League Challenge Report

I went to a League Challenge today and ran a similar list to the one I have been testing the last week or so.

Pokemon -15	Trainers - 33	Energy - 12
4 - Fomantis SUM	4 -Professor Sycamore	12 - Grass
2 - Lurantis GX	3 - N	-
2- Lurantis SM25	3 - Guzma	-
-	1 - Brigette	-
3 - Tapu Bulu GX	1 - Skyla	-
-	1 - Olympia	-
1 - Mew FCO	-	-
-	4 - Ultra Ball	-
2 - Tapu Lele GX	3 - Max Elixir	-
-	2 - Field Blower	-
1 - Oranguru SUM	1 - Super Rod	-
-	1 - Professor's Letter	-
-	-	-
-	4 - Choice Band	-
-	2 - Float Stone	-
-	-	-
-	3 - Aether Paradise Conservation Area	-

I prefer this version to Vikavolt/Bulu for two reasons:

1) Better KO math. Not needing to discard on Nature's Judgement to 1HKO Lele/anything with 170 HP or less is very easy to achieve with this deck. Extending to 1HKO a 250 HP behemoth? Not super easy, but definitely within the realm of possibility. I feel like these things give Lurantis/Bulu a better tempo.

2) After turning over every Wal-Mart and Target in northeastern Oklahoma to find Lurantis SM25, there is no way I wasn't going to run something featuring it.

Just in general, I feel like this is a strong deck. If a stage 2 deck gets a fast start it has trouble catching up, but I don't feel like it has "bad" matchups. Every game I have lost with it irl or on PTCGO I have felt is due to my own misplays, not some inherent weakness in the deck.

I expected the field to be composed of Gardevoir GX and hard counters to Gardevoir GX.

There were 17 masters in the tournament. This is how my day went:

R1: Solgaleo GX / Rayquaza L ( 0-1-0 )
R2: Tapu Koko/Weavile BUS/Porygon-Z BUS W ( 1-1-0 )
R3: Noivern GX / Rayquaza W ( 2-1-0 )
R4: Metagross GX/Solgaleo GX W ( 3-1-0 )

So a 3-1 record and tied for third (fifth after resistance blah blah blah)

In the first round I was trying to set things up for Bulu to do work with double Sunny Day. This is the wrong approach. I need to test some more, but after losing here (whiffed a piece of that combo to miss a KO, fell behind on prize trade, exchanged a couple knockouts and lost a couple turns later) I thought through my options, and I think the best approach to 250 HP stage 2 decks is to just go all in on a Lurantis GX. Bench all the Fomantis that pass through your hand, even if that means discarding a Bulu or two, and just steer the deck toward hitting your opponent's stage 2 monster first. Obviously, Lurantis GX can't deliver more than 1 250 HP hit, but hopefully you can finish the game on a couple of Leles. It is just a lot easier to get 4 energy on one Lurantis GX + Sunny Day + Choice Band, or even just 5 energy on Lurantis GX, than it is to get double Sunny Day and a Choice Band on Bulu. My round 4 opponent choked on his setup, but this approach forced that issue.

Round 2 and Round 3 were pretty uneventful, just streaming Solar Blade (and I guess a Chloroscythe GX for 200 to take down a Noivern GX). Both concepts had promise, Lurantis / Bulu can just apply a lot of pressure early in the game. I mean, with a little bit of Elixir luck, it is not uncommon or out of the question to be swinging for 170-230 with Solar Blade/Nature's Judgment on turn 2.

Favorite Card of the Tournament Lurantis GX. The more I play this deck the more opportunities I find to just jack someone with Chloroscythe GX. I usually try to highlight a techier card here, but all of my victories were basically just plowing my opponent with Lurantis GX.

Least Favorite Card of the Tournament My current build of this deck has A LOT of slop in the trainers. There is a league cup in two weeks, and I feel like this deck would benefit from just wiping the slate clean and examining what I am really trying to ACHIEVE with my trainers. Outside of Sycamore, N, Guzma, Brigette, Ultra Ball and Choice Band... I am not really sure how much of the other stuff is at an optimal count, and in some instances, how much of it even has a place in the deck.

The Mew tech didn't do much today. I benched it once so I could promote a free retreater off of Guzma, which is part of the reason for its inclusion... But again, I am questioning its place here as a tech attacker / seventh prize in matchups vs Espeon or Necrozma (or I guess Garbodor?), since the only attacks it can make good use of are three energy attacks, and committing that much effort to power up a tech just seems... stupid? Tapu Koko SM30/31 seems like a better choice, since it grants a 2 energy attack that lowers the damage ceiling Bulu/Lurantis GX need to hit and benefits from Aether Paradise Conservation Area.

Olympia felt better than Acerola, but I never played it.

At least half of the people at this tournament were running some brand of Metagross and/or Solgaleo. The Gardevoir GX hate is real in Tulsa OK. That being said, Lurantis/Bulu matches up well against Gardevoir and is probably around 40/60 with stage 2 metal stuff. I have trouble imagining things that would REALLY jam this deck up in the current format. Really, the worst thing I can imagine is Bulu stuff getting popular enough that the mirror would need consideration, because the theorymon for that makes it seem very dumb.

Testing Standard: Lurantis / Tapu Bulu pt. 2

In an effort to increase his content output, Johnny is going to begin posting test logs. These will be short entries with high level thoughts and observations that will hopefully increase thinkspiration in the Pokemon TCG space.

Male pronouns will be used throughout these articles because Johnny has fallen victim to cis male white hetero normative corporate oppression. Or he is just trying to spin these blogs off in less than 30 minutes and making universally agreeable+grammatically correct pronouns is exhausting.

All obvious considerations about small sample size should be observed. 

 Played: Lurantis / Tapu Bulu

I made a few changes to the deck I was running the other day, but it is basically the same.

I bumped Max Elixir down to 3 because I am a big dumby and thought I owned 4. I only own 3 and the fourth one I ordered last weekend did not arrive in time for the tournament on 9/10 :'(

Can probably borrow one at league, but I kind of hate doing that. Actually kind of liked having the Professor's Letter. The extra Choice Band was also nice, as I didn't have any of the annoying "wouldn't it be nice if I hadn't prized/discarded on first turn Sycamore any Choice Band" games.  

