The Road to Nationals – An In-Depth Look on How to Prepare!
Hello PokeBeach article readers! Welcome to my first article for the site. To start, a little introduction about myself. This year is my 6th year of competitive Pokemon TCG. I started playing Pokemon back in 2009 as a first year Senior, and now I am a second year Master. This year, I have accumulated 627 CP so far, and am really looking at getting any amount of points at the United States National tournament to secure my spot in top 16 in the U.S. and Canada rating zone. You can bet that I am for sure trying the hardest I have ever tried for a large tournament. I have very recently seen article writing as one of the coolest things to do with the Pokemon community, and want to go ahead and give it a try! I feel as a player I have grown a ton since I started back in 2009, and am more confident about my abilities to make significantly less misplays, much better deck choices, and much better deck lists that are more optimal. This is why I feel the information that I give will be helpful to the community.
For this article, I want to go over how to prepare for large tournaments which includes figuring out what makes you comfortable, how to analyze the meta, my analysis of the meta (going over some of the decks we will be seeing at the upcoming U.S. National Championships), and finally figure out how to find the deck you should play! Of course, to see all of this you will need to be a subscriber to PokeBeach’s premium article program, which does include more features than just reading articles, like having access to the Secret Subscriber Hideout in the forums to get help on deck lists. If you feel unprepared for Nationals, or just want to reassure some of your ideas, now would be the time to upgrade your account!
How to Prepare for Large Tournaments
The road to Nationals starts here. Watch out for road signs, and pay attention to the road at all times. We will try to make this a nice, smooth ride. Here we go!
Knowing Yourself
The things almost all preparation articles will say is the following: get good sleep, eat a good breakfast, and play tons of Pokemon. Here is how I see these though.
Honestly, you do not have to do those things. Do whatever makes you feel right. If you are someone who can live on little sleep, and would rather worry about your deck choices the night before in a hotel room, do it. One of the things that helps me out is staying up late with one of my friends who I came with and constantly talking about the meta. We don’t want to torture ourselves or anything, we are usually fine on less hours of sleep. Now, if you are the opposite and need more hours of sleep, just plan accordingly. Clearly you can still talk about the meta and your deck choices right before bed. You just need to do it earlier. I hear a lot of people at Pokemon tournaments complain about not getting enough sleep, when simply planning ahead might be better to ensure you get the amount of sleep you need. I purposely stay up, and plan for it because I know I enjoy doing so. This does not harm me, which is why I do not complain about sleep at all.
Next is eating a good breakfast. Breakfast is suppose to help you wake up right, however, I am very off and on when it comes to wanting to eat at tournaments. Due to being nervous about deck choices and constantly having the mind on Pokemon, sometimes eating is worse for me due to making me feel sick. I have a few friends who are like this, and usually we all barely eat at Pokemon events. When it comes to lunch break, usually I am hungry enough to eat something, but stuffing yourself will make you tired, bloated, and potentially uncomfortable. So figure out how your body works with nerves and food working together.
Finally, playing tons of Pokemon. Before large tournaments, especially ones that are as important as this upcoming Nationals, I cannot stop thinking about Pokemon. I am constantly thinking of what I could do to my deck list, how my matchups look, and what I expect to see at the tournament. In the past few months, I have increased the amount of PTCGO I have played as well, and encourage others to constantly play Pokemon online to get in that much more playtesting. Online versions of Pokemon allow you to get so many more games in than ever before, and really is an amazing way to playtest due to it being similar to real life when you random battle. You have no idea what you are going up against, meaning you are going in blind, just like you would a large tournament. When you battle friends in real life, more than likely you are going to end up knowing what they are playing, and it might adjust your play style. This will negatively affect playtesting, like knowing your friend’s list, knowing what would be an optimal starter due to knowing their deck. An example would be not benching a [card name=”Landorus-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”89″ c=”name”] to start the game due to knowing your opponent is playing a [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”] focused deck, even though you are going second, and would therefore risk losing your [card name=”Landorus-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”89″ c=”name”] to a turn one [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”name”] by your opponent, which could ruin a good start if it was against another deck. Having no insight on your opponent’s deck list is the best for playtesting.
