Pittsburgh Regionals and More on Mew

Hello everyone! Recently, two absolutely massive Pokemon tournaments took place on the same weekend. I was at Pittsburgh Regionals, which was the largest Regional Championships ever. Additionally, the Worlds venue hosted yet another massive tournament: the Champions League Yokohama. This Japanese tournament had over 3,000 players, which has become the norm for their large events. Today, I will quickly recap these events, with a focus on Pittsburgh because I experienced it firsthand. Then I will go more in-depth on [card name=”Mew VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] in the current format, which is the deck that my group and I played at the tournament.

[cardimg name=”Miraidon ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”81″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Two decks showed up huge in Pittsburgh that I was not expecting much of: [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Miraidon ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”81″ c=”name”][/card]. Both of these decks occupied a respectable meta share, and their popularity was sustained throughout the top tables and Day 2 play. Each deck secured two Top 8 spots despite a diverse meta. For Lugia, this makes some sense. Lugia is a notoriously inconsistent deck, but it is quite broken when it works. It is more or less favored in every matchup — on paper, at least. Lugia players will be the first to admit that their deck can brick a lot, though this is basically its only downside. With so many players picking Lugia for the tournament, some of them will inevitably find themselves on the favorable end of the variance bell curve. It is a good feeling knowing that you’ve won the game if your hand has a way to discard two [card name=”Archeops” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card]. It’s just that finding yourself with four Energy and no Supporter is a disaster that occurs all too often.

Miraidon, on the other hand, is a fairly consistent deck with a respectable power level. However, it has not achieved many results until now, and most top players (myself included) would not be caught dead playing the deck. Despite this, Miraidon had a fantastic weekend and many Day 2 spots. I admittedly do not have enough experience with the deck to justify my poor opinion of it, so I am not sure how to explain its successes. Miraidon is a fast, brain-dead beatstick deck that does the same simple thing every single game. Sometimes this is enough to win, and sometimes it isn’t. I don’t expect to see much from Miraidon in the future, but you never know. Regardless, during this current stint of popularity, you should surely be prepared to face it.

My group considered playing Lugia due to its fantastic matchups, but ultimately decided that the deck was too inconsistent and miserable to play. We did not give Miraidon its due diligence, but would probably not have played it anyway. I do find it interesting that the successful Miraidon lists were more mid-range than anything. They did not lean too heavily in either the [card name=”Path to the Peak” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card] or the turbo direction. To me, this seems to result in a very average deck in every sense, but the cards are clearly good enough to have success at the highest level.

[card name=”Kyogre” set=”Celebrations” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card] ended up winning its first event, which warrants some salt from my group and me, as we were unable to do so despite numerous Top 8 placements with the archetype. Kyogre has always been an incredibly strong deck that is chronically underplayed. This is due to its requiring a nuclear physics degree to pilot at a competent level. Kyogre has always been on my group’s radar, but we deemed its matchups too contentious against [card name=”Gardevoir ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card], Lugia, and [card name=”Charizard ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card]. However, Andrew Estrada was able to blow through several Gardevoir and Lugia on his way to the top, and was rewarded with a Top 8 bracket full of auto-win matchups. I am not a huge fan of the list itself, but Estrada was still able to take advantage of how broken Kyogre is due to his incredible skill as a player.

Kyogre ended up being particularly good at Pittsburgh because it absolutely destroys Miraidon, and Estrada faced five of them during his Day 2 run.

Lost Box overall was the star of Pittsburgh. Between Kyogre and the more popular turbo variant, it was the most popular archetype in Day 2. Aside from Kyogre winning and placing Top 16, non-Kyogre Lost Box decks had three more Top 16 spots and also bubbled at 17th. Miraidon matches up poorly into Lost Box, so the ones that did well had to avoid them throughout Day 2. While most were filtered out, some inevitably made it to Top 8, destined to eventually fall to Kyogre.