Pokemon

4 - Fomantis
2 - Lurantis SM25
2 - Lurantis GX

3 - Tapu Bulu GX

2 - Tapu Lele GX

1 - Oranguru SUM

1 - Mew FCO

Trainers

4 - Professor Sycamore
3 - N
3 - Guzma
1 - Brigette
1 - Acerola
1 - Skyla

4 - Ultra Ball
3 - Max Elixir
2 - Field Blower
1 - Super Rod
1 - Professor's Letter

4 - Choice Band
2 - Float Stone

3 -  Aether Paradise Conservation Area

Energy

12 - Grass

Game 1 vs Gardevoir GX: I went first, started Bulu, ultra balled for Brigette, grabbed 2x Fomantis and Oranguru. Couldn't tell if the guy had a bad start, or was trying to keep a light bench. He started Lele and put on some early pressure, beating up bulu (who I should have attached float stone to and retreated turn 1 instead of attaching energy and leaving active). I hit a couple of elixirs onto Fomantis, took down a Gardevoir GX with Chloroscythe+4 energy+choice band, then just cruised. I don't know if I would call this a "skill" element to the deck, but there is definitely value in NOT evolving into Lurantis GX unless you plan on using a Lurantis GX attack that turn, keeping Fomantis gives you another elixir target which opens up some nice plays, and with Aether conservatory blah blah blah it effectively has 90 HP which keeps it out of "free prize" territory. 1-0

Game 2 vs Metagross GX: I really hate playing against this deck. It is just so dumb. I went first, started two fomantis. I prized one of the Lurantis SM25, so I knew this had the opportunity to get weird, but I had Guzma in my opening hand and knocked out a Beldum on my second turn with Solar Blade. I had another Guzma in hand, and was planning on dropping off his Metang and laughing as this stupid deck tried to function with only 2 Metagross GX, but he N'd me and I had to take the knockout on the vulpix he left active. Not all bad, because Flower Supply + Sunny Day = dead Vulpix + two energy on Bulu. He got two Metagross GX up the next turn and decided to attach+double Geotech System onto the Lele he promoted and attack Lurantis GX... which was fine, because I had Choice Band on my benched Bulu. Made a painful decision to Sycamore away my last Lele trying to hit one for the active Lurantis GX, but I whiffed. I could have KO'd the Lele with Chloroscythe, but I really wanted to save my GX attack for the upcoming treadmill of asinine bullshit between Bulu and Metagross. So I paid to retreat into Bulu, took the KO with Nature's Judgement+Choice Band+Sunny Day. He got his third Metagross GX, and decided to Guzma the damaged Lurantis GX on my bench, which was fine with me as I didn't see any more optimal plays for a Lurantis GX with 1 energy and 120 damage. So I promoted Bulu and began the idiotic cycle Metagross wants. He Lele'd for Sycamore on his next turn... which may have been necessary, but I only had two prizes left, and while he didn't know Lurantis SM25 #2 was one of them, without it killing a Lele was my easiest path to victory (barring terrible draws and/or misplays on his part). Like 7 turns later or something, I empty my hand with Ultra Balls and hit Skyla off of Instruct, then Skyla for Guzma, as he has played 3 N and I assume he doesn't have anymore. On his turn, he played Guzma to pull Oranguru active and promotes his Lele... which was actually kind of clever, but I had Float stone in hand, natch. 2-0

Game 3 vs Greninja Break: ok, the other day I thought it was impossible to lose this matchup in the absence of highly unlikely events. WELL. This Greninja player used Lele, which previous matchups did not. That, plus hitting Bubble a couple of times, retreating the break into Froakie to use bubble instead of attack with Shadow Stitching several times with puprose being to protect Greninja Break, good placement of Giant Water Shuriken, locking me up with Shadow Stitching... yeah. Actually having to play this matchup on a level where thinking was required made me realize a few things, mainly that you can't be careless with benching 2 prize pokemon. I knew this, in theory, but playing having played things that hit everying in Greninja for weakness for the past year (Vespiquen, Lurantis variants), I guess I forgot? It is probably worthwhile in this matchup to try and Utilize Lurants SM25 as an attacker. Just challenging to think through things like "will I be ok if I discard my last Bulu on Sycamore? he will be Giant Water Shuriken bait for a couple of terms, but Super Rod is in the discard too so I may be stuck without an attacker :[". 2-1

Thoughts on my list The extra Guzma was nice. Metagross guy was the only one who really took a shot at locking me up. Guzma as a card... I am not sure how I feel about it. Obviously it is something you have to include in basically every competitive deck; gust effects are just too valuable. All of the conditionals on Guzma are kind of a pain in the ass though. Like, I want to switch with it, but can't because my opponent's bench is empty. I want to gust with it, but can't because my bench is empty. The value it puts on both planning ahead, and just planning to have cheap/free retreaters doesn't really feel like strategy... it just feels annoying. Important thing for me is to be mindful of where my float stones are.

I feel like this deck kind of begs for a couple of Energy Switch, but I just can't figure out where the space would come from.

The more I think about Acerola in this deck, the less I like it. A lot of the time that I have access to it and an opportunity to use it the result will be a Tapu Bulu and three grass energy in my hand... Which is ok for prize denial, but kind of useless if I don't have a Lurantis GX or second Bulu setup and ready to do real damage. I might replace it with Pokemon Center Lady, or just swap with Olympia.

Overall I feel like there are a few other ideas to try here, but I don't think I am going to implement any of them for the League Challenge tomorrow. I am curious just to see what other people are running.

Testing Standard: Lurantis / Tapu Bulu

In an effort to increase his content output, Johnny is going to begin posting test logs. These will be short entries with high level thoughts and observations that will hopefully increase thinkspiration in the Pokemon TCG space.

Male pronouns will be used throughout these articles because Johnny has fallen victim to cis male white hetero normative corporate oppression. Or he is just trying to spin these blogs off in less than 30 minutes and making universally agreeable+grammatically correct pronouns is exhausting.