To sum it all up, just be comfortable. You do not need to copy exactly what the person you admire does. It may just not work for you. Some people try not to play or think about Pokemon too much before tournaments because they say they will burn out. For me, I can never burn out on Pokemon it seems. Some people enjoy eating prior to tournament, or maybe you are more like me and cannot stand the thought of food during Pokemon tournaments. And once again, people say rest is best, but I say less sleep means more prep time! Perhaps that is not the best advice, but understand that this portion is about what makes your comfortable. If what I say sounds fun, relaxing, and an improvement to what you do currently, then change! If you are opposite of me, that is fine as well! The best thing is to know exactly how you are, what works for you, and plan to do so at tournaments. People might even try telling you more than just these things I have looked over above, just the main thing once again is apply this to those other things. Listen to yourself above everything else.
Now that you know how to prepare for a big event, it is time to look at how you want to choose your deck for these tournaments. If you are having trouble deciding what deck to play at Nationals, the rest of this article will definitely help you out! There is a lot to go over, so I would strongly suggest upgrading your account now to get all the best information you can before U.S. Nationals!
[premium]
Deck Choices
Categories
One of the first things you want to do when choosing a deck list is analyze the meta to find what the most popular decks are in the format. It is possible for the most popular deck to be different than the best deck. For example, the State Championships, Winter, and Autumn Regional Championships all had quite a common occurrence. [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”] based deck were typically the most popular deck, however, Yveltal was not winning any tournaments. It would constantly get into top cuts, but not finishing it off. This probably means Yveltal based decks were not the best deck in the format, but due to the popularity, at least a couple people per tournament got far with it. This is something that happens a lot: If enough people are playing a deck, it will go far.
After figuring out what is the most popular, figure out what has been seeing the best results. At other Nationals, we see a lot of [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”] decks with various partners such as [card name=”Raichu” set=”XY” no=”43″ c=”name”], [card name=”Landorus-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”89″ c=”name”], and [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”]. These decks have seen a lot of good results, and are also popular. However, other decks have seen the wins in some Nationals. For example, Indonesia was won by Fairy Toolbox, Mexico was won by [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name”], Denmark was won by [card name=”Primal Groudon-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”86″ c=”name”], and Canada was won by Metal. All of these players must have beaten these Crobat decks as well since a lot of decks in the top cuts played Crobat. Clearly this means there are many good decks to consider.
Finally, you still want to consider rogue decks. Some rogue decks gain popularity over time, and there has been quite a bit of time since the [card name=”Lysandre’s Trump Card” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”99″ c=”name”] ban for people to figure out what could be good. One of the most popular rogue decks I have seen from Pokemon streamers is the [card name=”Noivern” set=”Furious Fists” no=”77″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Meowstic” set=”Flashfire” no=”43″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Gourgeist” set=”XY” no=”57″ c=”name”] deck, which has the annoying strategy of having a lot of spread damage from Noivern and Gourgeist, which can then be manipulated with Meowstic’s attack Ear Influence to get all of the damage on two or three Pokemon-EX to KO them. These kind of decks should at least be considered. Probably not as much as the first two categories, but some at least.
Meta Analysis
Now that we have an idea of what we are looking for (popularity, results, rogue), we are going to look at some of the decks you should expect to see at this upcoming Nationals. First I will list them out, then I will analyze them and give some sample deck lists to start out with.
For popularity, there are four really popular decks from what I have seen from various sources (Facebook groups, discussion with friends, hype factor, forums, etc.) and they are Night March, [card name=”Raichu” set=”XY” no=”43″ c=”name”] / Dark, [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Gengar-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”34″ c=”name”] and [card name=”Landorus-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”89″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”].
For results, the three most successful decks from what I have seen from other National tournaments would be Landorus-EX / Crobat, Metal, and Raichu / Crobat / Techs.
For rogue, the most popular rogue decks would probably be [card name=”Noivern” set=”Furious Fists” no=”77″ c=”name”] and [card name=”Latios-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”58″ c=”name”] variants.
Deck Breakdown
Here I will go over all of the decks I mentioned in my meta analysis. I will explain how and why this was my conclusion for the meta analysis, and for the decks that I have spent time testing with or against, I will give lists for.
Night March
Night March is a deck that has gotten a huge buff from the recent [card name=”Lysandre’s Trump Card” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”99″ c=”name”] ban. Night March relies on the attacks from [card name=”Joltik” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”26″ c=”name”], [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”44″ c=”name”], and [card name=”Lampent” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”42″ c=”name”]. Since your opponent can no longer disrupt your set up with Lysandre’s Trump Card, there is no fear in discarding all of your Night Marchers quickly in order to start attacking for around 200 damage on your first turn of the game. After this setup, the Night March deck can be nearly unbeatable. Most people realized this the instant the news came out that Lysandre’s Trump Card was banned. Due to the hype this deck is carrying with it from the ban, I feel this deck will be very popular at the U.S. National Championships, even without seeing much oversea results. Below is the current list I have used in my testing with the deck:
[decklist]
[pokemon amt=”19″]
4x [card name=”Joltik” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”26″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”44″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Lampent” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”42″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Mew-EX” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”RC24″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Empoleon” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”29″ c=”deck2″]
[/pokemon]
[trainers amt=”34″]
3x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”101″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”N” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”96″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Archie’s Ace in the Hole” set=”Primal Clash” no=”124″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Flashfire” no=”99″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Primal Clash” no=”122″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Primal Clash” no=”127″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Revive” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”88″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Computer Search” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”137″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Dimension Valley” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”93″ c=”deck2″]
[/trainers]
[energy amt=”7″]
4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Next Destinies” no=”92″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Water Energy” set=”XY” no=”134″ c=”deck2″]
[/energy]
[/decklist]
Some lists have chosen not to play the [card name=”Empoleon” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”29″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Archie’s Ace in the Hole” set=”Primal Clash” no=”124″ c=”name”] combo, but I think it is still worth it. The draw support you get from it is amazing, and it is pretty easy to get it out first turn. Plus, if you have any prized Night Marchers, but have Empoleon out, when you draw them from your Prize cards, you will have a guaranteed way to discard them, and draw two more cards at the same time!
Something to consider with the list is playing different basic Energies. I play Water Energy to let me use Attack Command when needed, however, playing the basic Energy needed to use opposing Pokemon’s attacks could just be what you need to swing a bad matchup in your favor. The best thing here to figure out the need for it or lack there of is to test it and use your own judgement.
Raichu / Dark
[card name=”Raichu” set=”XY” no=”43″ c=”name”]’s Circle Circuit attack has become very powerful with [card name=”Sky Field” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”89″ c=”name”] in the format. Being able to fill your Bench up to eight is very easy when the deck is built to do so consistently. With a full Bench and a [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name”], Circle Circuit is doing 180 damage with a Stage 1, non-EX attacker, meaning you will also win all trades with other Pokemon-EX. When you are taking two Prize cards for every one your opponent takes, you will usually win games. The Dark portion of the deck is a nice addition that helps you beat [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Gengar-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”34″ c=”name”] as well as give some sort of Energy acceleration with [card name=”Yveltal” set=”XY” no=”78″ c=”name”]’s Oblivion Wing attack. This is very useful against decks that like to take away your [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Next Destinies” no=”92″ c=”name”] to win the game. Now, you can fit in more basic Energies and give you more attackers in the deck for more variety! Below is the list I have been working on.
