Here is my deck review for Gardevoir GX in the Standard Format, where I look at all of the tournament play that Gardevoir has seen, and eventually give my overall rating for it. I will be going over all of the different variants as well, and will order them in what I think is the most likely to succeed competitively.
However, due to the fact that Gardevoir was released right before Worlds 2017 and players did not have too much time to test it, and the (then) Standard Format changed immediately after the tournament, I shall not be including this time period in any part of this review. Without further ado though, let us begin!
Bremen Regionals Analysis
Gardevoir GX took 9 of the top 32 spots in Bremen, with its highest finish at 5th place. A lot of players were playing a 4-3-4 (3/1 Gardevoir/Gallade split) line with 1 BUS Diancie, which made it easier to evolve into Gardevoir. Due to this, they could also play 1-2 Acerola to pick up damaged Pokemon and have the Energy return to their hand. Max Potion was still played in some lists however, where the Pokemon would stay on the field and be fully healed, but at the cost of discarding all energy attached to it. Max Potion is the preferred option in lists nowadays, but players still have to play 1-2 Super Rod to help recycle their Energy. Perhaps in the future, some decks could play Victini Prism Star with 1 Counter Energy to not only recycle Energy, but to gain the advantage against the Metal matchups that Gardevoir naturally struggles against, such as Solgaleo GX, Dusk Mane Necrozma GX and Celesteela GX.
Hartford Regionals Analysis
Gardevoir took 8 of the top 32 places at Hartford, and its highest placement was 4th, piloted by Sam Chen. His list played a 2-2 Sylveon GX line and a 1-1 Octillery line. Sylveon fits very easily in Gardevoir, due to Eevee's Energy Evolution Ability allowing it to evolve the first turn it is played provided you attach a [Y] Energy from your hand to it. With Gardevoir's Secret Spring Ability, this no longer means you have to commit your Energy attachment for the turn onto it, due to the multi-attachment power that Gardevoir grants you. Sylveon also works very well with Parallel City, effectively reducing your opponent's bench to 1 Pokemon which is a very difficult situation to come back from. Not so much for Zoroark players though, as they can simply use one of their 3 Brigette (As is played in most Zoroark lists) and refill their bench with ease, which also happens to be the key to its damage output. The Zoroark matchup will be covered at the London International Championships section and the Zoroark/Gardevoir section though, so I shall stop talking about it here. Back to Sylveon however, it also has the Magical Ribbon attack, allowing you to get any 3 cards from your deck and put them into your hand. This has the potential for incredible setup the following turn, provided your opponent cannot play an N to force you to shuffle those cards back in. Sylveon has very much replaced Diancie in virtually every list in terms of setup, and it is definitely a contender for Best Gardevoir Variant.
Vancouver Regionals Analysis
Vancouver was undeniably Gardevoir's highest point, taking 13 of the top 32 placements, including a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finish! 11 of those 13 decks were Sylveon variants, and Pablo Meza''s 1st place list was no exception. Again, we see a 2-2 line followed by a 1-1 Octillery line for draw support, and his list very much resembles Sam Chen's list from Hartford in fact. Due to this, I shall not spend as much time talking about it here, but there is no doubt that Gardevoir's heyday was before the release of Zoroark GX, due to the fact that there simply was no deck back then that stood up to Gardevoir in the way Zoroark does. And that is all about to be explained in detail.
London Internationals Analysis
Gardevoir's performance in London wasn't as prominent as it had been in the past, taking 9 of the top 32 places with it's highest finish being 3rd place at the hands of Christopher Schemanske. His list is rather different to the ones before him, as it was adapted to counter the new Zoroark-dominated metagame that we know today. The main point was a 4-3-5 (3/2 Gardevoir/Gallade) line, and it effectively set the tone for Gardevoir variants today. There is no 2-2 or 1-1 Sylveon line, and only a 1-1 Octillery line for draw support. 2 Gallade not only helps you tip the Zoroark matchup slightly more in your favour, but also helps you manage your resources more effectively. The next point is 4 Max Potion, because there are very few Pokemon that can 1HKO a Gardevoir GX, and 4 Max Potion not only ensures you'll always have 1 in your hand when you need it, but also keeps constantly healing your Gardevoir so your opponent will find it very hard to take KOs. Overall, London Internationals was the beginning of the "new" way to play Gardevoir.
Memphis Regionals Analysis
Memphis was a dark time for Gardevoir, as it only took 1 top 32 placement (9th) and massively underperformed. It did take a couple of top 64 placements, but outside of that there really isn't much to say about Gardevoir's performance at Memphis, other than it really fell out of favour.