Now we come to Mew. I ended up placing 33rd in the tournament with Fusion Mew. This was a very disappointing bubble after fighting through the most stacked bracket player-wise that I have ever faced. I started 7-2 in Day 1, with one loss due to a bad misplay that I did not realize until later. However, that loss in Round 7 would have only turned into a tie without the misplay, and would have changed the course of the tournament for me, so I am not too down about it. My loss against [card name=”Double Turbo Energy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”151″ c=”name”][/card] Mew in Round 3 was entirely outside of my control, as I just bricked twice. In Day 2, I went 3-1-2, which is not an amazing score.

My one loss in Day 2 was against Isaiah Bradner with [card name=”Giratina VSTAR” set=”Lost Origin” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Drapion V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”118″ c=”name”][/card], which is a true auto-loss matchup for me. I was not expecting the Drapion in Game 1, and if I was up against a less skilled player, perhaps I could have pulled off a win or a tie. My ties were against Tord and Haru, both playing Gardevoir. Both were extremely close matches against very skilled players. My [card name=”Cram-o-matic” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”229″ c=”name”][/card] flips were very streaky in Day 2. I flipped all relevant tails against Isaiah and Tord, and an absurd number of heads against Haru and Ian Robb’s Lugia. My other wins were uneventful beatdowns against DTE Mew and [card name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”TG21″ c=”name”][/card].

There was one Mew in Top 4, and Caleb Gedemer from my group made Top 16. We correctly predicted that [card name=”Charizard ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] would be a non-issue, so it followed that Mew would be a good play. The deck is still broken and always will be. However, its matchup against Kyogre is very bad. It is rare for skilled players to bring Kyogre to major tournaments, so we did not consider it a threat. We had several cards to deal with the more popular Lost Box variants, such as [card name=”Lost City” set=”Lost Origin” no=”161″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Crystal Cave” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”144″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Switch Cart” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] . In games where we could use these cards at opportune times, we were favored against Lost Box, but didn’t end up facing many of them anyway. We also did not face many Miraidon, but that matchup is about 50-50, so I don’t feel one way or the other about it.

Here is the list I played at the tournament:

[decklist name=”mew” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Mew VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”114″][pokemon amt=”12″]3x [card name=”Mew VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”114″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Mew V” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”113″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Genesect V” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”185″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Meloetta” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”124″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”41″]1x [card name=”Judge” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”176″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Elesa’s Sparkle” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”233″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”196″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Battle VIP Pass” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”225″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Cram-o-matic” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”229″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Power Tablet” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”236″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Forest Seal Stone” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”181″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Feather Ball” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”141″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Choice Belt” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”135″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Lost Vacuum” set=”Lost Origin” no=”162″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Switch Cart” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Battle Styles” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Box of Disaster” set=”Lost Origin” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”182″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Crystal Cave” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”144″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Town Store” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”196″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Path to the Peak” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Lost City” set=”Lost Origin” no=”161″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”7″]3x [card name=”Double Turbo Energy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”151″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Fusion Strike Energy” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”244″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/energy][/decklist][premium]

We decided to forego the second single-Prize Pokemon, as both [card name=”Oricorio” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”42″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Eiscue” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card] do not offer a lot of value in the current format. Jon Eng made Top 32 with [card name=”Deoxys” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card] in his list. As much as I dislike the card, it is probably better than Oricorio and Eiscue at the moment. I would still rather play a consistency card or something myself.

[cardimg name=”Feather Ball” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”141″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

The Supporter lineup remains the same standard roster as the Worlds list. No notes there. We cut [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”181″ c=”name”][/card] down to two and kept the two [card name=”Feather Ball” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”141″ c=”name”][/card]. I high-rolled most of my opening hands, so I did not particularly miss the extra Nest Balls, but I would always prefer to include them. Also, it is absolutely mind-blowing to me how few Ball search cards people play in Mew.