[decklist]
[pokemon amt=”18″]
4x [card name=”Raichu” set=”XY” no=”43″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Pikachu” set=”XY” no=”42″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Yveltal” set=”XY” no=”78″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”Black and White Black Star Promos” no=”BW46″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Exeggcute” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”4″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Bunnelby” set=”Primal Clash” no=”121″ c=”deck2″]
[/pokemon]
[trainers amt=”32″]
4x [card name=”Professor Juniper” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”116″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Colress” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”118″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Flashfire” no=”99″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Silver Bangle” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”88″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Computer Search” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”137″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Sky Field” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”89″ c=”deck2″]
[/trainers]
[energy amt=”10″]
6x [card name=”Darkness Energy” set=”XY Trainer Kit” no=”22″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Next Destinies” no=”92″ c=”deck2″]
[/energy]
[/decklist]
As you can see, the “Dark” portion of the deck does not take up that many cards, it is just a nice small addition to the deck that really does make a big difference. It helps hit for Weaknesses, gives you a larger, bulkier Pokemon on the field that can attack when needed, and [card name=”Yveltal” set=”XY” no=”78″ c=”name”] can chip away at large Pokemon-EX with Oblivion Wing to ensure your [card name=”Raichu” set=”XY” no=”43″ c=”name”] is Knocking Out Pokemon every single time it goes up to attack! I encourage messing around with the list to see all the amazing things you can do with this deck. It is really fun, and I feel it will be popular due to Raichu’s increase in play. Dark seems like the best partner for Raichu in my opinion. I have heard of many players at least considering Raichu, and are just a little unsure on which version to play. Beware though that this version might not end up being the most popular, this is just from what I hear. No matter what, expect Raichu to see some play. In other National Championships, [card name=”Raichu” set=”XY” no=”43″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”] decks have been doing really well, and is something I will get to later in this article. I feel this deck will either be very popular, or not at all. It all depends on other people’s last minute decisions, so adjust accordingly.
Trevenant / Gengar
[cardimg name=”Wally” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”107″ align=”left” height=”200″ c=”custom”]This guy will never see play anywhere else. :([/cardimg]
This deck has seen a huge increase in popularity since right before Wisconsin Regionals. People have seen the power that turn one Item lock can have on the format with simply playing a [card name=”Wally” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”94″ c=”name”] turn one to evolve your [card name=”Phantump” set=”XY” no=”54″ c=”name”] into a beautiful, Item-locking, annoying [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”]! Usually paired with the deck is [card name=”Gengar-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”34″ c=”name”], which takes the same type of Energy as Trevenant, so Trevenant is able to attack if you need it to. These Pokemon also have a convenient Weakness and Resistance to Dark and Fighting. Dark Pokemon are typically not played much except in the potentially popular [card name=”Raichu” set=”XY” no=”43″ c=”name”] / Dark deck described above, and Fighting is very popular in [card name=”Landorus-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”89″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”], the next deck I will talk about due to popularity. The combination of [card name=”Float Stone” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”99″ c=”name”] on Trevenant and using Gengar-EX’s Dark Corridor attack to switch back to Trevenant is a killer on most decks. Poison damage builds up quickly, especially with [card name=”Virbank City Gym” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”126″ c=”name”]. Do not take this deck lightly, as it is popular, and it is powerful. It has seen some results internationally, so be prepared. Unfortunately, I do not have a good enough list to share here as I have not tested with it much. Once again though, be sure to head over to the Subscriber’s Secret Hideout if you would like some help with this deck and any other deck I do not have a list for. I’m sure all of us writers will be glad to help.
Landorus / Bats
This deck is both popular, and has seen some great results. As you probably saw, it was in my list of both most popular decks, and best results. With [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”]’s increasing popularity, people have gone back to the old [card name=”Landorus-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”89″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”] deck that was seen back during Winter Regionals, and it is pretty easy to see why. Fighting has so much support in the current format with [card name=”Strong Energy” set=”Furious Fists” no=”104″ c=”name”] and [card name=”Fighting Stadium” set=”Furious Fists” no=”90″ c=”name”]. Pairing these with [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name”] and a swarm of angry [card name=”Golbat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”32″ c=”name”]s and [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”]s does a ton of damage that can quickly win games. Below is my list that I have worked on extensively.