All obvious considerations about small sample size should be observed. 

 Played: Lurantis / Tapu Bulu

Quick aside: for the past three months, any time I drove by a walmart or target I would stop to see if they had promo Lurantis. I am not proud to say I have checked for promo Lurantis in 4 states, but omg that thing was hard to find. Just buy the single, I know... but then how do I get it online? trade 8 GRI boosters for it??? That is asinine.

Now that I have it, I plan on playing that dude's peppermint pants off.


Pokemon

4 - Fomantis
2 - Lurantis SM25
2 - Lurantis GX

3 - Tapu Bulu GX

2 - Tapu Lele GX

1 - Oranguru SUM

1 - Mew FCO

Trainers

4 - Professor Sycamore
3 - N
2 - Guzma
1 - Brigette / Pokemon Fan Club
1 - Acerola
1 - Olympia
1 - Skyla

4 - Ultra Ball
4 - Max Elixir
2 - Field Blower
1 - Super Rod

3 - Choice Band
3 - Float Stone

3 -  Aether Paradise Conservation Area

Energy

12 - Grass


Game 1 vs Gardevoir GX. Started Fomantis with one Bulu on the bench, went second. Was attacking with Bulu on my second turn. I didn't draw spectacular, Bulu+promo Lurantis just has a math advantage over Gardevoir GX. 1 - 0

Game 2 vs Greninja Break. Started Bulu, ultra balled for Lele and grabbed Fan Club. This was a situation where I prefer Fan Club over Brigette, because I did not have a draw supporter in hand, so I could grab a Lele for my next turn. Not sure if this is actually a good practice, I mean... early game, just playing your hand out and hitting Instruct may be enough to hit a draw/search supporter.Anyway, my opponent N'd me, and none of this really mattered because I was taking knockouts with Horn Attack. He conceded after his second turn.  2 - 0

Game 3 vs Turbo Dark. Two Mulligans on my side, but went first. I chose to Lele for N instead of Fan Club so that my opponent would not start with 8 cards in hand. This was kind of dumb because all I had in my opening hand was a fomantis and a lele. A couple of other misplays that had to do with forgetting my prizes (two choice band were prized) caused me to miss a knockout and fall too far behind. I think this matchup is definitely winnable, I just made a lot more mistakes than my opponent. 2 - 1

Game 4 vs Lycanroc GX / Salazzle GX. Went first and setup with Brigette. Drew well throughout, and Oranguru was clutch. Discarding on Nature's Judgement early in the game is not ideal with this build. I also discarded my super rod off a Sycamore on my second turn and that almost came back to bite me, as I had been thinning my hand with ultra balls to get max draw on Instruct and try to hit energy/elixir, and in the process dumped my third and fourth fomantis... and then the Bulu I was planning on riding for the rest of the game got rocked by Dangerous Rogue GX. Oops. I drew well enough to build another Bulu and win, but definitely should have been more mindful of the game state. September is for learning what cards do! 3 - 1

Game 5 vs Greninja. Went second and just started abusing him with Bulu. Trying to imagine a start bad enough to actually tank this matchup... is very hard. (start one lele, prize the other, opening hand of 4 elixir, super rod and Acerola, then whiff energy and draw support for several turns???) 4 - 1

Game 6 vs Metagross GX. I was able to get a solid setup, just never drew into choice band despite all three being in deck. That forced me to either whiff KOs or overextend (ie discard on Nature's Judgement to knock out Necrozma GX when I had both promo Lurantis out) to take them. I realized too late in the game that Necrozma is actually a great target for Mew FCO. Metagross is difficult to handle if you can't shut off abilities or N away Algorithm GX... but I think with some better draw, and better utilization of tech, I could have won this. 4 - 2

Thoughts on my list: I played a very similar build at league last weekend and rolled seniors all afternoon. When this deck comes out in the right order and you draw decent (which happens about 60% of the time?), it is a bear to deal with. The clean math of Nature's Judgement + Sunny Day + Choice Band is very strong against decks I am discovering to be popular in new Standard. An underrated part of this is how well Sunny Day + Flower Supply flows into Tapu Bulu.

Is it better than Vikavolt / Tapu Bulu? That is really hard to say. I have not played Vikavolt / Tapu Bulu yet (plan on doing that tomorrow), but at face value I see them trading a lot of things off with each other. The Lurantis build offers perfect math and OHKO on anything in the format. The Vikavolt build allows you to power up most attackers in one turn.

The supporter line in this list needs some work. I would definitely yank Olympia for another Guzma, and possible replace Acerola with a Max Potion, Pokemon Center Lady, another N... or maybe Sophocles? Acerola is great for clearing a spot on a cramped bench, but when your best access to her is through Tapu Lele, it is kind of self defeating. Skyla is rarely an optimal play, but the deck really struggles if you can't access choice band when you need it.

On that note, I had initially considered trying out fighting fury belts, but after playing with this deck over the past week or so, it is clear that the strength of this deck is hitting perfect numbers, and choice band plays a huge roll in that.

Float Stone could drop to 2.

I hate playing Aether Paradise Conservation Area because that name is way too long to type, much less say, but I think it is handy against Gardevoir and anyone relying on Choice band to hit 180. That being said, 3 stadiums might be excessive given the 2 field blower.

I have played this with Tapu Koko SM30 in Mews slot. My only requirements for this slot is that I want a something that has free retreat, and some type of useful attack. Tapu Koko has some nice bulk to it with Aether Paradise Conservation Area out, but after I saw how easy it is to get SM25 Lurantis out, and how infrequently people mess with it due to how quickly your attackers put pressure on, Flying Flip became a lot less appealing. There are a few players who are in love with Espeon at my league, which opens some decent opportunities for Mew. I am probably putting too much thought into this, but in small tournaments I like to decrease my mulligan odds as much as reasonably possible, so while 10 basics has you mulligan 23% of the time, 11 bumps that down to 19%... and I have convinced myself that is worth something?

Another choice would be to just add another Lele, but I have not found a useful attacking roll for Lele in this deck, so starting Lele without a way to get it off the field is kind of frustrating.

