…Everything States, that is. In my last two articles, I discussed in detail the most successful archetypes of this format, as well as the up-and-coming rogues. Today, I will not only consolidate those two topics, but talk about just about every other topic, as well.
First, I will go over just about every somewhat common deck from this entire season, ranging from the most common archetypes to the most outdated decks of yesteryear. After that, I will discuss my current top ten decks this format, which will be updated one week before State Championships begin in the United States. Finally, I’ll close out by discussing some general trends to expect from this year’s State Championships.
I hope that this article helps solidify your strategy to take on an unprecedented three weekends of major tournaments, and gets you ready to rack up some major Championship Point totals. As always, feel free to click “like” at the end of the article if you enjoyed it, and I encourage you to start up a discussion of your own on the forums.
The Decks of This Format, and Competitiveness Ratings
Although there is less than a month left until the first wave of tournaments, the vast majority of players probably do not know the exact decks that they will end up using yet. For that reason, I feel like it is a good idea to do a recap of the format at large headed into these events, and give my opinions on each of them.
“Competitiveness ratings,” however, are a new take on a concept typically expressed by matchup charts. What both try to do is account for relative deck strength with regard to the field; however, the one flaw of matchup charts that these ratings are supposed to correct is competitiveness in relation to the metagame at large. That way, a deck that beats every other deck in the format sans the three most popular won’t appear to be a top contender, but the tier 2 or even tier 3 that it truly is.
You will notice that several notable decks aren’t featured here. That’s because they have all been chosen as my top decks headed into states, meaning that they don’t require a competitiveness rating – they’re fours and fives, already!
Before we look over these, though, I have some advice on using the rating system:
* 1/5 is completely unplayable, 2/5 is mildly to majorly unplayable in most areas, 3/5 is playable, 4/5 is moderately playable, and 5/5 very playable. There will be no 1/5 scores, and only one deck with a .5 increment.
* Competitiveness ratings, just like matchup charts, are best used to solidify whatever decision you will ultimately arrive at in a couple weeks – not actually make the decision outright. This may come in the form of discrediting an overrated deck, or encouraging a deck you already feel comfortable with, but it will never come in the form of “Pinsir is the best deck in the format – stock up now while you still have time!”
* I fully expect some of the decks I rate 3/5 to be vindicated, and actually do decently well at States. Of course, I expect to be right much more often, so here’s to hoping that I’m “on the money” as close to 100% as possible!
* This list tries to ignore individual factors (e.g., personal play style) as much as possible. Granted, some borderline cases may be decided using these factors (e.g., a very close three vs four rating), but I will be accounting for overall matchup strength/metagame soundness as opposed to simply what you and I like.
* Do not refuse to play a deck simply because of its rating; rather, you should take a look at why it received that rating, and then see if you agree with the reasoning.
Now, then…Let’s get started.
Donphan/Dragons
This is perhaps the most neglected deck of the current format when it comes to publicity. While it isn’t necessarily a very strategy-rich build, it did decently well at Nationals, scored some surprisingly high showings at Fall Regionals, and even won some Cities. I even considered using it for the Grinder! That said, Next Destinies seems to send it completely off the radar.
Other than Exp. Share, not many new cards seem to help it, and the metagame actually appears to be shifting against it. The release of Kyurem EX is just one more water nail in the Donphan coffin, and a reemergence of Vanilluxe due to Pokémon-EX means a probable loss.
On the other hand, it is still at least somewhat formidable against the swarm of Lightning decks, and can hold its own against Mewtwo EX-focused builds. Durant is a hard matchup, but I suspect that a list able to crank out Donphan fast, get some damage on Reshiram, and then get Donphan out of play could do decently well against it.
So what is its competitiveness rating? This is a bit of a cop-out, seeing as how this is a five point scale, but I honestly have to say 2.5/5. It may have a lot of issues, but for the love of Arceus, its competitiveness against those named decks alone is enough to give it a shot.
(I promise I won’t do any more .5 increments for the rest of the article – I swear!)
Emboar/Magnezone
Perhaps this deck is just massively underrated by everyone, myself included, but I see it as being too easy to pick apart. Like last season, the strategy that faster, more aggressive decks will follow is gusting up the pre-evolutions of one line, and then subsequently watching the Embzone fall too far behind. Alternatively, Embzone can lose just by running out of energy left to Lost Zone – something that can happen even under good circumstances.
Why do I see this as a 3/5 deck, though? Because it’s consistent, hard-hitting, and is actually able to pull off some impressive come-from-behind wins. The presence of Pokémon-EX only adds to this, and against Mewtwo EX decks, you could win with as few as two knockouts. Add in the favorable Typhlosion matchups, the ability to build your list to beat bad matchups, and it becomes clear that this is a contender.
Emboar/Reshiram
Not much different from Emboar/Magnezone, except for, well…The lack of Magnezone, and more of everything else. I actually have an experimental build of this I’ve been messing with as of late…
|
Pokemon – 17 3 Tepig BLW Promo BW07 |
Trainers – 29 4 Pokémon Collector
4 Pokémon Communication |
Energy – 14 |
A 3/5 deck with the potential for more, it trades in some security against N to enjoy a more reliable, Basic-oriented setup. Now that Pokémon-EX are a part of the metagame, Reshiram may just be the second most effective attacker in the format next to Magnezone.