[decklist]
[pokemon amt=”19″]
3x [card name=”Hawlucha” set=”Furious Fists” no=”63″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Landorus-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”89″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Lucario-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”54″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Golbat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”32″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Zubat” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”53″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”deck2″]
[/pokemon]
[trainers amt=”32″]
4x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Professor Juniper” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”116″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Colress” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”118″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Korrina” set=”Furious Fists” no=”95″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”AZ” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”91″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Flashfire” no=”99″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Super Scoop Up” set=”Furious Fists” no=”100″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Repeat Ball” set=”Primal Clash” no=”136″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Sacred Ash” set=”Flashfire” no=”96″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Computer Search” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”137″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Fighting Stadium” set=”Furious Fists” no=”90″ c=”deck2″]
[/trainers]
[energy amt=”9″]
5x [card name=”Fighting Energy” set=”XY” no=”137″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Strong Energy” set=”Furious Fists” no=”104″ c=”deck2″]
[/energy]
[/decklist]
I have made a couple weird choices with this list. First, playing only three [card name=”Professor Juniper” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”98″ c=”name”]. This deck does not like discarding your hand that much, especially when playing only nine Energy, and the fact that your Pokemon are very precious in this deck. I have found that just playing [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”name”], [card name=”Colress” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”118″ c=”name”], [card name=”Korrina” set=”Furious Fists” no=”95″ c=”name”], and [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”] is more than enough to keep building up your hand with no problem. Next, playing only two [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name”] and three [card name=”Fighting Stadium” set=”Furious Fists” no=”90″ c=”name”]. These numbers are swapped from what you usually see with this deck. However, with the decreasing popularity of Pokemon Tool removals, and an increase in popularity of Stadium cards, it only makes sense to swap these numbers. I encourage once again more playtesting to decided what is the best combination for you.
Metal
Metal decks have always seen some play, and every once in a while you see someone find an actual good list that does great in a tournament, like Chase Maloney has done last weekend in Canada’s National tournament. I have never liked the deck and think of it as fragile. The main Energy acceleration that Metal Pokemon need is on a 90 HP [card name=”Bronzong” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”61″ c=”name”] that just sits on the Bench. With only 50 HP on [card name=”Bronzor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”60″ c=”name”] and the popularity of Bats, the deck just seems very fragile. This is also why I unfortunately do not have a list for the deck. It is, however, very straight forward with its strategy. Its main Pokemon are [card name=”Dialga-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”62″ c=”name”] and [card name=”Aegislash-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”65″ c=”name”]. Dialga-EX is a huge attacker that hits for 170 with a [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name”], but is countered by your opponent playing a Pokemon-EX with 180 HP, or just a Pokemon that is not an EX, making the Energy discard and the setup not worth it. Aegislash-EX is used more as a wall than a straight damage dealer, although its attack is not bad. Its Ability can be countered by decks playing more basic Energy, which is what a lot of decks are doing right now to avoid Energy removal decks from flat out winning games now that [card name=”Lysandre’s Trump Card” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”99″ c=”name”] is banned. Finally, the deck usually adds [card name=”Mewtwo-EX” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”54″ c=”name”] and [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”] to add to the variety of attackers in the deck. However, these are usually just one-ofs that do not have the ability to swing matchups in my opinion. It is definitely worth testing against this deck, but do not expect it to be very popular. I expect at least one Metal deck to go far in the tournament though, so be prepared. If you are a fan of Metal deck, I would once again encourage going to the Subscriber’s Secret Hideout to get more help with the deck if you want!