I feel like 12 energy is perfect. As are the Fomantis/Lurantis, Tapu Bulu and Oranguru counts. If you are playing a deck that aims at turn 1 Brigette, you HAVE to include Oranguru. I am going to start counting how many cards I pull with Instruct in each game, but will not be surprised if the average is like 8-10.

Overall The list needs some light massaging to smooth out opening hands. If it starts well, this deck builds momentum quickly and is difficult to slow down. I am curious to experiment with Vikavolt / Bulu to compare.

Gaurdians Rising League Cup: Tulsa

I went to a League Cup today!

Over the past couple of weeks I have been testing a lot of different Lurantis-GX and Lycanroc-GX based decks... And some Vikavolt-GX decks because every time I open more than 3 Guardians Risings packs at a time I pull one.

Then I saw Andrew Wamboldt's Umbreon/Zoroark list at The Charizard Lounge. I usually run half a dozen or so games online with lists he posts because I know they will run smoothly, and some will expose me to clever interactions between cards (the Shiftry FLF/Landorus FFI deck from a couple years ago for example).

This deck blew me away. The versatility of Foul Play in the current meta is obscene. There are so many useful moves to copy, and (as he notes) adding Choice Band pushes several attacks into OHKO territory. I tested away the past week or so, re-familiarizing myself with best practices for dropping damage counters on benched pokemon, and learning moves to copy that never really see play (using Garbodor BKP Offensive Bomb is not really a sound strategy... But desperate times, man).

Then on Saturday morning I realized that I only had 3 Choice Band irl, as opposed to the 4 I had been testing with on ptcgo. I figured someone at league would have one for me to borrow, but just in case... I tried a few things.

This is the list I ended up playing:

Pokemon - 19	Trainers - 31	Energy - 10
4 - Eevee SUM 101	4 -Professor Sycamore	6 - Dark
3 - Umbreon GX	4 - N	4 - Double Colorless
1 - Flareon AOR 13	2 - Lysandre	-
-	1 - Brigette	-
3 - Zorua BKT 89	1 - Professor Kukui	-
3 - Zoroark BKT 91	1 - Teammates	-
2 - Zoroark BREAK	1 - Team Flare Grunt	-
-	-	-
2 - Tapu Lele GX	4 - Ultra Ball	-
-	4 - VS Seeker	-
1 - Oranguru SUM 113	1 - Super Rod	-
-	1 - Field Blower	-
-	1 - Special Charge	-
-	-	-
-	3 - Choice Band	-
-	2 - Float Stone	-
-	-	-
-	1 -Altar of the Moone	-
-	-	-
-	-	-
-	-	-

Okay, so this list is basically identical to Andrew's original. I didn't like Lillie because most of the situations I was finding to use it (don't need to play Lysandre, don't want to lose things in your hand), I was served just as well, or better, by the draw of Professor Kukui. Having a 9th draw supporter to pull in your opening hand makes sense from a statistic perspective... But when you also have 4 Ultra Balls to grab Tapu Lele (who unlike Shaymin-EX, Jirachi-EX, etc. is not a bench liability (and honestly, in some matchups is a solid attacker)), that point is kind of moot.

So with Lillie and Choice Band #4 we have two spots to fill. Options range from the very conservative and boring consistency buffs (Skyla and Professor's Letter...?) to spicy disruption tech (Delinquent and Hex Maniac). After some testing, my favorite answer was in the middle (Teammates and Team Flare Grunt). All of these options (and the inclusion of Brigette) represent the power of Tapu Lele. One of the biggest things I have learned in testing this format is how beneficial it is to have a Tapu Lele in deck, and an open bench space in the mid to late game.

I was very tempted to make these two like... a Vaporeon and Rough Seas, but decided that hitting Rough Seas with Umbreon in the same game I OHKO Drampa GX hitting Berserk with Foul Play would trigger some type of cute play singularity.

(seriously though, my league just has a long standing love affair with Volcanion)

6/4 Tulsa, 19 Masters

R1: Solgaleo GX/Solgaleo/Rayquaza W ( 1-0-0 )
R2: Metagross GX/Solgaleo GX L ( 1-1-0 )
R3: Vikavolt/Tapu Bulu GX W ( 2-1-0 )
R4: Vespiquen/Zoroark/Eeveelutions W ( 3-1-0 )
R5: Lapras GX W (4-1-0 )
 
T4: Vespiquen/Zoroark WW ( 5-1-0 )
T2: Garbodor/Drampa GX/Tauros GX WW ( 6-1-0 )

Final Standing: 1/19

OMG yes, I finally won a tournament! This means that every article I write will now begin with an insincere salutation + an account of my TCG accomplishments!

In round 1... basically I set up quickly and my opponent did not. I had Flareon up on my second turn, and took my fourth prize in response to his Sol Burst GX. Some luck was involved, but the two things I was expecting were beefy pokemon with fire weakness and Garbodor variants soooooo... this was really just validation of the deck choice.

I should have won round 2. This isn't a "durrr I had the WORST top decks" should have won, this is a "I Wonder Tagged for Sycamore instead of N after my opponent used Algorithm GX" should have won. My thinking was "Flareon is in my prizes. I will probably need Flareon to win regardless of his setup. Which supporter will advance my board state the fastest?". The answer to that is almost always Sycamore. That was the wrong way to look at this situation (and I don't know if it is good or bad that I acknowledged this as I was making the (wrong) decision???). However... DESPITE that misplay, I still would have won this game if I had placed my Shadow Bullet snipe damage better. I never shifted my thinking away from "spread in case he heals again" (I had seen two max potions) to "keep pulling high retreat cost guys active while all of his energy is stuck in play and snipe Tapu Lele to death" (ps: you really think he plays more than 2 Max Potion??!?). Basically, I made bad decisions in the moment against a deck I had never played against. I see three major reasons I was even able to get to the point where a second mistake cost me the game 1) extra draw from Oranguru 2) Teammates 3) Metagross GX just... doesn't work well if Solgaleo is not on the field.