The best thing is that unlike Typhlosion, which gives Mewtwo a window of opportunity via self damage, Reshiram will almost always require Mewtwo to load up six energy in order to score an OHKO (seven if you factor in Eviolite). It also helps that Emboar is a much meatier support card, meaning that there won’t be many OHKOs from anything outside of Kyurem EX.
1-1 Ninetales is a nice crutch to the consistency of this list, although I’m thinking about cutting it for more draw. In this format, overly active bench sitters like Ninetales are just asking to be Catchered, especially late game when the opponent has no other viable targets to bring up. On the plus side, this list has all of the resources necessary to maintain a good Roast Reveal, so it works.
Reshiram EX helps against both Magnezone and Durant, but I’m afraid to say that both matchups are rougher than they should be. Furthermore, various other decks in the high tiers of the format can deconstruct it without too much trouble: The Truth and Electrode variants can effortlessly blow away all attackers with a Kyurem EX; ZPST can outspeed and deny use of Emboar; and even Chandelure can deny Inferno Fandango use.
For the “too long; did not read” of heart: Emboar/Reshiram has mostly just even and negative matchups against the “top” decks, which is precisely why I do ratings instead of matchup charts.
Feraligatr/Kyurem
Basically like Emboar, but with a different attacker set, and far less flexible. I’m happy to see that it picks up Kyurem EX to fill the heavy fitter void in this deck; however, it gets absolutely decimated by Cobalion, which ought to maintain its popularity between now and States. Furthermore, there is no option to play an internal consistency engine like Magnezone or Ninetales, so getting out the best Cobalion NVI counter, Suicune & Entei LEGEND, is easier said than done.
Even though I’ve been a fan of alternative water versions of Embzone for quite a while, I can’t really recommend this deck right now, especially when Mewtwo EX is running rampant. 2/5.
Gothitelle/Reuniclus
A good deck that’s now caught up in the middle of a violent struggle between Mewtwo EX and Mewtwo EX counters. Gothitelle will be hit hard by the crossfire, and most normal lists will see a very mediocre showing during the first week. Even if it can somehow account for all of these poor Psychic-weak matchups with a Leavanny NVI tech, more Pokémon-EX can break through the item lock than ever before, and Durant can just mill its way to victory.
For Gothitelle as we know it, I have to give the deck a 2/5. Maybe it could be revitalized by Gardevoir NXD, become a swarm deck instead of a tank-lock variant, and rise back to the top. For now, though, classic Gothiclus is on the skids.
Kingdra/Cinccino
This deck once had a very respectable amount of competitiveness, but it is now on life support. All three non-EX dragons outgun Cinccino in one way or another, and at least 4/6 of the new EX cards just make it worse. Item lock isn’t very bearable either, so I would suggest that you steer clear of this deck. 2/5.
Lostgar
From the start of HGSS-on until now, Lostgar has been steadily advancing in viability. Thanks to metagame shifts, Pokémon Catcher, N, and now easily-splashable energy options like Gardevoir and Exp. Share, any variant could do really well under the right circumstances. The effectiveness of Gengar Prime is more than just theory, though: any Vileplume UD deck is dead on arrival to the Lost World mechanic, and either two Seeker drops + Hurl into Darkness or Cursed Drops + Catastrophe mean a very exiled Durant.
Against other decks, it isn’t exactly that surefire. It may not have worse than 40/60 against the majority of top tier decks, but versus the vast array of rogue decks out there, Lostgar can get wrecked. That one deck that just so happens to run only 12 big Basic Pokémon and nothing else? No Hurl into Darkness targets. That random league promo Houndoum UD rush deck played by a 28 year old ne’er-do-well with dirty nails and greasy hair? Most likely an autoloss.
The decision to play Lostgar could be a very wise metagame call, or it could backfire horribly with poor predicting or just plain bad luck. 3/5.
Magnezone/Yanmega
My, how the mighty have fallen. In addition to the fact that Yanmega Prime just can’t score KOs like it used to, opting to running Yanmega in place of, or even in tandem with Eelektrik is basically saying “I give up” to the Magnezone mirror. On the plus side, the deck is as good as ever against Typhlosion and Emboar variants, even if the newer decks out of Noble Victories give it trouble.
This deck is a mixed bag: too many positive attributes to send into the “2” netherworld, and too flawed against the frontrunners to warrant a “4.” So for now, we ought to call this deck a 3/5.
Mew Lock
Unlike several other old decks, I feel like Mew Lock has persevered, and holds real promise in this next stretch of tournaments. Except for ZPST, it has the ability to make just about any matchup positive. Granted, you may not be able to make every matchup a victory with only 60 spaces. Still, you can cater your deck’s tech options to really exploit the weaknesses in whatever you’re up against.
What holds back Mew even more than teching appropriately is the clock. It’s the reason why it wasn’t as playable as it could have been, and even with 30 minutes + three turns, you will struggle to win the game legitimately. For its merits alone, Mew Lock gets a 3/5, yet the environment around it is enough to keep it there.
Mewtwo/Gardevoir
As I’ll explain later on in the article, I prefer the Celebi version of Mewtwo to the Gardevoir one for a variety of reasons. Based on its absolute merits, however, it has a lot of strength. Do not discredit the fact that, by virtue of Psychic Mirage, you are effectively doing a minimum of 80 damage for two energy – something that is in all likelihood going to rise to a total around the mid-100s.
Here’s my current list, and it’s been fetching some solid results:
