Standard Decklist with League Cup Results

[Seastrome]

I decided to play my Gardevoir deck that had been winning consistently for me. The swiss rounds were all best of 1 and 26 total people. My deck struggled to get quick set ups in some matches and it cost me. It sucks being powerless against Golisopod hitting for 120 on my small basics or Ho-oh hitting down everything and not being able to have time to set up.

I feel this needs a bit of an overhaul to make it more consistent. Note that this league cup was best of 1 so maybe that played a role but either way, changes need to be made.

Decklist:

3 Gardevoir GX
3 Tapu Lele GX
3 Kirlia
1 Gallade
2 Octillery
2 Remoraid
4 Ralts
1 Alolan Vulpix
1 Diancie
19

4 Ultra Ball
4 Sycamore
4 N
3 Rare Candy
2 Brigette
2 Float Stone
2 Choice Band
2 Guzma 2 Field Blower
2 Acerola
1 Rescue Stretcher
28

9 Fairy Energy
4 Double Colorless


Round 1 (WIN) : Play a guy using Golisopod/Garb and pull out the win. Tricky match up but I started well enough and ended up finishing through.

Round 2 (LOSE): Play against Salazzle/Ho-oh. He gets Kiawe Ho-Oh and I don't find a way to get brigette as well as 2 Ralts being prized. I manage to eventually get a Gardevoir out to take the Ho-Oh out but it was too late as Salazzle + Choice Band was enough to take the game.

Round 3 (LOSE): I play against Golisopod and although I get Brigette, I do not find a way to Rare candy into Garde. So he ends up using Guzma + Float stones to keep sniping away at my attempts to set up so I lose the match. Sucks but best of 1 for you...

Round 4 (WIN): Play Golisopod again and I get set up and win, although the game ends up being somewhat close but I had my opponent for game no matter what he did.

Round 5 (LOSE): Played against a girl who was also using Gardevoir. It was a close game but she finds just enough energies off of Sycamore to eek out the win as I had game next turn.

So 2-3 at my first League Cup. I feel devastated. I fully expected to be in the finals based on how I tested with this deck. Going 2-3 really makes me question what else I can even do There's literally nothing I can do better and yet 2-3 stares me in the face... A lot of the losses weren't even anything I did wrong but more so my poor starts. I tested against these decks online and seemed to win consistently but today, things did not go well as my draws just weren't there some games.

 

[FlavorfulPineApl]

I can't think of what Id add, but I would do this:

-1 Acerola (Does not go with strategy, but kinda useful in a way. No need for 2)

-1 Brigette (I know this being prized hurts badly, but it is not good to draw late game)

 

[Seastrome]

I can't win mirror matches. And I have no confidence after today. All my hopes were dashed today and it sucks

 

[FlavorfulPineApl]

I can't win mirror matches. And I have no confidence after today. All my hopes were dashed today and it sucks

Mirror matches are always hard, and always about who can set up first. There is no need to lose confidence, this is your first League Cup after all!

Your list already looks consistent, and doesn't seem to be much wrong with it, I don't know why its not setting up properly for you.

 

[AuraJackle]

Could just be bad luck even the best list can tank or sometimes your opponents will just run to hot to beat.

 

[Seastrome]

I thought this was THE deck for me but apparently it's not. Idk, maybe it is me and I just don't know the game well enough but I play online every day I can and i won a ton of games and felt prepared. That's why going 2-3 is devastating to me. I expected top 4 or better.

I could change decks but it wont change anything likely. I just am not good enough right now and I don't see how I can improve.

 

[Duo]

Try not to take losses personally. Card games inherently have an aspect of luck involved and you can't avoid that with any deck list.

Playing online and playing in person are also very different. The way you perceive the board and your own stress levels are much different from an online simulation in the comfort of your room.

I should also mention that Gardevoir GX is a lot less of the god tier deck people might make it out to be right now. It's just another deck with strengths and weaknesses like every other.

Stage 2 decks are inherently a bit clumsy and its what gives other (not stage 2) decks a fighting chance against them, and honestly with the upcoming Kartana GX and Registeel, I'm going to be benching my own Gardevoir GX deck for a while once Crimson Invasion releases. Those cards are designed to keep Gardy GX in check, and unfortunately ruins Alolan Ninetales GX pretty hard as well. Water really needs some more presence, but I digress.

