Hello 6P Nation! The Battle Roads season has come to an end, next stop Fall Regionals. I only made it to one BR due to many different reasons, but as I promised in my report I would be back with a BR overview. I will start off with the numbers of the season, point out some tier break downs, then move onto the match up statistics of the top tier against each other, and then cover the general (non-deck results) state of the game. So, let’s get right to it.
The first place to look for BR results is the What Won Thread over on the PokeGym. As other people have pointed out, I am not completely pleased with how the results were tallied. So, I went ahead and went through every post on that thread and tallied the results myself. Now, if you do the same, you might get different totals (although they should be close) because we do not have uniformity in reporting standards and compiling standards. However, these numbers should be fairly representative.
What wanted was to not only look at the winning decks, I wanted to look at all the decks that made it to the top cut. I feel that this is a more representative way of determining the deck viability. So, below is a table that shows how many times each deck made the cut and how many 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th places each deck took. Soak it in…
| First | Second | Third | Fourth | Total | |
| TyRam |
42 |
37 |
32 |
27 |
138 |
| ZPS(T) |
31 |
29 |
30 |
24 |
114 |
| PrimeTime |
18 |
28 |
16 |
15 |
77 |
| Gothitelle |
15 |
5 |
8 |
13 |
41 |
| MagneBoar |
6 |
6 |
6 |
8 |
26 |
| Stage 1s |
6 |
10 |
9 |
10 |
35 |
| Ross |
5 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
14 |
| Zekrom |
5 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
13 |
| ReshiBoar |
4 |
4 |
9 |
7 |
24 |
| D&D |
4 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
9 |
| HorseMega |
4 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
7 |
| MewPlume |
3 |
3 |
3 |
6 |
15 |
| Cinccino |
3 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
13 |
| YanPhan |
2 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
13 |
| YanmegaVar |
2 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
7 |
| YanPlume |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
| LYZ |
2 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
7 |
| Magnezone |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
| HorseCin |
2 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
| Ttar |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
| MewMega |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| SamPhan |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Blastzel |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
| hotpocket |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Gigalith |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| rossphlosion |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
| MewBox |
0 |
5 |
2 |
3 |
10 |
| LostGar |
0 |
1 |
6 |
3 |
10 |
| DonChamp |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
| WailGatr |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| SamMega |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| PhanHorse |
0 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
| Beartic |
0 |
3 |
2 |
7 |
12 |
| Scolipede |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| Random |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
| Donphan |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
| Krookodile |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
| Scizor/kk |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Ambilock |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Tangrowth |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Depending on how you total the results, there are up to 39 different decks that made the cut at least once. That is an absurd number of decks. I personally believe that this is a testament of how diverse and healthy the format is right now. I believe that both of those things are positives for the following reasons:
1. Diversity helps to keep the cost of the game down. By having many cards perform well, the supply side of the economic curve is retrained. This keeps any one card from dominating the market. For example, Yanmega is the most expensive playable card, yet it is only going for $40ish. Compare this to Luxray GL LV.X ($60) and Uxie LV.X ($60) of the last format.
2. Diversity also keeps the game fresh. This ensures that over the course of any given tournament there will be fun games to play against different decks.
Tiers
Now, let’s break this rig down into some type of loose tier system. Granted, everyone will argue with me on this breakdown. People will claim, “In my testing deck X handles deck Y” and thus not agree. But, these tiers are based on combined 1st and 2nd place finished by each deck. This compilation can be found below:
- TyRam – 79 combined 1st and 2nd place finishes
- ZPS(T) – 60
- Yanmega/Magnezone aka PrimeTime – 46
- Gothitelle – 20
- Stage 1s – 16
- MagneBoar – 12
- Zekrom – 9
- Ross – 8
- ReshiBoar – 8
- Cinccino – 8
- Donphan & Dragons – 6
- MewPlume – 6
- Yanmega/Donphan – 6
- Lanturn/Yanmega/Zekrom – 6
- Yanmega/Kingdra – 5
- MewBox – 5
- Blastoise/Floatzel – 4
- Yanmega Variants – 3
- Cinccino/Kingdra – 3
- Beartic – 3
- Yanmega/Vileplume – 2
- Magnezone – 2
- Tyranitar Prime – 1
- Mew/Yanmega – 1
- Samurott/Donphan – 1
- Hotpocket – 1
- Gigalith EPO – 1
- Rossphlosion – 1
- LostGar – 1
- Donphan Prime/Machamp Prime – 1
- Wailord TM/Feraligatr Prime – 1
- Random – 1
- Ambipom TM Lock – 1
Now we are starting to get a clearer picture of how things are shaking out.
Top Tier
The High Top Tier clearly is the property of two decks: tyRam and ZPS(T). These two decks clearly outmatch the rest of the field with a combined 139 appearances in the Top 2. Separately, each of these decks have at least 60 appearances in the Top 2.