Sao Paulo Regionals Analysis
Sao Paulo was a very odd tournament for Gardevoir, as it again only took 1 top 32 placement, yet it ended up winning the whole 400-odd masters tournament! The list the winner (Gabriel Pino Semedo) played included a 4-4-4 Gardevoir line with 0 Gallade, and 2 BUS Diancie. I can only imagine he played these lines to evolve up into Gardevoir quicker, although I am unsure of why he chose to play his list this way. Either way, I wouldn't take any results from Memphis or Sao Paulo as definitive, and I would look at other tournament results to find out the best way of playing it.
Leipzig Regionals Analysis
There is not too much to report on from Leipzig, other than Gardevoir took 4 top 32 placements at this tournaments with its highest placement being 6th place. Pretty much all of the variants used in this tournament and how they work have been covered previously in this article, so let us move on.
Sydney Internationals Analysis
Only 5 Gardevoir variant made top 32 at Sydney (although 11 made top 64) and they were ALL Zoroark/Gardevoir variants. I say variants, they were actually all the same list used by Tord Reklev and the Schulz brothers testing group. Zoroark/Gardevoir is fairly simple; set up your Zoroark GXs, then you can start setting up your Gardevoir and Gallade. Zoroark is very much the focus of this archetype, but Gardevoir is still very important in it nonetheless. Another good thing about putting Gardevoir and Puzzle of Time together is that any 1 of card in your deck instantly becomes a 6 of (theoretically), thanks to the amount of recovery options you have. There isn't really too much more to say about this deck in terms of Gardevoir due to the fact that it takes a bit of a back seat in this variant, so let us move on to the next tournament results.
Malmö Regionals & Collinsville Regionals Analysis
Since Malmö and Collinsville both occured at the same time, I shall be reviewing them together. Only 3 Gardevoir decks took top 32 at Malmö, 2 of them being Zoroark/Gardevoir, and the other being Straight Gardevoir GX. Collinsville was an even worse showing for Gardevoir though, only 1 Gardevoir deck made top 32 (Kyle Sablehaus, 15th) and it was a Zoroark/Gardevoir variant. It seems a little odd that so soon after Tord Reklev won his third international championships using this deck, it was already falling out of favor with the rest of the top players. Perhaps Gardevoir was just having an off day, or maybe it really was falling, in terms of popularity and playability.
Charlotte Regionals Analysis
Again, only 3 Gardevoir deck made top 32 at Charlotte, 2 Zoroark/Gardevoir and 1 Straight Gardevoir. Let us talk about this Straight Gardevoir list though, as I found it to be quite interesting. The list Gibson Archer-Tang used to get 22nd place has quite a few interesting things in it, such as a 4-2-5 Gardevoir line, (3/2 Gardevoir/Gallade) a 1-1 Sylveon line, a 1-1 Octillery line and a Mr. Mime. This list also played 2 Max Potion, instead of the regluar 0 or 4. All in all, this list seems like a Gardevoir mash-up deck that includes everything you can think of. Although I don't think this can be classed as its own variant, rather a modification of Straight Gardevoir.
Portland, Perth and Jakarta Regionals Analysis
This was very shocking to see, but Gardevoir GX saw absolutely no play (in top 32 at least) (top 8 of Perth and Jakarta) in any of these tournaments! This shows that as of recent tournaments, Gardevoir has not been the play, and it might not be the play for any tournaments in the forseeable future.
Overall Analysis
I think that Gardevoir has massively fallen out of favour with the elite players, due to the fact that so many decks currently not only outspeed it, but also overpower it, be that due to type matchup or setup ability. It saddens me to say this, but Gardevoir is no longer a Tier 1 deck, and may not even be Tier 2 either. It wouldn't feel right putting Gardevoir in Tier 3 though, so I think Tier 2.5 is an accurate representation of where it stands in the metagame currently. The Metal-pocalypse took its time, but it did the job it was meant to, eliminate Gardevoir from the metagame. When the new Solgaleo GX gets released in October, I can say with almost 100% certainty that Gardevoir will no longer be a viable deck. Play Gardevoir now while you can, before it is gone forever.
Best Gardevoir Variant
This is the order I would feel comfortable putting Gardevoir variants into in terms of playability:
Zoroark/Gardevoir
Gardevoir/Sylveon
Gardevoir/Max Potion
Straight Gardevoir
Conclusion
Tier - 2.5
Best Variant - Zoroark/Gardevoir
Current Competitive Play - Little to None
Consistency - Tends to Brick
Overall Rating - 5/10
Thank you all so much for reading to the end, I am thinking of covering Espeon/Garbodor for my next Standard Deck Review so keep a lookout for that, it will probably be up once LATAM Internationals has concluded and we have more information on the current metagame. Until then, Nugget Master signing off!
