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.

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.

League Challenge Report

I learned a lot of things at winter regionals. The importance of sleep, the importance of snacks, the importance of maintaining good posture throughout 12 hours of pokemon cards...

But the most important lesson was the value of play testing. Really working out a deck list until it is as lean as possible. Due to this, on the drive back from St. Louis, I decided that before the next league meeting, I was going to select my deck for states.

XY had not officially released, but I had read the scans. There are quite a few fun cards, but none of the pokemon really inspired me along the lines to build a deck around them. A friend and I discussed a Malamar/red card hell deck for about an hour on the way back from regionals... But we both knew it would not be competitive.

I knew I wasn't going to lay down enough money for Yveltal EX singles, and it would take an absurd swing of luck pull three. The fairy decks I have seen seem to lack enough punch to win consistently, and I am not going to buy beaches, so pairing Ray/Boar with Delphox is moot.

So that left me looking at old ideas and trying to pick one that would remain competitive, or get a boost with a small splash of the new stuff.

Palkia with Trevenant was the first deck to consider, but three games against Darkrai/Garbodor at league told me that even if you can slow their setup, dark types just blow through Trevenant too easily.

Then a meta-hater Magnezone/Sigilyph/Deoxys/Genesect deck. This was a blast against anyone who benched more than one Lugia EX or Yveltal EX, but Gyroball isn't quite as disruptive as I had hoped. I still run this online a few times a week, but my current build just hasn't proved capable of setting up Magnezone by turn 2-4 consistently. Beach would really help it, but again... Not buying that. $200 for a pokemon card is asinine.

So I began reading into current archetypes, and found Colin Moll's Hydreigon list. I love the flexibility that Dark Trance provides, I love Safeguard, and Dragon Blast is powerful enough to take care of non-EX nuisance pokemon such as Snorlax PLS, Reshiram LTR, etc.

So I tinkered with it, playing in online and in league for the past month, and this is the list I settled on for the first XY League Challenge:

Pokemon - 16	Trainers -33	Energy - 11
4 - Deino PLF	3 - N	7 - Darkness
1 - Zweilous LTR	3 - Professor Juniper	4 - Blend GRPD
3 - Hydreigon LTR	2 - Shauna	-
2 - Sigilyph LTR	1 - Colress	-
2 - Sableye DXP	4 - Dark Patch	-
2 - Darkrai EX LTR	3 - Ultra Ball	-
1 - Yveltal XY	3 - Random Receiver	-
1 - Virizion EX PLB	3 - Max Potion	-
-	3 - Rare Candy	-
-	2 - Enhanced Hammer	-
-	2 - Tool Scrapper	-
-	1 - Super Rod	-
-	1 - Silver Bangle	-
-	1 - Silver Mirror	-
-	1 - Computer Search	-

I went into this knowing that 30 minutes best of one works against one of this decks strengths, but I wanted to get as much experience with this deck as I could, so YOLO I guess.

Round 1 - W vs Mewtwo EX/Mew EX/Chandelure EX/Gardevoir
Round 2 - L vs Lugia EX/Deoxys EX/Thundurus EX/Genesect EX/Snorlax PLS
Round 3 - W vs Yveltal EX/Darkrai EX/Sableye DXP/Bouffalant DEX
Round 4 - L vs Yveltal EX/Sableye DXP/Garbodor LTR/Bouffalant DEX
Round 5 - T vs Lugia EX/Deoxys EX/Thundurus EX/Genesect EX/Absol PLF/Heatran EX

My favorite thing about this style of Hydreigon build (ie walling with Sigilyph instead of using a handful of tech attackers) is how often it either mounts a huge comeback, or just backs an opponent into a corner within the first 3-5 turns.

The round 1 matchup was easily my worst start ever with any version of Hydreigon. A Juniper, three rare candies, a Sigilyph and two blends in my opening hand... but I was able to pull out of it and hit energy and dark patches down the line to end up blowing through my opponent with successive Dragon Blasts after feeding a few one prize attackers.

On the opposite end of this, the game I tied I pulled Sableye and both enhanced hammers in my opening hand, junk hunting to lock my opponent out of energy until I was ready to begin Dragon Blasting.

The losses were close, and the tie would have gone to me given 5 more minutes.

It has been very tempting to for me to add Raichu XY, or Chandelure EX, something that either has 1HKO punch without a tool attached, or can punch out high damage pokemon that end up on the bench. However, since space is so tight on the bench I often end up with this special tech either wasting away on my bench while blocking out a more crucial strategic piece or unavailable in the discard pile when I need it.

Anyway, I finished 6 of 15, won a booster pack... and despite spending the evening experimenting with Luxray/Ninetales builds online, I will probably be playing something very close to this at states.