What cards or decks have you found that counters Pidgeotto Control?
Discussion Countering Pidgeotto Control
- Thread starter spartanzdude3
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I feel theres quite a few decks you could play in order to beat Pidgeotto Control.
1. Beheeyem
- Energy are safe, except out of mars in the early game.
- Goomy is a pain for Pidgeotto Control.
2. Blacephalon, Pikarom, mew3 and Reshizard
- Those decks play upward of 18 energy, you should be fine. Just be careful of Articuno-GX.
- Out of those three I recommend Pikarom bc it can accelerate slightly more and chuchu paralysis loop with Dawn wings could also be a decent stratergy
1. Beheeyem
- Energy are safe, except out of mars in the early game.
- Goomy is a pain for Pidgeotto Control.
2. Blacephalon, Pikarom, mew3 and Reshizard
- Those decks play upward of 18 energy, you should be fine. Just be careful of Articuno-GX.
- Out of those three I recommend Pikarom bc it can accelerate slightly more and chuchu paralysis loop with Dawn wings could also be a decent stratergy
Haven't played against a pidgeotto control deck yet but I feel like anything with alot of energy acceleration with the ability to attack right from turn 1 would be good options.
18 energy? I don't think any list I've seen for Pikazek or Reshizard plays 18, that's going to be a hot mess of dead draws. My Pikazek I think plays 11, and I think that's consistent with the norm. Maybe Blowns could get away with 18, but... no, I don't think so.
My opinion (having not played against it): I think you just rely on your opponent to not get the cards they want when they want them. You have to see when they're going to hit you with the lock, and when they are about to, you hit them with Reset Stamp first. It's a deck that requires a lot of cards in hand but doesn't actually discard a ton; so different from Shedninja for example which usually can sit on like 6 cards in deck from only a few turns in and just repeat the same play for an hour. Pidgeotto Control requires a lot more finesse and luck, and so partly you'll want to rely on your opponent not being a world class player hopefully (and thus more likely to make a mistake), and partly rely on making sure you play your deck cleanly.
Playing double of so many cards makes it harder to justify something like Girafrig as a tech against it; obviously you can play Oranguru, but that doesn't really help enough I don't think either. Reset Stamp is really the best option I think, and make sure you can counter Articuno-GX if it comes to that.
My opinion (having not played against it): I think you just rely on your opponent to not get the cards they want when they want them. You have to see when they're going to hit you with the lock, and when they are about to, you hit them with Reset Stamp first. It's a deck that requires a lot of cards in hand but doesn't actually discard a ton; so different from Shedninja for example which usually can sit on like 6 cards in deck from only a few turns in and just repeat the same play for an hour. Pidgeotto Control requires a lot more finesse and luck, and so partly you'll want to rely on your opponent not being a world class player hopefully (and thus more likely to make a mistake), and partly rely on making sure you play your deck cleanly.
Playing double of so many cards makes it harder to justify something like Girafrig as a tech against it; obviously you can play Oranguru, but that doesn't really help enough I don't think either. Reset Stamp is really the best option I think, and make sure you can counter Articuno-GX if it comes to that.
Mew3 box is generally the hardest counter the deck if you can get going fast enough to avoid getting completely locked out by Power Plant. You can use 6 energy Cross Division GX to KO 3 Pidgeottos at once to take your last three prizes, which allows you to avoid getting Reset Stamped to 1 card. Pidgeotto typically relies on a kill combo of Cold Crush GX -> Reset Stamp to 1 -> Mars -> Chip-chip, and then they lock and control your draws for the rest of the game.
Pikarom gets shut down by them putting down Power Plant when they initiate the combo, Reshizard is never going to build 4 energy to attack again, and Malamar is never going to be able to get Malamar out of the active spot once it gets Custom Catchered before the lock (although sometimes they can cheat out games with Cross Division like Mew3 can). Blowns can sometimes squeak out games by saving Burst GX until the last prize, so they either have to hope they can mill all of your energy or initiate the combo when you have 2 prizes left and pray. Any deck with Naganadel can also try to use that as a main attacker (which prevents you from running out of energy) but that's why most Pidgeotto lists play 2 Girafarig.
Nonetheless, I wouldn't expect to see too much of it in the future. It's not viable in best-of-1 due to time rules and the hype surrounding Mew3 should scare it off at upcoming larger events. It's also very difficult and exhausting to play, similar to Shedinja.
Pikarom gets shut down by them putting down Power Plant when they initiate the combo, Reshizard is never going to build 4 energy to attack again, and Malamar is never going to be able to get Malamar out of the active spot once it gets Custom Catchered before the lock (although sometimes they can cheat out games with Cross Division like Mew3 can). Blowns can sometimes squeak out games by saving Burst GX until the last prize, so they either have to hope they can mill all of your energy or initiate the combo when you have 2 prizes left and pray. Any deck with Naganadel can also try to use that as a main attacker (which prevents you from running out of energy) but that's why most Pidgeotto lists play 2 Girafarig.
Nonetheless, I wouldn't expect to see too much of it in the future. It's not viable in best-of-1 due to time rules and the hype surrounding Mew3 should scare it off at upcoming larger events. It's also very difficult and exhausting to play, similar to Shedinja.
Malamar decks with Giratina and Ultra Necrozma GX. I've played against several Pidgeotto decks with my Malamar deck and have one every time. The Sky-Scorching Light attack is sick when they aren't expecting it...
How do you pull off Sky-Scorching Light if they don't take a prize?
Well I guess the versions I have been playing against are using Beheeyem, which to me is the tougher version for Malamar - Giratina to handle when they are playing Goomy and Alolan Ninetales.
You can also force them to take at least one by KO-ing something on your side with Giratina. It takes a couple turns but it's possible at least. Drop an Inkay/Jirachi/Ditto you aren't using and you should be good in 2 turns.
As an aside: this is mostly true, but Tord's AbilityZard had 18 energy. Blowns is typically at 16, and GreensZard and PikaRom are at 11 typically.