My favorite thing about this deck is that it can play two different styles, and even shift between them in the same game. If you start fast, as I did in the first two games, you get a very offensive minded deck, ideally setting up multi KO turns. If you start slow, or just want to slow down your opponent, you can use Dark Call GX and Team Flare Grunt to buy yourself time while putting them into awful situations. Round 3 was the first time I did that! And then I closed the game knocking out Tapu Bulu GX and Vikavolt with Foul Play on back to back turns. I don't know how my opponent didn't scream 😈

In round 4, the situation to discard two DCE with Dark Call GX while my opponent had two special charge in the discard pile presented itself. I took it and it sealed the game. Vespiquen is a matchup that forces you to be mindful of who you leave active though.

Round 5 was another witch obnoxious cute stuff. I had been Streaming N to negate his Collect bounty, and assembled a decent bench in the process. He had three Lapras out, the active with three energy, a fury belt, and 150 damage on it. One powered up on the bench with a Choice Band. One on the bench with one energy. I had an Umbreon GX with one energy active, an Umbreon with one energy on the bench, a Zoroark on the bench, Oranguru on the bench, and Tapu Lele on the bench. He had just knocked out an Umbreon that I had been spamming Shadow Bullet with. He had dropped Rough Seas his previous turn, which told me that it would be REALLY nice to Foul Play Blizzard Burn with Choice Band. So on this turn I KO the active Lapras dropping a choice band onto active Umbreon + play Kukui. He promotes Choice Band Lapras, aqua patches to benched Lapras, and hits me with Ice Beam GX. I had DCE, two Dark, an ultra ball and like an Eevee in hand. Using stand in would break the paralysis, but I couldn't get a 1HKO... So I check his discard pile. He has played 4 aqua patch, and there was a alot of water energy in there too. Hmmmmmm.

So I attach DCE to benched Umbreon GX and pass. He KOs the active Umbreon. I ultra ball for Lele, grab teammates, grab Zoroark BREAK + choice band. Stand In and Foul Play Blizzard Burn for KO. My opponent seemed to literally not know what had hit him, which is understandable, but kind of funny? I got a VS Seeker off the prizes. He promotes benched Lapras, uses Blizzard Burn to knock out Zoroark Break. I promote Umbreon GX, VS seeker for Flare Grunt, use Flare Grunt + Dark Call GX to discard all of his energy. He plays an N, and then scoops.

First game of T4 my opponent got an awful start and scooped after 3 turns. The second game played out a bit longer, but ended much like my other Vespiquen matchup did, where he ran out of resources to recover energy. Sidenote: I think hitting Mind Jack with Foul Play is the closest the Pokemon TCG gets to Steph Curry corn ball celebrations.

I had a slow start in the first game of T2, but recovered by spamming Flare Grunt and hitting Dark Call GX at a good time. He ran out of resources to recover energy and scooped. The second game I had a good start, but he got Garbodor BKP setup quickly, which greatly impairs the mobility of this deck. I misplayed at one point, gearing up a Zoroark, assuming stand in would be the second to last action of my turn... but then had the "oh yeah, Garbodor... is it 2014???" reaction. Inexcusable, but ultimately not fatal. Time was eventually called and I was ahead on prizes 4-3 after T3.

I got 28 packs, which yielded two Vikavolt GX, two Turtonator GX, and one Choice Band. The second place guy got a regular art Tapu Lele and secret rare Field Blower. Sigh.

My overall impression of this deck is still very positive. So positive in fact, that I am kind of nervous it will catch on and (combined with Drampa) lead to a rise in Lycanroc decks, which... I am convinced is basically an autoloss for Umbreon/Zoroark.

The card I had the most question about through my testing was Super Rod. Playing Vespiquen in Standard for most of the season, and Raikou/Eels in Expanded, I obviously gravitate more toward Rescue Stretcher. However, in this deck Super Rod is absolutely the right play. Yes, there are times it would be great to just pull a Zoroark BREAK from the discard pile... But 6 dark really is cutting it close. Occassionally whiffing energy is the only issue I have had with this list, and playing against anything that runs hammers/flare grunt/Drampa, etc. you can quickly find yourself in a position you can't win from.

A low key major plus to anything that plays off of Energy Evolution is all of the deck searches it provides. Don't waste these! Not everyone is Rain Man. It is ok if you forget if you prized a float stone in the current game or the previous one, just try to think ahead enough that you can take advantage of every search. (this has nothing to do with why half of my games hit time on round).

Favorite card of the tournament: This is hard. All of the attackers fulfilled their roles. Tapu Lele unlocks a new/old frontier of tech supporters. Team Flare Grunt was undeniably clutch in multiple games. But Oranguru. What a great card. The extra draw Oranguru provides got me back into a game where I (foolishly) allowed my opponent to keep a 5x computer search. When I am able to turn 1 Brigette, I typically grab Eevee/Zorua/Oranguru. Just getting an extra card or two every few turns + N protection is soooo valuable.

Least favorite card of the tournament: Tempting to say Flareon, because it was a dead card after round 2, but that is why it is a tech. I was surprised I had so few matchups for it to earn its place in the deck. Altar of the Moone though? The only time I played this was to get rid of it in front of an N. For the most part, Stand In, Stafe, and Float Stone give this deck the mobility it needs. I may feel different if I had played Altar of the Moone in more of an enabling way (let us enjoy retreating for free) and less of a defensive way (omg just need my stadium so I can get rid of whatever annoying stadium opponent played). Dropping it for a Skyla, or even a 7th dark energy is definitely something I will explore.

Umbreon / Zoroark is a fascinating deck. Thanks to Andrew for posting the source list. Barring a swell in the Lycanroc ranks, I believe this deck has the tools to be very competitive for the remainder of the season.

Oh yeah, one more thing

Final roll call of attacks I copied with Foul Play:

Drampa GX - Righteous Edge
Drampa GX - Berserk
Tapu Bulu GX - Nature's Judgement
Vikavolt - Electrocannon
Zoroark - Mind Jack
Lapras GX - Blizzard Burn

(sadly, none of these topped one I hit while testing on PTCGO, where my opponent had a big baller Tapu Lele with 4 energy on it and I copied Energy Drive with 1 Dark + DCE + Choice band on Zoroark Break for KO)

Goofing around with Lurantis GX

Lurantis GX is an amazing card. I just came out of a game where I donked a Shaymin with Manaphy EX + Choice Band + Kukui, so this may not be very coherent, but Lurantis GX is an amazing card.