The absolute greed needed to play two Nest Ball and zero Feather Ball is unconscionable. I was uncomfortable going down to two Nest and two Feather, and going even lower than that is absolute foolishness. The common counterargument is that all the successful lists use these counts, but again, that is simply the random result of outliers on the bell curve. There is a reason why the results-based fallacy is a fallacy: when Mew is played in such high numbers, it is inevitable that some will high-roll the tournament. The deck is broken already, but what’s important is to optimize the list for the best chance of success. Blindly throwing a standard list at the wall and hoping that variance favors you is not a winning mindset.

The same applies to three switch cards! Why on earth are people playing three switch cards? Two is more than enough — I promise! The extra Switch Cart’s healing is irrelevant against Lost Box if you also play Crystal Cave. If you don’t play Crystal Cave, which is reasonable, then it is fine to play two Switch Cart. But then you don’t have to play the [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Battle Styles” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card]! Escape Rope’s utility is quite useful on occasion. We kept one, and played one Switch Cart for the combo with Crystal Cave against Lost Box. It wasn’t that we were going out of our way to tech for Lost Box; it was more that we wanted a switch card and another Path counter. It just so happened that Switch Cart and Crystal Cave fulfill these roles while also beating Lost Box, so it just makes sense to play them. For Worlds, we were committed to two Lost City, so we didn’t have space for that extra Stadium and were not as concerned with Lost Box.

I trash-talked [card name=”Box of Disaster” set=”Lost Origin” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] at Worlds and feel like a total fool for playing the card at Pittsburgh. It did absolutely nothing for me, as Gardevoir always had the Lost Vacuum to counter it. This should have made them weaker against a late-game Path, but this never came up in the tournament. I faced three Gardevoir and did not beat a single one. Box of Disaster is only useful in this matchup, and it’s supposed to make it favorable, but I think Box is just a bad card.

[card name=”Town Store” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”196″ c=”name”][/card] is the new toy for Mew. I did not find it particularly useful, but it’s definitely better than a third Vacuum. It is just a Stadium counter that does something. I had one opportunity for it to be good, as my opponent played Path on their first turn going first. My only out to Path was Cram-o-matic, with an otherwise dead hand. If I flipped heads on Cram, I could get Town Store to bump Path, then fetch [card name=”Forest Seal Stone” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] for [card name=”Battle VIP Pass” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”225″ c=”name”][/card] and start playing the game. Naturally, I flipped tails and lost on the spot. One thing that I did not like about Town Store is its enormous potential to help the opponent. I often held onto it to avoid giving my opponent a free Forest Seal Stone, which hindered my own game plan more than if it was some other random card.

Other than Box of Disaster and possibly Town Store, the list choices were good. I did not particularly miss anything that I didn’t have.

Matchups

Giratina – Favorable

One of Mew’s best selling points is its favorable Giratina matchup. The majority of lists do not play Drapion, and other techs like [card name=”Spiritomb” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card] are ineffective. Of course, if Giratina does tech Drapion, they will almost always win. Going first, you try to set up for a [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] KO on [card name=”Giratina V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”185″ c=”name”][/card] on your second turn. Going second, a Psychic Leap on a [card name=”Comfey” set=”Lost Origin” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] or a nice juicy [card name=”Judge” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”209″ c=”name”][/card] are decent options. Always conserve Path counters whenever you can, as Path is your main loss condition. Avoid playing down single-Prize Pokemon, as that gives them an easy 3-2-1 route to win the game. Forcing them into a 3-3 or 3-2-3 line makes it much more difficult for them. You usually need enough damage modifiers to KO one Giratina VSTAR and one Giratina V.