Raichu / Bats / Techs
[cardimg name=”Raichu” set=”XY” no=”43″ align=”right” height=”200″ c=”custom”] Everybody love Ray-chu.[/cardimg]
This section really covers most of the [card name=”Raichu” set=”XY” no=”43″ c=”name”] decks. I mentioned earlier that I felt Raichu / Dark is the most popular Raichu version, but remember that there are more versions of the deck, and have seen some big results. Raichu / Dark has not seen as many results, so be prepared for everything to change for U.S. Nationals, and for [card name=”Raichu” set=”XY” no=”43″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”] to be more popular. Now, paired with Raichu and Crobat lines has been any mix of the following: [card name=”Suicune” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”20″ c=”name”], [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”], [card name=”Miltank” set=”Flashfire” no=”83″ c=”name”], [card name=”Leafeon” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”11″ c=”name”], and [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”]. The Raichu / Dark deck I mentioned earlier did not play a Crobat line, however, others have tried a mix of both, probably decreasing the amount of Dark support in the deck. The combination I like most is with Suicune and Miltank, due to the having a Safeguarder as an attacking option, and another attacker that takes only one Energy card. The list I have below uses both of these:
[decklist]
[pokemon amt=”24″]
3x [card name=”Raichu” set=”XY” no=”43″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Pikachu” set=”XY” no=”42″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Suicune” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”20″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Exeggcute” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”4″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Golbat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”32″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Zubat” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”53″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Miltank” set=”Flashfire” no=”83″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Mr. Mime” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”47″ c=”deck2″]
[/pokemon]
[trainers amt=”28″]
4x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”101″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Colress” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”118″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Flashfire” no=”99″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Sacred Ash” set=”Flashfire” no=”96″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Computer Search” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”137″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Sky Field” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”89″ c=”deck2″]
[/trainers]
[energy amt=”8″]
4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Next Destinies” no=”92″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Water Energy” set=”Call of Legends” no=”90″ c=”deck2″]
[/energy]
[/decklist]
This list has been consistent for me, and never fails to get out a full Bench of eight whenever it needs to. I like the variety of things you can do with the deck, like using Safeguard with [card name=”Suicune” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”20″ c=”name”], attacking for one Energy with [card name=”Miltank” set=”Flashfire” no=”83″ c=”name”], and using [card name=”Raichu” set=”XY” no=”43″ c=”name”] to clean things up with a huge Circle Circuit. The list seems solid to me, and does not even struggle against [card name=”Landorus-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”89″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”], due to having [card name=”Mr. Mime” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”47″ c=”name”] and a [card name=”Sacred Ash” set=”Flashfire” no=”96″ c=”name”] to put it right back in when needed. Suicune also does a lot of work in that matchup. The main issue with the deck is having too many Pokemon, and drawing dead hands. This is why I do not like the Bat version of Raichu as much. It plays so many clunky lines of Pokemon, including a 4-3 Raichu and a 3-3-2 Crobat. It is hard to fit everything in, but I feel it is consistent enough to make Day Two a large tournament. For more information on Raichu though, I would strongly suggest checking out Andrew Mahone’s Raichu articles. He loves the deck, and is a great player, so he also knows what he is talking about when it comes to that. He puts a lot of work with the deck, which is evident by him making multiple articles dedicated to it!
Rogue
[cardimg name=”Noivern” set=”Furious Fists” no=”77″ align=”right” height=”200″ c=”custom”]Noivern can be quite annoying. Watch out.[/cardimg]
The decks I put in the rogue area were [card name=”Noivern” set=”Furious Fists” no=”77″ c=”name”] and [card name=”Latios-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”58″ c=”name”]. I have less experience with both of these decks due to the lack of popularity and results. More than likely, you do not need to worry about these decks, but it is worth figuring out what they can do. Noivern decks use spread attacks to get a lot of damage on board, and uses Noivern’s Echolocation Ability to try staying alive for much longer than a 100 HP Pokemon usually would, and finally uses [card name=”Meowstic” set=”Flashfire” no=”43″ c=”name”] to swap damage around to end the game. Next, Latios takes advantage of his First Raid attack to do a lot of damage turn 1, and can be paired with its Mega ([card name=”M Latios-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”59″ c=”name”]) and [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”] to also do spread damage across the field. Make sure you have an idea on what the most popular rogue decks do, but do not worry to the extent of making or breaking your deck choice. You never want to enter a game blind with no idea of what your opponent’s strategy is, otherwise, your opponent will have quite the advantage, just like Ross Cawthon had at Worlds with his “The Truth” deck. No one knew the strategy of the deck, and it was of course very well made. Perhaps not the best deck in format, but certainly at that tournament was so unexpected it became a really big deal.
