Run of the Mill – Control and Mill in Standard
Hello PokeBeach readers! I’m back once again, this time with an article about a couple decks in the Standard format!
As we wrap up Players Cup III, we’re starting to see more unique decks emerge — but at the same time, the same reliable decks still continue to pull themselves to the top. Of the current top five players globally, four are playing typical meta decks. Number one played 50 keys with [card name=”Centiskorch VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”34″ c=”name”][/card], a deck featured in multiple PokeBeach articles previously, including my own Looking Forward – Analyzing the Structure of the Players Cup III. I’m not certain what number two played, but I’ve heard from people that played against them that they spent a substantial amount of time playing [card name=”Blacephalon” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”32″ c=”name”][/card]. Number three I’ll get to later — that’s the atypical one. But number four played the tried and true [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] for all 50 of their keys, and fifth place played half of their keys with Centiskorch VMAX and the other half with Pikachu and Zekrom-GX.
Based on these results, much like in Players Cup II, Pikachu and Zekrom-GX and Centiskorch VMAX are the two strongest decks going into the second phase. However, I think the window is more than large enough for a lot of decks that didn’t hit the top of the leaderboard. Notably, I recently gave [card name=”Eternatus VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card] another chance after despising the deck for a while, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. And then, of course, simply by its inherent nature, you can never write off [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card].
Now, as promised, I want to look at the deck that made third place. As of writing this, third place on the leaderboard is occupied by control, stall, and mill aficionado Sander Wojcik. To no one’s surprise, Sander spent all 50 of his keys playing a control deck that he’s been iterating for much of the Team Up-on format, and it’s undeniable that his deck has an immense amount of potential.
During the first half of 2020, in the Ultra Prism-on format, most control decks opted for one of two strategies: hand lock with a combination of [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Mars” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Jessie and James” set=”Hidden Fates” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Chip-Chip Ice Axe” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card], or aggressively using [card name=”Bellelba and Brycen-Man” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”186″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Lt. Surge’s Strategy” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”178″ c=”name”][/card] to mill as many as six cards per turn. Then, with the rotation to Team Up-on, control lost a lot of its critical tools, including [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] and Mars. Around the same time, Bellelba and Brycen-Man was banned in Standard for its milling potential. As a result, control has been left with only one main strategy: slowly burning the opponent’s resources while you establish a combo to lock them out of attacking. Then you can slowly establish a primary win condition, usually a deck-out strategy, while removing all your opponent’s Energy.
I find these archetypes especially strong in the current Standard format — since decks tend to be so fast, they’re more vulnerable to running themselves out of resources, and thus they’re more susceptible to the slow mill strategy. Slow mill can be scary to play in the Players Cup Qualifier phase due to the short match timer, but I think it has a lot of potential for the upcoming second phase. (I also think there is one other way to consistently win by deck out, and that’s with [card name=”Mega Sableye and Tyranitar-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”126″ c=”name”][/card]. I’ll get to that later on.)
Without further ado, let’s get into the Sander-style control list!
Sander-style Control
As I mentioned, Sander took this style of control deck to the top of the leaderboard, amassing an astounding 154 Tournament Rep. The strategy’s actually pretty simple: In the early state of the game, you want to start building up a large assortment of cards in your hand via [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Snorlax” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card]. Throughout the game, you’ll have several ways to increase the opponent’s Active Pokemon’s Retreat Cost, such as [card name=”Galar Mine” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card], while repeatedly using [card name=”Alolan Muk” set=”Team Up” no=”84″ c=”name”][/card] to discard their [card name=”Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card]. Eventually, in the final stages of the game, you will use [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card] to trap something like a [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] in the Active Spot, and then start looping [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card] to keep it there. At this point, it’s nearly impossible for your opponent to move the stuck Pokemon, so you can take your time removing the rest of your opponent’s resources until they run out of options and you win the game!