From the moment I saw it I was excited. It provides great energy acceleration, is not bound by type, and has a solid second attack. The popular mechanic seems to be pairing it with Vileplume and Forest of Giant Plants to lock and control, but this thinking is very conventional and bland. The "best grass type attacker + vileplume" thing is just very... blah.

I have two decks to share that have experienced some success. Have I won anything meaningful with them? Well... not really. I have taken down tier archetypes piloted by competent players in best of 3 series though.

Let's get started.

Deck 1: A Cheery Wave from Stranded Youngsters, or Lurantis / Dragonite

Pokemon:

4 - Fomantis SUM
3 - Lurantis GX SUM

2 - Dratini SUM
2 - Dragonair SUM
2 - Dragonite 52 ROS (the ancient trait one)

2 - Shaymin EX ROS

Trainer:

4 - Professor Sycamore
2 - N
2 - Lysandre
1 - Professor Kukui
1 - Olympia

4 - VS Seeker
4 - Ultra Ball
4 - Trainer's Mail
1 - Professor's Letter
1 - Rescue Stretcher
1 - Max Potion
1 - Super Potion

3 - Choice Band
2 - Float Stone

3 - Forest of Giant Plants

Energy:

9 - Grass
2 - Lightning

The goal of this deck is to power up Dragonite as quickly as possible. Most of the time this is done by trickling one of the Flower Supply attachments to him every turn, paired with manual attachments as available. Occasionally though... you get an opportunity to use Dragonair's attack Dragon's Wish.

You aren't familiar with Dragon's Wish? Why would you be! Dragon's Wish reads:

"During your next turn, you may attach any number of Energy cards from your hand to your Pokemon."

This is a ludicrous attack! If I wasn't in the process of preparing for a league cup next weekend, I would consider building a deck solely around this attack, four shaymins, sky field and like... Xerneas Break maybe??? Notice that it isn't limited to basic energy!

Anyway, this deck isn't built to hit Dragon's Wish... Just keep it in mind.

I usually do not put more than two energy on Lurantis in the early game. If an easy 2 prize Solar Blade knockout presents itself I would consider, but having two energy gives me enough to pay to retreat.

This deck went from a cute and silly thing in the PRC-SUM format, to what I consider a legit lower tier offering with the release of Guardians Rising. That is due to choice band bumping Dragonite's Heavy Impact attack up from 150 to 180, enough to take down most basic EX and GX pokemon.

That being said, there is still room for improvement. The deck has occasional mobility issues, and definitely has a "good" and "bad" order it can come out, with few options to really adapt to the new course outside of benching both Shaymin and trying to force the desired sequence. The downside to that is that it usually takes enough time that exposing a second Shaymin costs more than the prize gain provided by Dragonite's ancient trait.

I made this deck expecting very little beyond some laughs at league. In the process of playing it I discovered something I did not expect. LURANTIS GX IS A TAAAAANKKK.

Getting two or three of them up and just cycling them, in an attack/retreat/heal pattern? Even if you are just using Floral Supply every turn, this type of prize denial-ish behavior really jams up some decks. This discovery led me to betray the "power up energy hungry attackers" with Lurantis mind set to explore "just how tanky can we make this dude"

Disclaimer: this deck is still pretty rough. The idea feels good, and the deck runs smooth enough, but I have experienced significant attack math and search utility issues.

Deck 2: Paddle Forever / Lurantis + eeveelutions

Pokemon:

4 - Fomantis SUM
3 - Lurantis GX SUM

2 - Eevee 101 SUM
2 - Vaporeon AOR
1 - Flareon AOR

1 - Manaphy EX

1 - Shaymin EX XY148

1 - Shaymin EX ROS

1 - Tapu Lele GX GRS

Trainers:

4 - Professor Sycamore
3 - N
1 - Lysandre
1 - Brigette
1 - Skyla
1 - Olympia
1 - Professor Kukui

4 - VS Seeker
4 - Ultra Ball
2 - Super Potion
1 - Professor's Letter
1 - Rescue Stretcher
1 - Max Potion

3 - Assault Vest
1 - Choice Band

3 - Rough Seas

Energy

9 - Grass
3 - Water

The core idea here is to abuse water type support, which is unlocked for Lurantis GX via Vaporeon. Rough Seas, free retreat with Manaphy... even Aqua Patch if you feel like it. All of these are yours thanks to our Ancient Origin eeveelutions.

The most optimal + consistently achievable board state I have found is Lurantis+Assault Vest active, Tapu Lele ( turn 1 Lele-> Brigette is sooooo good), promo Shaymin, Vaporeon, and a second Lurantis on the bench, with Rough Seas out. This allows you to heal 80 damage every turn if you attack with Solar Blade, and 50 per turn if you are just chillin on the bench.

I am not sure if Manaphy has a place in this deck. Retreating for free and preserving energy is nice, but at this point in my testing, it has never been critical. Weirdly though, Manaphy+choice band is your best attack option vs volcanion. Even with Vaporeon, it is difficult to power up Lurantis fast enough to keep pace with Volcanion in this build.

The Flareon is there to help against Solgaleo stuff that can 1HKO Lurantis. This is probably the biggest reason against playing this deck. Anything that can 1HKO Lurantis + Assault Vest is just bad news.

I had initially used a heavier max potion count, and zero super potion (because who uses super potion?), but have found that you REALLY need to Solar Blade every turn ASAP for this deck to work well, and the additional energy loss was too difficult to recover from.

This list is still very much in flux. I would like to get comfortable enough with it to run it at the League Cup, but I have a bad feeling there will be a heavy Solgaleo presence. The two big questions I have right now are:

1) does running a single psychic energy to try and get Tapu Cure GX off violate some sort of unspoken rule re: cuteness vs viability?