However, due to the fact that Gardevoir was released right before Worlds 2017 and players did not have too much time to test it, and the (then) Standard Format changed immediately after the tournament, I shall not be including this time period in any part of this review. Without further ado though, let us begin!
Bremen Regionals Analysis
Gardevoir GX took 9 of the top 32 spots in Bremen, with its highest finish at 5th place. A lot of players were playing a 4-3-4 (3/1 Gardevoir/Gallade split) line with 1 BUS Diancie, which made it easier to evolve into Gardevoir. Due to this, they could also play 1-2 Acerola to pick up damaged Pokemon and have the Energy return to their hand. Max Potion was still played in some lists however, where the Pokemon would stay on the field and be fully healed, but at the cost of discarding all energy attached to it. Max Potion is the preferred option in lists nowadays, but players still have to play 1-2 Super Rod to help recycle their Energy. Perhaps in the future, some decks could play Victini Prism Star with 1 Counter Energy to not only recycle Energy, but to gain the advantage against the Metal matchups that Gardevoir naturally struggles against, such as Solgaleo GX, Dusk Mane Necrozma GX and Celesteela GX.
Hartford Regionals Analysis
Gardevoir took 8 of the top 32 places at Hartford, and its highest placement was 4th, piloted by Sam Chen. His list played a 2-2 Sylveon GX line and a 1-1 Octillery line. Sylveon fits very easily in Gardevoir, due to Eevee's Energy Evolution Ability allowing it to evolve the first turn it is played provided you attach a [Y] Energy from your hand to it. With Gardevoir's Secret Spring Ability, this no longer means you have to commit your Energy attachment for the turn onto it, due to the multi-attachment power that Gardevoir grants you. Sylveon also works very well with Parallel City, effectively reducing your opponent's bench to 1 Pokemon which is a very difficult situation to come back from. Not so much for Zoroark players though, as they can simply use one of their 3 Brigette (As is played in most Zoroark lists) and refill their bench with ease, which also happens to be the key to its damage output. The Zoroark matchup will be covered at the London International Championships section and the Zoroark/Gardevoir section though, so I shall stop talking about it here. Back to Sylveon however, it also has the Magical Ribbon attack, allowing you to get any 3 cards from your deck and put them into your hand. This has the potential for incredible setup the following turn, provided your opponent cannot play an N to force you to shuffle those cards back in. Sylveon has very much replaced Diancie in virtually every list in terms of setup, and it is definitely a contender for Best Gardevoir Variant.
Vancouver Regionals Analysis
Vancouver was undeniably Gardevoir's highest point, taking 13 of the top 32 placements, including a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finish! 11 of those 13 decks were Sylveon variants, and Pablo Meza''s 1st place list was no exception. Again, we see a 2-2 line followed by a 1-1 Octillery line for draw support, and his list very much resembles Sam Chen's list from Hartford in fact. Due to this, I shall not spend as much time talking about it here, but there is no doubt that Gardevoir's heyday was before the release of Zoroark GX, due to the fact that there simply was no deck back then that stood up to Gardevoir in the way Zoroark does. And that is all about to be explained in detail.
London Internationals Analysis
Gardevoir's performance in London wasn't as prominent as it had been in the past, taking 9 of the top 32 places with it's highest finish being 3rd place at the hands of Christopher Schemanske. His list is rather different to the ones before him, as it was adapted to counter the new Zoroark-dominated metagame that we know today. The main point was a 4-3-5 (3/2 Gardevoir/Gallade) line, and it effectively set the tone for Gardevoir variants today. There is no 2-2 or 1-1 Sylveon line, and only a 1-1 Octillery line for draw support. 2 Gallade not only helps you tip the Zoroark matchup slightly more in your favour, but also helps you manage your resources more effectively. The next point is 4 Max Potion, because there are very few Pokemon that can 1HKO a Gardevoir GX, and 4 Max Potion not only ensures you'll always have 1 in your hand when you need it, but also keeps constantly healing your Gardevoir so your opponent will find it very hard to take KOs. Overall, London Internationals was the beginning of the "new" way to play Gardevoir.
Memphis Regionals Analysis
Memphis was a dark time for Gardevoir, as it only took 1 top 32 placement (9th) and massively underperformed. It did take a couple of top 64 placements, but outside of that there really isn't much to say about Gardevoir's performance at Memphis, other than it really fell out of favour.
