name”][/card] to protect yourself.

Reshiram & Charizard-GX

Both versions are unfavorable matchups. The [card name=”Green’s Exploration” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”175″ c=”name”][/card] version is (or was) more common. The issue here is that they can heal your damage, making it hard to even 2HKO them, while their damage is stronger and they can threaten an OHKO with a boosted Double Blaze GX. This is a matchup where you want to go second, and your way to win is through Magical Miracle GX. Green’s decks are weak to hand disruption, so setting their hand to zero (ideally along Wondrous Labyrinth GX) can swing the matchup. Consider using [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card] early on, for example when your opponent uses Green’s Exploration to search for Welder for the next turn. If they miss the Welder the next turn, you can consider that it’s a whole turn saved. Smart Reshizard players will charge up six Energy on a Benched Reshiram & Charizard-GX, so that if you Magical Miracle GX, they can simply take the KO and remove your six Energy from play. If they attach to two different attackers instead, then they might not hit the Energy after your GX attack, preventing them from getting a KO.
As for the Ability variant, it also has this threat of hitting an OHKO, either with Double Blaze GX or [card name=”Turtonator” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card] (or, in the endgame, with [card name=”Victini Prism Star” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”7″ c=”name”][/card]). [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] means that Magical Miracle GX won’t be very useful here. On the bright side, the Ability version has no way to heal apart from [card name=”Super Scoop Up” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card] in some lists, so you can try to simply 2HKO your opponents, but it will be very hard. I haven’t played the matchup personally yet, but the Seniors finals is a good illustration of how ReshiZard’s speed can be too much to overcome.

Blacephalon-GX / Naganadel

I was pretty confident in this matchup going into Worlds because most [card name=”Blacephalon-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] lists don’t play [card name=”Lysandre Labs” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”111″ c=”name”][/card], which means that [card name=”Fairy Charm UB” set=”Team Up” no=”142″ c=”name”][/card] completely walls their main attacker. Bursting Burn doesn’t mean much when you play four Switch, and [card name=”Naganadel” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”108″ c=”name”][/card] is simply not a big threat. Plus you have Sanctuary-GX as an option. However, I’m sure that Shintaro Ito’s inclusion of two [card name=”Heatran-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card] will become core in Blacephalon-GX decks. This creates an issue since it’s now possible for the Blacephalon-GX deck to OHKO a Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX with a Fairy Charm UB. You can still use [card name=”Power Plant” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card] to try to shut down Heatran-GX’s Ability (and Naganadel-GX’s) but the matchup should now be unfavorable.

Mewtwo & Mew-GX Toolbox

This is a strange matchup. The good news: Power Plant is a great card against [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card], and so is Fairy Charm P. Reset Stamp + Power Plant can let you mount a comeback. The bad news: [card name=”Latios-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card]’s Tag Purge is annoying. As long as Mewtwo & Mew-GX is using it, you can stop it with Power Plant, but if Latios-GX itself has Energy, then you’ll need to attack with Xerneas-GX, and probably attach the Fairy Charm P to it, or simply keep Sanctuary GX to KO the Latios-GX.
I don’t have a definitive opinion on the matchup. I lost that matchup twice at Worlds, but I’m pretty sure I could have won some of the games with a bit more luck. I believe that Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX has the potential to beat Mewtwo & Mew-GX, although the latter’s speed is definitely an issue.

Shedinja, Beheeyem

These matchups are bad for Gardeon. The deck runs absolutely no counter to [card name=”Shedinja” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card] and accepts the loss. It can deal very well with [card name=”Keldeo-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”47″ c=”name”][/card] thanks to Power Plant, but there’s no counter to [card name=”Alolan Ninetales” set=”Team Up” no=”111″ c=”name”][/card] in the deck. If these decks are popular in your area, I simply recommend playing something else.

Other Options

Here are some other cards you can try in the list above. I don’t want to list every card ran in Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX, since there are some approaches which I believe are too different from my vision of the deck. (For example, some Gardeon decks at Worlds didn’t run Xerneas-GX. To me, that makes it a completely different variant since the main plan changes.)