Gardevoir – Even

[cardimg name=”Box of Disaster” set=”Lost Origin” no=”154″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Unfortunately for Mew, Gardevoir lists now play annoying cards such as Mirage Step [card name=”Kirlia” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card], Lost Vacuum, and a second [card name=”Reversal Energy” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”192″ c=”name”][/card], all of which greatly help them against Mew. These cards make the matchup a lot closer than it was before. Early aggression with Lost City is still the go-to, with Box of Disaster prepped at the most opportune time. Psychic Leap is also important in this matchup. If you are able to save enough modifiers to one-shot a Gardevoir ex, that is great, as they sometimes have to attack with it. I would not bend over backwards to save [card name=”Power Tablet” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”236″ c=”name”][/card]s if they are clogging up your early-game hands, though. If you are able to Knock Out enough [card name=”Kirlia” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”68″ c=”name”][/card], you may be able to win with a late-game [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”name”][/card] plus Path, so try to keep that option open. [card name=”Meloetta” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card] is not needed early on, but sometimes it can be useful in the later stages of the game for Mew to copy its attack with [card name=”Fusion Strike Energy” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”244″ c=”name”][/card] you have accumulated in play.

Lugia – Slightly Favorable

I beat all three Lugia I faced, but the matchup can be close if they are able to set up quickly. If you can take two Prizes with Meloetta early on, that is the ideal strategy. It is difficult to do so later, as you must use [card name=”Elesa’s Sparkle” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”233″ c=”name”][/card] to power up Meloetta and cannot use Boss. They will be attacking with [card name=”Yveltal” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”175″ c=”name”][/card] to throw off your Prize trade, so that’s why an early Meloetta is best. If you can take two early, you can ignore the Yveltal entirely and win with a 2-2-2 line. This is what I did against Ian in Day 2, but both of my Day 1 Lugia opponents just bricked.

Miraidon and Mirror – Even

These matchups are very straightforward with both decks trading blows. You generally want to conserve Forest Seal Stone when possible and find ideal spots to use Path. Path plus Iono is your only way to make a comeback if you are behind. In both matchups, if you pop off and hit the turn-one Meloetta for two Prizes, you probably win.

Kyogre – Terrible

It may seem like a bad idea to take a loss to the deck that just won the biggest Regional, but it’s fine. The human mind has the incredible capacity to rationalize anything, and I am here to rationalize why this is a good idea. Nobody ever plays Kyogre, even when it does well. You are rarely going to face one, and will almost never face more than one in a tournament. Kyogre is extremely difficult to play. Not only is it an uncommon deck for this reason, but many of the players who attempt to play it will be filtered out over time, further reducing your chances of facing it.

Lost Box – Slightly Favorable

A well-timed Crystal Cave and Switch Cart cuts off most of Lost Box’s lines. And a well-timed Lost City limits Drapion to taking only three Prizes. If you utilize Psychic Leap properly and find those one-ofs at the opportune times, you should be winning this matchup. Don’t play down Meloetta for the same reason you don’t against Giratina.

Chien-Pao – Favorable

I am not an expert on this matchup, but it seemed pretty good every time I have played it. I think [card name=”Chien-Pao ex” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”61″ c=”name”][/card] is the worst meta deck by far. However, the Canadian version with two [card name=”Bibarel” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] is definitely the best way to play the deck, and this is reflected by its Top 8 Pittsburgh and Top 32 Worlds finishes. The double Bibarel makes it stronger against hand disruption, which is the main way to beat it.

Other

[card name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] is a comically easy matchup, and Charizard is just the opposite. I consider it a gift whenever I face Urshifu, but an unlucky disaster to run into Charizard. Both decks are fairly underplayed, but Urshifu is definitely more prominent in terms of usage and results.

Conclusion

Pittsburgh is the only event in the NA circuit that used the Obsidian Flames format. Going forward, we have Peoria Regionals with the 151 promotional set legal. I have not looked too closely at the new cards yet, but my upcoming articles will be covering the major points and what we have to look forward to. I do not expect too much to change. Even with Obsidian Flames‘s release, the overall meta did not shift much. It seems that this meta is still fairly open, and a wide variety of decks are strong and viable. In metas like these, Mew sticks out as a well-rounded and powerful play with very few bad matchups. Mew has always had amazing speed, power, and consistency. Its only weakness is the plethora of counters that exist, but Mew is still capable of handling many of those.

Thanks for reading! Perhaps I will write about something other than Mew in the future!

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