Sao Paulo Regionals Analysis
Sao Paulo was a very odd tournament for Gardevoir, as it again only took 1 top 32 placement, yet it ended up winning the whole 400-odd masters tournament! The list the winner (Gabriel Pino Semedo) played included a 4-4-4 Gardevoir line with 0 Gallade, and 2 BUS Diancie. I can only imagine he played these lines to evolve up into Gardevoir quicker, although I am unsure of why he chose to play his list this way. Either way, I wouldn't take any results from Memphis or Sao Paulo as definitive, and I would look at other tournament results to find out the best way of playing it.
Leipzig Regionals Analysis
There is not too much to report on from Leipzig, other than Gardevoir took 4 top 32 placements at this tournaments with its highest placement being 6th place. Pretty much all of the variants used in this tournament and how they work have been covered previously in this article, so let us move on.
Sydney Internationals Analysis
Only 5 Gardevoir variant made top 32 at Sydney (although 11 made top 64) and they were ALL Zoroark/Gardevoir variants. I say variants, they were actually all the same list used by Tord Reklev and the Schulz brothers testing group. Zoroark/Gardevoir is fairly simple; set up your Zoroark GXs, then you can start setting up your Gardevoir and Gallade. Zoroark is very much the focus of this archetype, but Gardevoir is still very important in it nonetheless. Another good thing about putting Gardevoir and Puzzle of Time together is that any 1 of card in your deck instantly becomes a 6 of (theoretically), thanks to the amount of recovery options you have. There isn't really too much more to say about this deck in terms of Gardevoir due to the fact that it takes a bit of a back seat in this variant, so let us move on to the next tournament results.
Malmö Regionals & Collinsville Regionals Analysis
Since Malmö and Collinsville both occured at the same time, I shall be reviewing them together. Only 3 Gardevoir decks took top 32 at Malmö, 2 of them being Zoroark/Gardevoir, and the other being Straight Gardevoir GX. Collinsville was an even worse showing for Gardevoir though, only 1 Gardevoir deck made top 32 (Kyle Sablehaus, 15th) and it was a Zoroark/Gardevoir variant. It seems a little odd that so soon after Tord Reklev won his third international championships using this deck, it was already falling out of favor with the rest of the top players. Perhaps Gardevoir was just having an off day, or maybe it really was falling, in terms of popularity and playability.
Charlotte Regionals Analysis
Again, only 3 Gardevoir deck made top 32 at Charlotte, 2 Zoroark/Gardevoir and 1 Straight Gardevoir. Let us talk about this Straight Gardevoir list though, as I found it to be quite interesting. The list Gibson Archer-Tang used to get 22nd place has quite a few interesting things in it, such as a 4-2-5 Gardevoir line, (3/2 Gardevoir/Gallade) a 1-1 Sylveon line, a 1-1 Octillery line and a Mr. Mime. This list also played 2 Max Potion, instead of the regluar 0 or 4. All in all, this list seems like a Gardevoir mash-up deck that includes everything you can think of. Although I don't think this can be classed as its own variant, rather a modification of Straight Gardevoir.
Portland, Perth and Jakarta Regionals Analysis
This was very shocking to see, but Gardevoir GX saw absolutely no play (in top 32 at least) (top 8 of Perth and Jakarta) in any of these tournaments! This shows that as of recent tournaments, Gardevoir has not been the play, and it might not be the play for any tournaments in the forseeable future.
Overall Analysis
I think that Gardevoir has massively fallen out of favour with the elite players, due to the fact that so many decks currently not only outspeed it, but also overpower it, be that due to type matchup or setup ability. It saddens me to say this, but Gardevoir is no longer a Tier 1 deck, and may not even be Tier 2 either. It wouldn't feel right putting Gardevoir in Tier 3 though, so I think Tier 2.5 is an accurate representation of where it stands in the metagame currently. The Metal-pocalypse took its time, but it did the job it was meant to, eliminate Gardevoir from the metagame. When the new Solgaleo GX gets released in October, I can say with almost 100% certainty that Gardevoir will no longer be a viable deck. Play Gardevoir now while you can, before it is gone forever.
Best Gardevoir Variant
This is the order I would feel comfortable putting Gardevoir variants into in terms of playability:
Zoroark/Gardevoir
Gardevoir/Sylveon
Gardevoir/Max Potion
Straight Gardevoir
Conclusion
Tier - 2.5
Best Variant - Zoroark/Gardevoir
Current Competitive Play - Little to None
Consistency - Tends to Brick
Overall Rating - 5/10
Thank you all so much for reading to the end, I am thinking of covering Espeon/Garbodor for my next Standard Deck Review so keep a lookout for that, it will probably be up once LATAM Internationals has concluded and we have more information on the current metagame. Until then, Nugget Master signing off!