Deck List
[decklist name=”Muk Control” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Munchlax” set=”Unified Minds” no=”173″][pokemon amt=”18″]2x [card name=”Munchlax” set=”Unified Minds” no=”173″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Alolan Muk” set=”Team Up” no=”84″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Alolan Grimer” set=”Unified Minds” no=”127″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Absol” set=”Team Up” no=”88″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Snorlax” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”131″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Altaria” set=”Champion’s Path” no=”49″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Swablu” set=”Champion’s Path” no=”48″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Bronzong” set=”Team Up” no=”101″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Bronzor” set=”Team Up” no=”100″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mawile-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”141″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Giratina” set=”Unified Minds” no=”86″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”42″]4x [card name=”Cynthia and Caitlin” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”189″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Will” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”208″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Bird Keeper” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”159″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Lt. Surge’s Strategy” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”178″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Koga’s Trap” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”177″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Giovanni’s Exile” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”174″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Bill’s Analysis” set=”Team Up” no=”133″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Lillie’s Poké Doll” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”197″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”159″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Pokémon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”152″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”172″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Yell Horn” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”173″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Ordinary Rod” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Tool Scrapper” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”168″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Galar Mine” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”160″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Wondrous Labyrinth Prism Star” set=”Team Up” no=”158″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”0″][/energy][/decklist]
Card Inclusions
My Changes From Sander’s List
Sander posted his deck list on Twitter, and I think it borders on perfection. However, I removed one [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] and one [card name=”Erika’s Hospitality” set=”Team Up” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card] in favor of a second Snorlax and a fourth [card name=”Cynthia and Caitlin” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”189″ c=”name”][/card]. These changes are largely down to personal preference. I have never particularly been a fan of Jirachi in control decks, instead opting to use more consistent draw packages or more tech cards. In this particular deck, I’ve prioritized the draw with Snorlax — but still, I can’t deny that Jirachi has its uses. It makes drawing into Scoop Up Net easier, and also lets you shuffle your deck after losing a huge hand to a [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card].
As for Cynthia and Caitlin, this is more of a drastic change from Erika’s Hospitality than Oranguru is from Jirachi, but it makes sense. One aspect of Erika’s Hospitality that has always bothered me is the fact that you can only have four other cards in your hand when you play it. In a deck like control, you build up your hand far too much with cards like Zacian V and Snorlax, and at that point you simply can’t use Erika’s Hospitality at all. This drove me to switch it to a fourth Cynthia and Caitlin. Cynthia and Caitlin can more reliably draw cards and has the added bonus of being able to get back your Supporter cards — and with so many critical Supporters, that’s extremely valuable in this deck.
Two Munchlax
As per the control deck norm, we play two [card name=”Munchlax” set=”Unified Minds” no=”173″ c=”name”][/card]. In this particular control deck, the card isn’t just a convenience — it’s essential for the deck to function. As I highlighted earlier, the rotation to Team Up-on caused [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] to leave Standard, and as a result, we were left with very few good options to recover resources. There’s [card name=”Excadrill” set=”Unified Minds” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card], but Excadrill has its own fair share of problems. Apart from that, we only have mediocre cards like [card name=”Dhelmise” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”98″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Xerneas” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card], both of which only get one card back from the discard pile. Sacrificing a potential Prize card for just one card from the discard pile isn’t remotely worth it.
As a result, we look to Munchlax. Thanks to its Ability Snack Search, we are able to constantly recover resources while leaving a bulkier Snorlax or Zacian V as our Active Pokemon — or better yet, a [card name=”Lillie’s Poké Doll” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”197″ c=”name”][/card] to deny the opponent a Prize card entirely. Oftentimes, a key strategy in this deck will be to keep getting back Lillie’s Poke Doll with Munchlax in order to stop the opponent from ever taking a Prize card! This strategy doesn’t always work, of course — it has a 50% chance of failing on any particular turn due to Munchlax’s Ability — so we play other cards to make the strategy safer and more consistent.
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Two Alolan Muk, Two Grimer, and Four Scoop Up Net
[cardimg name=”Alolan Muk” set=”Team Up” no=”84″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
Arguably the second most important card in the deck, behind only the aforementioned Munchlax, [card name=”Alolan Muk” set=”Team Up” no=”84″ c=”name”][/card] is critical to our win condition in more ways than one. As one would expect of a deck with zero Energy cards, our primary win condition is to run the opponent out of cards in their deck, so Alolan Muk helps us by actively discarding Item cards from it. Most critically, Alolan Muk can discard Item cards like [card name=”Ordinary Rod” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Metal Saucer” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”170″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card], helping to enact the strategy of locking an undesirable Pokemon in your opponent’s Active Spot by removing the pivotal switching options and ways to recover Energy. With Alolan Muk being so critical to this deck’s strategy, we play four Scoop Up Net of our own in order to reuse its Ability several times per game.