2) Will Lurantis SM25 make the math better (ie making more effort to hit Solar Blade + Choice Band + promo Lurantis = 170)?

League Cup Report

I went to a League Cup last weekend.

This has been my most active season since 2013-14. I attribute this mainly to how enjoyable the standard format has been this season. Nothing has been consensus BDIF for more than a week or two. I am not sure if that is due to the constant stream of high profile tournaments, or just to the lack of a single dominant archetype.

I have been playing Vespiquen throughout the season, picking up some decent League Challenge finishes when I am not identifying truly horrible alternate attackers to feature (if rattata is good for removing tools, you might as well go ahead and add Raticate BKP... right? right??!?).

I was expecting to see a lot of Decidueye/Vileplume at this League Cup, and through being familiar with the local league knew there would be a healthy amount of Volcanion and Turbo Dark as well. I ran the list below.

Pokemon - 27	Trainers -29	Energy - 4
4 - Combee AOR	4 -Professor Sycamore	4 - Double Colorless
4 - Vespiquen AOR	2 - N	-
2 - Zorua BKT	2 - Lysandre	-
2 - Zoroark BKT	1 - Teammates	-
1 - Tauros GX	-	-
-	4 - Ultra Ball	-
4 - Unown AOR	4 - VS Seeker	-
3 - Shaymin EX	4 - Acro Bike	-
2 - Klefki STS	2 - Special Charge	-
1 - Oranguru SUM	1 - Revitalizer	-
-	1 - Buddy Buddy Rescue	-
2 - Eevee AOR	-	-
1 - Vaporeon AOR	2 - Float Stone	-
1 - Flareon AOR	-	-
-	1 - Forest of Giant Plants	-
-	1 - Faded Town	-

This is a pretty straightforward Vespi list. 2 Revitalizer is nice because it lets you get wild discarding the vespi line early, but I prefer the flexibility of being able to recover Vaporeon/Flareon, or just like... recycle an Unown or something. I tried hard to cut out the second stadium, but being able to bump opponent stadiums can be super clutch.

3/19 Tulsa, 27 Masters

R1: Decidueye/Vileplume L ( 0-1-0 )
R2: Decidueye/Vileplume W ( 1-1-0 )
R3: Turbo Dark W ( 2-1-0 )
R4: Lapras GX W ( 3-1-0 )
R5: Volcanion W ( 4-1-0 )

T8: Decidueye/Vileplume WLL ( 4-2-0 )

Final Standing: 5/27

In Round 1 I had an opportunity to Lysandre Vileplume and Mad Bull GX for 180, but instead chose to Lysandre a Decidueye GX and Mad Bull GX for 180 hoping Decidueye would be stuck active and I could horn attack for KO on the next turn. This was very dumb, and while it may not have cost me the game, it certainly didn't help me win it.

In round 2 my opponent over benched Shaymin and locked himself out of a second Decidueye until he could sky return, or I KO'd something. Unfortunately for him, I had flareon up, and Zoroark+Lysandre in hand. I took out his lone Decidueye, then plowed the rest of his board.

Turbo dark can be a rough matchup for vespi, as fighting fury belt puts Darkrai's HP to a level that is challenging to hit early in the game. Additionally, early Chaos Wheel wins the game. In round 3 though, I had a very quick setup and was swinging for 180 by turn 3, so this never got close.

Round 4 was uneventful to the point I felt kind of guilty. I wanted to see what my opponent's deck could do. I mean, he had won two games with Lapras. Grass weakness is just not something you will overcome against Vespi. I benched him on my third turn.

So we get to round 5. This game was not very interesting. I had Vaporeon in my opening hand and discarded with Sycamore, assuming I could get back with Buddy-Buddy later on. I got my first ultra ball 3 turns later and discovered Buddy-Buddy was prized! This would normally make things kind of sketchy, but my opponent's nerves seemed to be locking him up, and he made a couple of misplays that opened doors to a fairly simple victory.

Why was my opponent nervous? well, everyone at the top 4 tables had ID'd. I had been down paired due to low resistance (second round opponent dropped). There were at least 4 3-1's at the top four tables, and when they realized there was an unaccounted for 3-1 who was still playing, they all started watching the match. We had at least 20 people watching. It was weird.

Anyhow, I won, and ruined the day of a guy I had never seen before. I felt kind of bad, because I am familiar with the pressure to ID at the top tables at these small events where it seems like everyone knows eachother. There are so many variables to account for, and the decision has to happen pretty quick. If this was his first tournament with a top cut, it was a rough way to learn bout dat bubble life. That is as far as my pity extends though. There are few things I despise more than experienced players whining about bubbling top-X. If you don't want to bubble, don't ID. Or learn to math better.

In top 8 I was matched against a pillar of the local league whom I had never defeated, so it was nice to take game 1 off of him. I got Flareon setup and hit a timely Lysandre to take down a Shaymin with Zoroark for the win. In game 2 I got my first search card on my 4th or 5th turn and discovered that Flareon was prized. I considered scooping right then. We had about 10 minutes left and I didn't have the remaining resources to win the game lysandreing Shamins... But the prize trade was even, and with the exception of Flareon, I was set up really well so I chose to play it out. Dumb. I lost and we started game 3 with 2 minutes remaining. I went first, got a solid setup, and time was called as his first turn began. No prizes were taken during the three turns, and he double feather arrowed to finish off Flareon on the first turn of sudden death. This was a rough way to lose, but I have to say it was due to my being too stubborn to concede game 2. He went on to lose in the final against Mega Mewtwo.

Favorite card of the tournament: Tauros GX. I didn't really mention it above, but it is so nice having a good option to sky return into. I had people wasting resources to get around it, and in some cases just choosing to end their turn without attacking. All of this adds to the prize trade edge that makes Vespiquen viable.

Least favorite card of the tournament: Teammates. OMG Teammates by a mile. I have this really bad habit of latching on to cards like this because I will remember all of the super clutch+obnoxiously cute plays they enabled during testing. You know what would have actually improved my record during this tournament though? Another out to search my deck! I was considering cutting Teammates for Hex on my way to the tournament. Going forward I plan on dropping it for a Town Map, level ball... or like... Skyla.