So… What Is The Play?
Well, now that I have loaded you with deck lists and information about multiple decks, how do you decide what to play? Well, for me, when deciding my play I sort out all of the decks I like most into two groups, which are safe and risky. I choose which decks I like by just playtesting and deciding how much I actually enjoy playing Pokemon while playing the decks. If you are having fun, you will do well, trust me. I have had the most fun all year playing the decks I ended up playing, and seeing as I have 627 Championship Points, it goes to show how helpful that is. Now, a safe deck is one I feel has the least amount of autowins and autolosses, or essentially, really good and really bad match ups. Everything is around a 50-50 matchup. A risky deck is one that has the most amount of autowins and autolosses. The reason they are labeled this is because a deck that is always 50-50 means most of your games are going to be skill-based, and less what you get paired against-based, while a deck that might have lots of good and bad matchups means your tournament is going to depend on what you get paired against. Let’s look at an example player to show you the process, and hopefully this will enable all of you ‘Beach readers to do the same!
So, let’s say our example player enjoys playing the following decks: [card name=”Landorus-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”89″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”], Night March, [card name=”Raichu” set=”XY” no=”43″ c=”name”] / Dark, and Metal. Let’s sort these decks into safe and risky.
Safe
I would consider his safe plays [card name=”Landorus-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”89″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”] and [card name=”Raichu” set=”XY” no=”43″ c=”name”] / Dark. I consider Landorus / Bats safe as it has very few terrible matchups. It can certainly be countered by a few tech cards, but there is no huge deck in the format that I say it would automatically lose to. Sure it might have a tough time against a [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”] deck, however, I feel that Seismitoad:
- Is seen more as a tech card in successful decks.
- Can be beaten with [card name=”Hawlucha” set=”Furious Fists” no=”63″ c=”name”] and [card name=”Lucario-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”54″ c=”name”].
It is not an autoloss by any means. On the other hand though, I would not say Landorus has that many great matchups. Even [card name=”Raichu” set=”XY” no=”43″ c=”name”] decks that are easily OHKO’d by Landorus-EX and have Bench damage added on top of it can be countered by [card name=”Suicune” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”20″ c=”name”] and [card name=”Mr. Mime” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”47″ c=”name”]. Bat damage still gets through both of these though, and if the Landorus / Bats deck gets set up fast enough, it can still run through the deck. It comes down to many factors that can be controlled by the player. Next, Raichu / Dark seems safe because Raichu by nature is safe. It is a one Prize attacker that can match the damage done by Pokemon-EX, which give up two Prize cards. No matter what matchups you have, you can counter it by cards in your deck list, meaning a lot of variance in the matchups is in your control. These decks are safe for our example.
Risky
The other two decks, Night March and Metal, in my opinion are risky plays. Night March has a really hard time against Bat decks that can do a ton of damage to the fragile, low HP Pokemon the Night March deck plays. Also, against Item lock decks, Night March needs to get their entire setup before the lock goes down on them, otherwise, the deck is quite worthless when doing under 100 damage with Night March. However, the deck is very quick, and still has a chance in these matchups. It also has some good matchups against [card name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”76″ c=”name”], which might see some amount of popularity at U.S. Nationals. Potentially, you can get lucky and hit good matchups, and win your hard ones with good setups. Anything is possibly. Finally, Metal seems risky due to the lack of popularity and consistent results. Sure it won Canadian Nationals, but that is still just one finish from the many Nationals that have happened. Unless I have missed a lot of results, the deck just seems to be unproven, and I feel that is due to the fragile engine of the deck in a meta where the most popular decks are playing heavy [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”] lines. Somewhere along the line, this deck struggles in some way. In theory it seems like an amazing, unbeatable deck with a variety of options and multiple available attackers like described earlier, yet just does not work in real life. This weird problem with the deck is the main reason I would put it here in risky.