The Mid Top Tier is home to three decks: PrimeTime, Gothitelle, and Stage 1s. Each of these decks have 20 appearances in the Top 2.
(For purposes here, I combined YanPhan, Stage 1s, Cinccino, and Yanmega variants into the one group.)
The deck that is on the fringe of the Top Tier is MagneBoar with 12 Top 2 appearances.
Mid Tier
I would say that decks with more than one top 2 appearance are the Mid Tier decks that are viable, but not dominate. You can see the chart for these results.
Low Tier
Everything else is in the Low Tier. These are decks that likely are not competitive enough to take you consistently deep into tournaments.
Top Tier Interactions
Here is what I did: To get some numbers for actual match ups between the top tier decks, I looked at each and every reported result on the ‘Gym’s thread. I kept a tally of what two decks were in the Top 2 and which deck won. This have given me at least a very small sample of how decks perform against each other (or at least how they performed against each other in the Finals.
This should be fairly informative because, in theory, the Top 2 is a game between skilled players, and should give a decent indication of how the match should play out on average. For each Top Tier match up I will tell you how many times the two decks met and provide a graph showing the breakdown of victories.
(I do admit even though there have been a lot of Battle Roads, there has not been a lot of individual samples for each of these match ups. So, due to small sample sizes, take what you wish from these numbers. Please (all you statistics people) don’t get on the comments and rail about how this is meaningless because of the sample size. Something is better than nothing.
However, I would recommend that you at least consider them because after all, these were actual competitive matches played out in real tournaments under real time limits. We do not get that kind of data very often. These are not just some random percentages based on individual testing.)
tyRam v. ZPST
The two most dominate decks have faced off more all lot compared to most other Top Tier decks. This should not be 
surprising. What is surprising is how skewed the results have been. These two decks have met 14 times in the Top 2, and tyRam has won an astounding 10 of these games. I would wager to say that most people would have perceived that this would be close to the opposite.
However, tyRam really is more consistent and can really press on longer into games than ZPST. Also, ZPST is extremely energy dependant, and tyRam can clear the board of energy while keeping their own stream flowing. ZPST players should likely run a little bit more energy and either a higher count of pick up trainers (Seeker/SSU) or a thicker Shaymin/Pachirisu line to get energy on the field.
tyRam v. Goth
There were three match ups between these two decks from the reported results. As most people would have imagined, Goth won two and tyRam won one. Goth really puts the lock down on tyRam once set up. There are a few things that tyRam can do to help with this match up, but there is not really anything to pull the match up to even. tyRam can add Darkrai & Cressilia Legend, Jirachi UL, Rotom UD, or a dragger (Bellsprout TM) to try and counter the lock.
tyRam v. PrimeTime
This is one of the hottest debates out there right now. So people are saying that tyRam is actually an inferior deck to many things, including PrimeTime. Many people also claim that PrimeTime is the BDIF for skilled players. Well, these two decks met a respectable ten times in the finals. tyRam came out on top seven of those time. PrimeTime is an excellent deck, and an early Judge can mess with tyRam, but having to Lost Zone three energies to OHKO the important parts of tyRam is a tall feat.
I personally, do not believe that the actual matchup is this far in tyRam favor, but I will stand by the assertion that tyRam holds the edge here. Note: Reported Kingdra versions of PrimeTime roughly split the matchups.
tyRam v. MagneBoar
tyRam and MagneBoar have only met once in the finals. This is an extremely small sample and tyRam won that game. This is, in my opinion, to be expected. tyRam set up fast, hits hard enough, and had a more reliable energy stream. Toss in the ability to Catcher up Emboar at will and tyRam hold the upper hand in this match up.
tyRam v. Stage 1s
In all honesty, this result surprised me. The various versions of Stage 1s (combinations of Yanmega, Donhpan, Cinccino, Weavile, Beartic w/o Vileplume, Lanturn, Zoroark) have fared very well against the most successful deck. I guess the idea is that with Cinccino/Yanmega/Donphan you can rush tyRam, and with Zoroark you can score OHKOs on Reshiram.
My personal results have been extremely different than this, but hey, results are results. If you are a tyRam player, the key here is just consistency.
ZPST v. Goth
Well unsurprisingly, ZPST struggles with Goth. ZPST has even fewer options against Gothitelle than tyRam does. So, unless you can power through the early game and rid the board of the Solosis, ZPST is going to struggle. ZPST could toss in Rotom to try and score a OHKO on that Goth with 6 energies on it. Other than that you just really have to hope to out speed it or flood the board with damage. Gothitelle really has the upper hand here.
ZPST v. PrimeTime
Well we found the matchup that ZPST feasts on. These two decks have faced off more than any other pair of decks and ZPST has firmly held the upper hand. ZPST had won 13 of the 18 Top 2 meetings between these decks. This is really just a cause of one deck out speeding the other and holding a partial type advantage. There is not a ton that PrimeTime can to do help itself out here.