Two Absol, One Mawile-GX, Three Boss’s Orders, and Two Galar Mine
Now as I’ve said, a key win condition is to be able to lock a non-attacking Pokemon, such as [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Crobat V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card], in the Active Spot. But how can we stop the opponent from attaching an Energy and paying the Retreat Cost of one? Well, we play [card name=”Absol” set=”Team Up” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] and/or [card name=”Galar Mine” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card] to make retreating nearly impossible. With two Absol and a Galar Mine, we can increase a Dedenne-GX’s Retreat Cost as high as five! If the opponent somehow manages to pay that tremendous Retreat Cost, then we can simply play a [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] and drag the Pokemon right back into the Active Spot.
At this point, you may be thinking, “What if my opponent doesn’t put a trappable Pokemon on their Bench?” Well, that’s what [card name=”Mawile-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”141″ c=”name”][/card] is for! Against a stubborn opponent who is unwilling to put Dedenne-GX on their Bench, we can use Mawile-GX’s Captivating Wink to bench it for them.
Two Zacian V and Two Snorlax
With a deck so wholly built around running the opponent out of resources, we still need to make sure we have consistent access to our own resources. That means we include [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Snorlax” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card] as supplemental draw. As you probably noticed, very few of our Supporters actually draw any cards, and the ones that do only draw a couple cards. Instead, Zacian V’s Intrepid Sword and Snorlax’s Gormandize both perfectly fill that niche by consistently giving us a few extra cards to work with every turn. (Unfortunately, both of these cards, alongside Munchlax, end our turn, so we can’t use all three at once. When playing out your turn, try to think about which Ability you will be using, and play out your cards accordingly so you don’t end up getting stuck on the following turn!)
One Altaria, One Swablu, One Bronzong, and One Bronzor
It’s best to explain both of these cards at once, as their purposes are nearly identical. Historically, control, stall, or mill based decks have had major problems with two main strategies: the opponent drawing multiple Prizes in a turn; and decks that can go all in with a single attacker and have turns that consist entirely of “draw, attach, attack.” Annoyingly, [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] is precisely the first issue in the current Standard format, and [card name=”Centiskorch VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”34″ c=”name”][/card] is the embodiment of the second. It even reattaches any Energy you manage to remove! But conveniently, there are strong answers to each of these problems in the Team Up-on format.
The first problem, being Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX’s Ability to take an additional Prize card for each Knock Out, is mitigated by [card name=”Altaria” set=”Champion’s Path” no=”49″ c=”name”][/card]’s Miraculous Charm, which walls out any sort of attack from traditional Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX / [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] deck lists. It also walls out [card name=”Lucario and Melmetal-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card] / Zacian V for the same reason. However, you have to be careful — both of these decks can easily tech in a copy of [card name=”Aegislash V” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”126″ c=”name”][/card] or even [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card] to break through Altaria.
Similar to Altaria, [card name=”Bronzong” set=”Team Up” no=”101″ c=”name”][/card] acts as a wall for Centiskorch VMAX and other Fire-type Pokemon, forcing the opponent to put more Pokemon on their Bench, which makes your other win conditions more viable. Centiskorch VMAX as a deck, for example, is generally quite vulnerable to the strategy of stranding a Dedenne-GX in the Active Spot. However, Centiskorch VMAX also commonly plays [card name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card], which can use its Double Blaze GX to cut through Bronzong’s Heatproof Ability. That means you need to make sure you have Pokemon to put on your Bench when the opponent plays their first [card name=”Welder” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”189″ c=”name”][/card] to power up a big Double Blaze GX.
One Giratina, Two Will, Four Crushing Hammer, and One Wondrous Labyrinth Prism Star
[cardimg name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”159″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
At last, the Energy denial section! At this point, everyone should be familiar with [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card] and the havoc it has wreaked in the recent Standard format. As one would expect, we play four copies of this infamous card to help us trap a Pokemon in an Active Spot by removing all the Energy that might go toward retreating it. Then, to make it a bit more reliable, we play two copies of [card name=”Will” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”208″ c=”name”][/card] to ensure that our Crushing Hammer always lands heads when we need it. (In addition, Will also can apply to Munchlax’s Snack Search to guarantee you a card from the discard pile!)
With the Scoop Up Nets that we already play, [card name=”Giratina” set=”Unified Minds” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card] is a natural fit as another form of Energy denial against decks like [card name=”Polteageist” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”83″ c=”custom”]Mad Party[/card] that use [card name=”Twin Energy” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”174″ c=”name”][/card] to power up their attackers. Lastly, [card name=”Wondrous Labyrinth Prism Star” set=”Team Up” no=”158″ c=”name”][/card] is a perfect fit — we will never be attacking, so the card is exclusively detrimental to the opponent.