I loved Flareon PLF, and I love Vespiquen AOR. Barring a huge meta shift that makes it hot garbage, or one of the clever Lurantis GX builds I have been discussing with some friends at league actually like... working, I plan on riding Vespi through the end of the season.

League Challenge Report

I went to a league challenge today and played the same list I have been using on PTCGO, created by and seen first at The Charizard Lounge.

Pokemon - 26	Trainers - 30	Energy - 4
4 - Combee AOR	4 -Professor Sycamore	4 - Double Colorless
4 - Vespiquen AOR	2 - N	-
4 - Unown AOR	2 - Lysandre	-
4 - Klefki STS	1 - Pokemon Ranger	-
4 - Shaymin EX	-	-
3 - Zorua BKT	4 - Ultra Ball	-
2 - Zoroark BKT	4 - VS Seeker	-
1 - Zoroark Break	4 - Acro Bike	-
-	2 - Revitalizer	-
-	2 - Special Charge	-
-	2 - Trainers Mail	-
-	-	-
-	2 - Float Stone	-
-	-	-
-	1 - Forest of Giant Plants	-

I went with this deck because I feel like it can beat anything that could show up in Standard currently. My experience on PTCGO told me that the meta is completely undefined right now. I expected things like Mega Mewtwo and Mega Ray to be present... but not in huge numbers.

There were 24 masters in this tournament. here is how my day went:

Round 1: W vs Durant/Slowking/mill stuff
Round 2: L vs Mega Ray/Mega Gardevoir STS
Round 3: W vs Darkrai/Giratina
Round 4: W vs Primal Kyogre
Round 5: L vs Volcanion

I drew into energy as I needed it in round 1, so I was never really threatened.

I went second in Round 2 and on my opponent's first turn he played N and I pulled out a truly disgusting hand. 2 Revitalizer, 2 Zoroark, a DCE and Professor Sycamore. I had a Zorua active and a Klefki on the bench and drew a float stone............ So I could play the Sycamore and knowing that it would stick me with my only attackers being whatever portion of the Vespiquen line was in the deck, or wait a turn and probably be in the same position plus one Zoroark.

I went ahead and played Sycamore, and was nearly able to pull this out. My opponent was spamming Hex most of the game to prevent Miracle Lock. He played Hex and knocked out a Vespiquen to go down to 2 prizes. I promoted a Combee, leaving Klefki on bench. I evolved to Vespiquen and attached, played N to knock him down to 2 cards in hand, knocked out Mega Gard (his only pokemon with energy attached) to go down to 2 prizes myself, and crossed my fingers that he would not get outs to some combination of energy+mega turbo to power up his benched M Gardevoir. He had an out to Shaymin and was able to draw into the needed energy resources, knocking out Vespiquen, which was game, since all of my Vespiquen were now in the discard pile, along with my Revitalizer. Frustrating.

I had outs to Pokemon Ranger when I needed it in Round 4 Had kind of a clunky start, but Vespi just hits too hard in this matchup, assuming you can keep up with energy attachments.

I went first and got a decent setup in round 4, eventually pulling 3 VS Seeker off a Sycamore while Lysandre was in the discard, which would let me cherry pick KO targets assuming my opponent didn't get access to N. He didn't, so I did. Weakness+prize trade+how fast Vespi is/how slow Kyogre is makes this a matchup I have trouble imagining Primal Kyogre ever winning.

Round 5 was against the only undefeated player. I went first and got a great start in terms of dumping unown and klefki, but not in terms of setting up attackers. I had Combee active and Zorua on the bench at the end of turn 1. My opponent knocked out Combee on his first turn, finishing with baby Volcanion active and two Volcanion EX on the bench.

Based on the game I played online, and some theorymon and solitaire I have done since, I knew I HAD to knock out baby Volcanion. I couldn't do it with Zoroark, and would need forest of giant plants to get it with Vespiquen... so I started digging. I burned my deck hard this turn, but ultimately couldn't get it, finishing with Zoroark+float stone active, Combee with DCE benched, Shaymin benched, and second Combee benched. I had Vespi in hand, but couldn't get the Forest out of the deck.

I may be remembering incorrectly, but I believe I attached DCE in front of a Setup. I had a hand with Shaymin, Ultra Ball, DCE, DCE, and Special Charge. I discarded Shaymin and DCE to grab a Shaymin. played Special Charge (my second, first was discarded by Sycamore on previous turn)... So do I play down DCE knowing that my ideal will require DCE on Vespiquen, and drawing into Vespi and Forest? Or do I Setup for 5 instead of 6, knowing that if I miss it will allow me to Sky Return?

The latter is probably the play I should have made, as this Shaymin ultimately cost me the game.

After whiffing Forest, I passed, and my opponent did however many steamups are necessary to KO Zoroark.

I promoted Combee with Energy, attached DCE to the combee on the bench, evolved both to Vespi, benched my fourth Combee, and knocked out baby Volcanion.

He promoted Volcanion EX, Knocked out Vespi. (he has 3 prizes left)

I promoted other Vespi, drew an Unown, used Farewell Letter to get my damage up, and took the OHKO on Volcanion EX. (I have 3 prizes left)

He promotes another Volcanion EX, Lysandres Shaymin, gets knockout to go down to 1 prize.

I send Vespi back up, if I can't get N to allow a prayer that he can't power up his bench (can't remember what it was). After a couple of Acro Bikes I end with a hand of DCE, Sycamore, DCE and Revitalizer. Not Helpful.

It was a good game, but it really turned on whiffing on baby Volcanion early. If I had knocked it out, I would have jammed his energy. If I had Sky Returned Shaymin, I would have stayed ahead in prize trade. Little things, but this is the difference between winning a tournament and finishing 8th.

I am going to keep playing this deck. It's fun, and doesn't really have any bad matchups. Karen might blow it up, but I am skeptical that Karen will see much play. I suppose it could be clutch if you are set up and only need to take 2 or 3 more prizes, bet getting an N to 1 or 2 and getting a hand full of pokemon is rough.