The Best Rogue Deck for LAIC?! Aegislash’s Untapped Potential
Hello everyone! As the Stellar Crown format nears its end, we find ourselves with lots of different viable decks that have seen tournament success. I don’t think the game is particularly good or particularly bad right now, but there are definitely some options to choose from when it comes to deck selection. There have been lots of tournaments, giving us a good idea of the landscape of the metagame. While I’m always considering top contenders like Raging Bolt ex and Terapagos ex for a big tournament like LAIC, I would like to play something interesting if possible. I always want to have a deck that gives me an edge over everyone else, especially when games are typically short and some decks don’t have a lot of skill expression. In an environment like this, it is difficult to realize one’s skill edge in gameplay. Unfortunately, the meta decks are so powerful and well-rounded that it has proven very difficult to find something that counters them. After a lot of cooking, I’ve found a deck that does the job somewhat well.
Aegislash packs the ubiquitous Safeguard Ability, this time calling it Mysterious Shield. I’m not going to tell you that my Aegislash deck is broken and beats everything, but it certainly is good, and I am considering playing it for LAIC. With Aegislash being a Stage 2, it’s hard to see why it would ever be preferred to its Basic counterpart Mimikyu. Mimikyu has seen a lot of success, and getting a Basic Pokemon into play is much easier than building a deck around a Stage 2. However, we aren’t being different just for diversity’s sake. Aegislash has a few things going for it. Of course, being a Stage 2, it has padded stats. Weighing in at 150 HP and 120 damage, this looks pitiful for a Stage 2, but it’s notably meatier than Mimikyu.
It is important to note that HP basically scales exponentially when factoring in the Safeguard Ability. Although it only has about twice as much HP, Aegislash is much more difficult to KO than Mimikyu. Most notably, it is outside Dusknoir‘s Cursed Blast range. It also tanks retaliatory attacks from Pokemon like Mew ex or Slither Wing.
If you’re playing Mimikyu, you have a hard time attacking, dealing only 70 damage for two Energy. Most decks with Mimikyu have abandoned the idea of attacking with it entirely. After all, you’re not getting a lot of mileage from an attack like that. I did consider a deck built around Mimikyu using its attack over and over, but it had too many flaws — flaws that Aegislash does not have. Mimikyu’s attack places damage counters, so if you were to build an attacking Safeguard deck, you would get hard walled by Mist Energy or Charmeleon. And of course, with fewer HP, your precious Energy attachments would disappear faster.
This deck is similar in concept to the Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex / Noivern ex that has seen some play. Even if a deck had a few ways to attack into it, the returning attacking pressure you can dish out is enough to neutralize their limited threats. Now let’s quickly discuss why Aegislash is better than that Cornerstone deck. The Cornerstone deck is too feeble, as most decks have too many ways to take six Prizes against it. Lugia VSTAR and Regidrago VSTAR absolutely wipe the floor with it, as they do with most Stall and Control decks. Dusknoir can also handle Cornerstone because it gives up two Prize cards. It’s hard to set up a lone Noivern against a thinking Raging Bolt player (a rare sight, I know). On the other hand, Aegislash’s Safeguard provides a much better wall than even Cornerstone and Noivern put together. Aegislash and its pre-Evolutions only give up one Prize apiece. Even if the opponent can snipe down a few little fellas, it’s very difficult for any deck to take the full six Prize cards against a dedicated Aegislash deck.
The key to making Aegislash work solely depends on the meta surrounding it. At NAIC, Gardevoir ex and Lost Box were the two most popular decks, comprising a large portion of the meta. This field would be an absolute nightmare for Aegislash, as decks with lots of strong single-Prize attackers just destroy it. However, Aegislash isn’t a deck that simply fishes for auto-wins. While it would be nice to run into nothing but Raging Bolt and Iron Thorns ex, there’s a little more to it. Aegislash accepts that other decks can potentially deal with Safeguard; it just needs to be capable of taking out the relevant threats, leaving the opponent with nothing left after that. It can be thought of like a Control deck where you are aiming to remove the opponent’s key resources and then sweep them. Here’s my current list:
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