One Koga’s Trap and One Yell Horn
Now for the non-Energy denial disruption cards. [card name=”Koga’s Trap” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”177″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Yell Horn” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”173″ c=”name”][/card] both find places in this deck for identical purposes: confusion. Without a doubt, the strongest Special Condition in the Pokemon TCG is paralysis, but I think confusion is an easy number two. The biggest strength of the confusion condition is that it leaves a player with uncertainty. It requires them to have to make a conscious decision on whether or not they think it is worth using a Switch to escape the Special Condition. We include these two confusion Trainers in order to force this uncertainty and incentivize burning resources, which further advances us toward our win condition.
Mega Sableye and Tyranitar-GX Mill
I mentioned a [card name=”Mega Sableye and Tyranitar-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”126″ c=”name”][/card] mill deck earlier, and I thought I would throw it in as an additional bonus deck. I’ll end up going less in-depth with this particular deck than I normally do, as it does feel a bit more gimmicky, but that doesn’t mean it’s not capable of winning its fair share of games. It boasts a generally favorable matchup against most Welder-based decks, as well as any other deck that’s prone to burning its way through its cards quickly.
The strategy of this deck is extremely basic: get out [card name=”Axew” set=”Unified Minds” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card], which is immune to [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] thanks to “Unnerve,” use [card name=”N’s Resolve” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”200″ c=”name”][/card] to accelerate Energy in addition to your manual attachments, then when the opponent is at 15 or fewer cards in their deck, you play [card name=”Nanu” set=”Team Up” no=”150″ c=”name”][/card] to switch into Mega Sableye and Tyranitar-GX’s “Gigafall GX” in order to claim a victory by discarding the rest of their deck. I’ll say this — the deck is extremely fun to play, and I’ve never had a boring game with it.
Deck List
[decklist name=”Axew Mill” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Mega Sableye and Tyranitar-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”126″][pokemon amt=”16″]2x [card name=”Mega Sableye and Tyranitar-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”126″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Axew” set=”Unified Minds” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Dunsparce” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Munchlax” set=”Unified Minds” no=”173″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Snorlax” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”131″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Mew” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”76″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x Aipom (PRSM #SM244)[/pokemon][trainers amt=”29″]3x [card name=”N’s Resolve” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”200″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Cynthia and Caitlin” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”189″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Nanu” set=”Team Up” no=”150″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Bird Keeper” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”159″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Rosa” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”204″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Koga’s Trap” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”177″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Cursed Shovel” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”157″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Lillie’s Poké Doll” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”197″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Sword and Shield” no=”174″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Ordinary Rod” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”15″]14x [card name=”Darkness Energy” set=”Call of Legends” no=”94″ c=”deck2″ amt=”14″][/card]1x [card name=”Capture Energy” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/energy][/decklist]
Card Inclusions
This deck has a lot of similar cards to the previous deck, so you can generally refer to them for explanations, as the reasoning is quite similar. The cards below are critically important, but not necessarily as obvious in their purpose.
Three Dunsparce and Four Cursed Shovel
As with any mill deck, you want some way to actively discard cards from your opponent’s deck. Since we need to focus on attaching Energy to Axew, we can’t afford to power up any attacks that help with that, so instead we settle for [card name=”Dunsparce” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Cursed Shovel” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”157″ c=”name”][/card]. Each of these can mill a couple cards and help bring your opponent’s deck down to the magic number 15.
Two Mew
Since the deck’s entire strategy relies on powering up an Axew on the Bench, it would be awfully unfortunate if a [card name=”Cramorant V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card] was able to pick off your Axew before it was powered up. To avoid this, we play two [card name=”Mew” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card] — it’s important enough that we want to play two in order to make sure we always have access to it.
Conclusion
With that, I wrap up my article on mill in the Standard format! As I alluded to earlier, I think mill is a strong play for the second phase of the Players Cup, with the longer match timers making room for more thinking time and play time in general. I hope you enjoyed reading about both of these decks, as I think both are super interesting and a nice breath of fresh air in Standard. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out in the Subscriber’s Hideout, on Twitter (@ICheville), or on Facebook (Zaya Lee). Until next time!
-Isaiah
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