Keep practicing, and don't be afraid to try new things. Analyze cards and playtest them against common match ups. Japan had a very strong presence at Worlds with Golisopod GX/Garbodor because they thought of it first and perfected it, even though most of us over here didn't think to put those two together. I honestly think Golisopod GX/Garbodor is a better deck than Gardevoir GX. You want to be in the position where you're inventing the next tier 1 deck, not in the position where you're following what others are doing.

 

[RealEnderTV]

You need to have 3 Diancie. It'll help set up quicker. Personally I don't like Alolan Vulpix in my Gardevoir deck so I'd remove that.

Also -1 Acerola +1 Guzma. Most decks need 3 Guzma and I think 2 Acerola is too much, but 1 is good.

And
-2 Choice band
-1 Bridgette (you only need 1)

for +3 float stone. Float stone is GREAT in gardevoir and I think more people should play it. Gardevoir does t really need choice band since it's doing so much damage anyway.

If possible I'd try to fit 1 or 2 skyla and a professor's letter. Skyla is great for getting rare candy and Prof. Letter and you can't Skyla for Prof. Letter if you don't have Prof. Letter (obviously)

Hope this helps.

 

[Seastrome]

Just lost to Greninja with these changes. I have no confidence at all. I don't have a consistent record with much of anything aside from Gardevoir but today happened so it makes me not want to use it now. Why use essentially the same deck that I scrubbed out with? What will change? I played it the best I could.

 

[Adi]

Ok now matter what your deck testing shows Gardevoir is a good deck. You just haven't found the right list yet. Also Gardevoir loses to Greninja because they only use 1 energy, and hitting for 170 without Choice Band is hard. My brother beat 2 very good Gardevoir decks with his Greninja deck. Here are the changes I would suggest.

-1 Octillery(90% of decks can suffice with a 1-1 especially if you have 3 Lele's to grab a Brigette.)

-1 Remoraid

-1 Alolan Vulpix(I honestly prefer the more consistent Diancie route. I personally think Diancie is more efficient.)

-1 Brigette(You don't need 2 Brigette in your deck. You are going to be getting it through Ultra Ball and Diancie.)

-2 Float Stone(I think Fairy Garden is better because you can use Choice Bands on your Gardevoir's.)

-1 Acerola(1 Acerola is good, and with 3 Lele's you can find it when you need it. I don't think 2 is necessarily required though.)

+1 Diancie(I think this is more consistent than Alolan Vulpix.)

+1 Choice Band(You need 3 because you have to have it when you need it.)

+3 Fairy Garden(Better than Float Stone in my opinion.)

+1 Lillie(Adds more draw support which will help with consistency.)

+1 Guzma(Most decks are running 3 in the new format, and that includes Gardevoir GX.)

I hope this helps you, and good luck in future tournaments.

 

[RealEnderTV]

Just lost to Greninja with these changes. I have no confidence at all. I don't have a consistent record with much of anything aside from Gardevoir but today happened so it makes me not want to use it now. Why use essentially the same deck that I scrubbed out with? What will change? I played it the best I could.

Greninja is a tough match up for Gardevoir anyway. It can take time to really feel comfortable with a deck. I'd recommend playing some more games with my changes and/or try out some of Adi's changes.

You win some you lose some.

 

[Seastrome]

Ok now matter what your deck testing shows Gardevoir is a good deck. You just haven't found the right list yet. Also Gardevoir loses to Greninja because they only use 1 energy, and hitting for 170 without Choice Band is hard. My brother beat 2 very good Gardevoir decks with his Greninja deck. Here are the changes I would suggest.

-1 Octillery(90% of decks can suffice with a 1-1 especially if you have 3 Lele's to grab a Brigette.)

-1 Remoraid

-1 Alolan Vulpix(I honestly prefer the more consistent Diancie route. I personally think Diancie is more efficient.)

-1 Brigette(You don't need 2 Brigette in your deck. You are going to be getting it through Ultra Ball and Diancie.)

-2 Float Stone(I think Fairy Garden is better because you can use Choice Bands on your Gardevoir's.)