PrimeTime needs to be ultra-consistent (no Kingdra) to help here, but then it gives up some help against tyRam. PrimeTime could also run something like Revenge Bouffalant or Zoroark with DCE to help in the prize exchange. Again, the energy requirements for this matchup is also difficult and more energy can help.
ZPST v. MagenBoar
This is the matchup of the two hype machines. Going into the first Nationals with a HGSS-on format, MagneBoarwas the hyped BDIF. Now going into Battle Roads, ZPST was the hyped BDIF. This match up comes down to a contrast of styles. ZPST is trying to run MagneBoar off the field and MagneBoar is trying to set up. Once set up ZPST really struggles with MagneBoar and can really only rely on taking out Emboar. This is a small sample size, so, I would say the matchup is closer to 50/50.
ZPST v. Stage 1s
Again, this is a limited sample size, but the results turn out pretty much exactly how I would have imagined them. In my mind, Stage 1s is a lesser form of ZPST (unless you are play Beartic in Stage 1s). Both decks go for turn two pressure and really try to pick off cheap prizes. However, ZPST hits harder and slightly faster. The key here for Stage 1s is to take the first prize and then keep up in the trade. To accomplish this, you could run Zoroark, Double Colorless Energy, and Bouffalant.
Goth v. PrimeTime
Interestingly enough, there has not been a reported final between Gothitelle and PrimeTime. So, we do not have any data to go off of. In my opinion, PrimeTIme has the advantage because it is faster and can secure OHKOs on Gothitelle to finish the game.
Goth v. MagneBoar
MagneBoar and Gothitelld have matched up only once, with Gothitelle winning. This match up really comes down to who can set up first. If Gothitelle can hit the lock, MagneBoar will likely struggle to get back into the game. If MagneBoar can get an Emboar and Magnezone up first, it will win. The game is pretty much that simple here.
Goth v. Stage 1s
Gothitelle and Stage 1s have played five time in the Top 2 with Goth taking 4 wins. The key for Stage 1s is to take out the Solosis before they can get setup. If not Gothitelle wins going away. If you run Beartic in Stage 1s you have a little bit better shot at coming away victorious.
PrimeTime v. MagneBoar
PrimeTime and MagneBoar have also only played once at the final table with PrimeTime winning. This is honestly to be expected. Both have Magnezone to clean up the game late, but Yanmega can take the easy prizes early and set up crucial two energy Lost Burn kills. If you all remember the commotion after US Nats, you should not be surprised that PrimeTime is favored in this matchup.
PrimeTime v. Stage 1s
This is the US National Finals matchup. If you all recall, that match went down to the wire with the two decks evenly matched. Justin Sanchez and Pooka played the match to the wire and a coin flip decided the champion. Well it would seem that these two decks have carried on their even-ness into the new season. Both can take easy prizes with Yanmega early. Donphan can wreck Magnezone, but Magnezone can OHKO anything on the board. Contrary to popular belief, Catcher did not skew this matchup into a near auto-win for Stage 1s.
MagneBoar v. Stage1s
The final combination of the Top Tier decks is MagneBoar v. Stage 1s. Unfortunately, we do not have any reported finals between these two decks. In theory, Stage 1s gained enough from Catcher to push the advantage its way, but that is all theory.
There are the numbers for the matchups between the various top decks from Battle Roads. I hope that it helps you get a sense of how the meta is shaking out.
(Please, if you have more results that would change this layout, make sure to put them in the comments. By this I mean, if you have seen or been a part of, for an example, a MagneBoar v. Stage 1s matchup, talk about it. Etc. Also, please remember that these come from the ‘Gym’s thread.
Also, I know that these are just the numbers behind the decks with not a lot of in-depth deck-based advice or information, I will do an article pre-Regionals to help you all with understanding how each deck plays and how to approach other decks.)
Game Overview
Well the first portion of the season has come and gone and the first Championship Points have been awarded. How is the game faring?
1. The game seems to be relatively strong right now. Because of the new importance to Battle Roads, attendance was up (in general) and very good players were showing up in force.
2. It would seem that the outrage over the Championship Points favoring people with many local tournaments was a little overblown. Yes, some great players have wrapped up a solid number of points, but many, many players have only recorded 2-5 points. That is not an insurmountable number for players who can only go to the larger events (for whatever reasons). Here in the STL we have had a different winner each and every tournament. That is great.
3. People seem to be willing to travel more for Battle Roads. This is a good and bad thing. It is good because it shows dedication; it is bad because it make the game even more expensive to be competitive.
4. I still feel that the points are imbalanced, but it is not as bad as most people likely thought.
5. The Battle Roads tournament structure needs to be changed. Having Top Cut limited to four max, is not acceptable any more. The Top Cut needs to be determined from attendance only. It is not even close to fair for 4-5 players to go X-1 and 2-4 of the players to walk away with nothing from the tournament. All of the players that go X-1 should be allowed to duke it out for the points.
Well, that is all I got for you. I hope you enjoyed it!