Mimikyu-GX

[cardimg name=”Mimikyu-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”149″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Hideki Sano, who finished ninth at Worlds, ran this card in his deck. Using a sixth Basic Pokémon reduces mulligans, but also decreases the odds of starting with Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX from 88% to 79%. [card name=”Mimikyu-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”149″ c=”name”][/card] has two interesting assets. First, its Let’s Snuggle & Fall attack can deal more damage than Kaleidostorm. This is pretty good against decks that can heal. For example, in the mirror match, if your opponent uses a Great Potion after you use Kaleidostorm, you can finish off their Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX with Let’s Snuggle & Fall. However, be careful, as the math isn’t ideal against Mixed Herbs. A Reshiram & Charizard-GX that took a Kaleidostorm but healed with Mixed Herbs has six damage counters. It will take 190 damage from Let’s Snuggle & Fall, ending up 20 damage short of a KO.

The other use of Mimikyu-GX is its Dream Fear GX attack. Against ReshiZard, you can shuffle a Reshiram & Charizard-GX that your opponent is building up to use Double Blaze GX back in their deck. That scenario is more likely to happen against the Green’s Exploration version of the deck, since it runs less switching cards. The Ability version will most likely attack as soon as it gets six Energy on a ReshiZard.

Cynthia, Erika’s Hospitality

Consistency is important to Gardeon since its options are limited, at least as attacks go. Therefore, it needs to draw well every game so it can get Energy in play and start dealing damage. [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card] can be used in place of [card name=”Bill’s Analysis” set=”Team Up” no=”133″ c=”name”][/card] and is arguably better against [card name=”Judge” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”108″ c=”name”][/card] and Reset Stamp, but shuffling your hand is otherwise not what the deck is trying to do. [card name=”Erika’s Hospitality” set=”Team Up” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card] is a nice one-off that I was using until I cut it for space. You can Green’s Exploration for it if your opponent has a full Bench, as it will be the best option to get a big hand early on. It’s also one of the best answers to Reset Stamp and Judge.

Judge

Since this deck can take so many mulligans, Judge lets you shuffle your opponent’s hand back into their deck. Apart from that, I’m not a big fan since it doesn’t do a lot of good for your hand. An alternative is playing a third Reset Stamp. It’s worse early on but if your opponent has drawn many cards because of mulligans, it can be worth it to reshuffle their hand even if you still give them six new cards.

Wait and See Hammer

If you’re going second, you can search for this card with Green’s Exploration and remove your opponent’s Energy. This can be strong against [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] since it can prevent the turn 2 Full Blitz (or, if combined with a [card name=”Fairy Charm L” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”172″ c=”name”][/card], force them to Full Blitz for no damage since they’ll need Thunder Mountain Prism Star in play, preventing them from using Lysandre Labs). I chose to cut it for the second Fairy Charm L but [card name=”Wait and See Hammer” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”192″ c=”name”][/card] can also help in many other matchups, preventing a turn 2 Flare Strike, Shadow Impact or other attack.

Shrine of Punishment

This can fix some math. A classic use is to use it to KO a [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] with Kaleidostorm. However, you generally only want Shrine of Punishment in the endgame, otherwise damaging your own Pokémon can be too dangerous. In many cases, when I was playing it, I would end up having to play it when I didn’t want to in order to remove my opponent’s Stadium, or I would have to play Green’s to search for Power Plant. In the end, it simply didn’t do enough, so I cut it for the fourth Power Plant. That said, Shrine of Punishment should be a consideration in this format, especially as Dedenne-GX becomes central to the metagame.

Going forward, I’m not sure about Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX’s immediate chances in the metagame. Its best matchups didn’t shine at Worlds, and some new developments, such as Ability ReshiZard and Heatran-GX in Blacephalon-GX, spell trouble for it. Right now, I don’t think it’s the best call. However, if the metagame shifts, for example if PikaRom comes back in a big way (which I expect; the deck is too fast and consistent not to), then Gardeon could be an interesting choice. The Green’s Exploration engine also means that the deck can search for specific Trainers easily, so if some good ones come out, they could easily boost Gardeon (more than any non-Green’s deck).

In any case, I hope this guide was useful to you! Even though I wish evolution decks were at all playable, I’m still pretty excited at the prospect of testing all the new decks from Worlds and finding out new counters. There are a few cards in Hidden Fates that could also affect the meta, so we’re already looking at our first shakeup of the 2020 season.

I wish you the best of luck for the start of this new season. If you want help to achieve your invite for the 2020 World Championships in London, I offer coaching — message me for more information! You can also find me in the Subscribers’ Hangout.

Stéphane

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