Outcome
So, we have analyzed these decks even more, but how do we choose? Well, the answer is weigh these pros and cons more. We have just looked at what they are, and see if there are ways of solving them. It is not immediately a wrong answer if you choose a risky play. Perhaps you have done enough testing and have been able to beat your bad matchups. It is not immediately a right answer to choose a safe play.
Perhaps you hit your harder matchups that are not autolosses, but they add up. Both of these things have happened to me in my career of playing Pokemon. Back in my last year of Seniors, my friend, brother, and I all were playing the exact same 60 card list of [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”63″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Sableye” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”62″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Absol” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”67″ c=”name”]. We crafted the deck to completely counter the big decks there, which would be [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”31″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Keldeo-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”49″ c=”name”] and [card name=”Thundurus-EX” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”38″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Deoxys-EX” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”53″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Kyurem” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”31″ c=”name”] with various tech cards and consistency. My brother and friend both hit six plus TDK decks in the Swiss rounds and just dominated them as planned and made top cut. I hit one TDK deck, and proceeded to get paired against six [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”68″ c=”name”] decks, four of which played Fighting Pokemon in the deck. Those Fighting / Garbodor decks destroyed my setups and were my four losses on the day, making me go 5-4 and miss cut by a mile. It seemed like such a safe play due to the meta, but I got wrecked by rogue decks that saw a little more popularity. Then, earlier this year, at Kansas Regionals, I was mistaken on how much [card name=”Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”23″ c=”name”] decks were in the meta. It was super popular, and I had played an [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”] deck with no [card name=”Shadow Circle” set=”XY” no=”126″ c=”name”]s or any techs to beat Manectric. However, I was fortunate enough to dodge it all throughout the day, and made top 8.
These are two huge examples of everything going the opposite way it would usually seem to go. This is why I encourage you playtest, and figure out for sure what the meta is like to choose between decks. Start by narrowing it down to what you enjoy playing. Then, analyze if it is a safe or risky play, then decide the weight of these pros and cons with each deck. Perhaps a deck is risky due to having many bad matchups, however, the bad matchups are not popular at all, and can be teched against. Just understand that you take the risk of you being wrong in these situations. This is why I usually side with safety. This entire year before Wisconsin Regionals, Yveltal was a very safe play due to not having many bad matchups, but nothing great either. It really came down to skill and decisions on when to use your [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”], when to Oblivion Wing, when to use Darkrai-EX, and when to Y-Cyclone or Evil Ball. Over time, I felt I was making the best decisions possible, which is why I won multiple League Challenges, four Cities, got 2nd and 4th at Iowa and Kansas States, and got top 16 and top 8 at St. Louis and Kansas Regionals. Hopefully with making some educated decisions, all of you people who were smart enough to buy a premium subscription here at PokeBeach will succeed as well!
Conclusion
I hope for those of you who read all of this article will not only take away what to do for this upcoming National Championship, but also understand what to do at every tournament you go to. A lot of this advice can be carried over to other tournaments, and lead to consistent success. Be sure to also check out other articles, and visit our forums to get as much help as possible over your career as a player and someone with a premium membership! Thank you for reading this article, and please comment and message me about anything you want regarding Nationals. I will gladly help all the way through Thursday night! Also, tell me what you want to see the next time I make an article like this. Maybe I could cover more or less decks, or focus on something else more. Just make sure by the end of this, all of your questions are answered! Thank you for reading, and have a great upcoming Nationals weekend!
[/premium]