-1 Acerola(1 Acerola is good, and with 3 Lele's you can find it when you need it. I don't think 2 is necessarily required though.)

+1 Diancie(I think this is more consistent than Alolan Vulpix.)

+1 Choice Band(You need 3 because you have to have it when you need it.)

+3 Fairy Garden(Better than Float Stone in my opinion.)

+1 Lillie(Adds more draw support which will help with consistency.)

+1 Guzma(Most decks are running 3 in the new format, and that includes Gardevoir GX.)

I hope this helps you, and good luck in future tournaments.

2 of my 3 losses yesterday were to Ho-Oh/Salazzle and Golisopod. I got beat down hard by them because they were able to hit for big numbers and I struggled to get set up. In the golisopod match up, I did get Brigette turn 1 but my Gardevoir easily got 2 hit knocked out as I didn't have enough to take it out so he hit me for 150 First Impression, then Acerola'ed the damage off and had another Golisopod ready to go. I could do literally nothing and I don't know how I can improve the deck to better handle that?

Against the Ho-Oh/Salazzle deck, he went first and got Kiawe Ho-Oh, and I brigette because if I don't I lose as I just have one Pokemon. And I had no supporter to follow up my 3 card hand so yeah, I eventually got Gardevoir out to take out the Ho-Oh but by that point Salazzle with Choice band was enough to win him the game.

The changes you give are interesting and I hope they solve my problem with setting up. Although, I suck as of late in mirror matches. It just seems my opponent always has the energies to take out my Gardevoirs. It's tough because if I don't knock them out with my Gardevoir, they will just attack mine, forcing me to to want to attach more energies to take the knock out on theirs, because if I don't, they go ahead in prizes and I'm behind in the game. This is one thing that's making me question wanting to use the deck going forward.

 

[Adi]

Golisopod is a pretty good deck, so don't get super down if you get beat by it. Golisopod decks like Greninja rely on 1 energy, so it is super hard to OHKO them. If you want lists to other good decks just ask. I have a lot of good lists for competitive decks lol. I hope this helps.

 

[JustOutsideOfTopCut]

I thought this was THE deck for me but apparently it's not. Idk, maybe it is me and I just don't know the game well enough but I play online every day I can and i won a ton of games and felt prepared. That's why going 2-3 is devastating to me. I expected top 4 or better.

I could change decks but it wont change anything likely. I just am not good enough right now and I don't see how I can improve.

Improving is simple. . . PRACTICE! Pokemon is a game that takes a lot of skill. While bringing a competitive deck is a start, it's definitely not the end-all-be-all of being good. What I would do is get on Twitch or YouTube and watch every single match you can find. If you watch enough, I guarantee you will start to learn some names because people who are good, keep winning. If you like playing Gardevoir, awesome! I do too. It's a real fun deck to play, but keep playing it - and challenge people who are better. If you don't know who those players are, challenge people who are more experienced in the game.

All in all - don't give up. Keep playing. Keep trying.

 

[HouchinsDJ]

It's tough to not take losing personally, but like Duo said, any card game you play has a bit of luck involved. Even the best decks have bad games. You can limit bad draws by running a consistent deck list, but it's never a guarantee.

Keep practicing. Maybe run a different deck for a bit and come back to Gardevoir later. I know when I have a bad losing streak with a deck I'll take a step back from it and play a different one.

I'm in the same boat kinda. My first League Cup is coming up this Sunday and I'm struggling to find a rhythm with any deck I play test. I'm hoping that I can find a deck I'm confident in by Sunday!

 

[Latte1504]

Here's the best way to practice getting set-up: just play the first 3-4 turns of the game alone. It really works. I walked in to a League Cup with a deck that I only theorymoned to be good, but never played a game with it before the tournament. Because I played at least 100 turn 3-4 games, I knew all of my early game plays.

 

[jessalakasam]

For the Golisopod match-up, try to trick your opponent into playing 2-3 of them off your brigette, which can hurt Golisopod badly. I'd just reccomend do many Gardy vs. Golisopod matches with friends to really get a feel for the matchup, the same can be said for Volcanion


Also, in addition to other people's comments:
-1 A-Vulpix
+1 Diancie

It's better for the mirror as it allows a T2 Gardy without Candy