Hey everyone! Before I start the article, I just want to let everyone know that you guys should expect a lot of coverage from all of the TCG mods during Cities. Expect reports, deck analysis, and other exciting things in the coming weeks.
Credit to forum moderator [mod]Futachimaru[/mod] for the amazing banner!
Cities are upon us. For so many months, our metagame has been structured in a way that has forced only a handful of decks to be considered "good". A lot of players are looking for a change. The newest set, Noble Victories, brings that welcomed change. The purpose of this article is to inform you of the decks that may not be top-tier, but can still perform at a top-tier level in an appropriate metagame. I know you're going to say, "Why would I want to read this article if the best decks aren't included?" Because you're looking for something different. Because you're looking for something surprising. Because you're bored of using Reshiram, Zekrom, Yanmega, Magnezone, or any of the popular decks. Because it is still very possible that the decks listed in this article have a chance to do well at tournaments. If you want to see the decks that are universally considered to be top tier, check out Celebi23's great article, Cities - What's the Play?. If you want to open your mind to play something different because you're tired of playing the same old decks, or you're a new player and you can't get a hold of some of the more expensive cards or just want something new, then keep reading!
Oh, right, one last thing. Please don't take any of the decklists I'm going to show you to a tournament. These decks haven't been tested extensively and shouldn't be taken to tournaments or anything. They're more of a building block for you to try and build your own deck! I'm normally against giving out decklists in general, but I feel as though they're necessary to give you a better understanding of the deck.
The very first deck I want to talk about is Chandelure. I am so excited for this card. I know a lot of people kind of wrote him off as being "okay", but not great because of his Retreat Cost and not-so-amazing attack. But his Ability more than makes up for it. Being able to play three damage counters wherever you'd like is reminiscent of Gengar from Stormfront - except you don't have to attack with Chandelure, and you don't have to place all the damage counters on one Pokemon. Of course, the downside is that Chandelure does have a hefty Retreat Cost of two Energy. The very first solution to this issue is Dodrio from HS Undaunted. Dodrio gives Chandelure an Energyless Retreat Cost, due to its Poke-Body Retreat Aid. This means if you have two Chandelure and one Dodrio in play, you can place six damage counters on your opponent's Pokemon in absolutely any way you'd like. This is a pretty huge deal, as not only will this allow you to focus on which Pokemon you'd like to KO, this also allows you to have the freedom to switch between two Chandelure, and place one on "injured reserve", so to speak. This is just one way to play it, but here's a basic list for you guys.
4 Litwick
2 Lampent
4 Chandelure
3 Doduo
3 Dodrio
1 Chansey
1 Blissey Prime
1 Cleffa
1 Horsea
1 Kingdra
21 Pokemon
4 Pokemon Collector
4 Pokemon Communication
4 Defender
4 Junk Arm
4 Rare Candy
4 N
4 Switch
4 Professor Oak's New Theory
3 Max Potion
2 Super Rod
37 Trainers
2 Rescue Energy
2 Energy
Some alternative options include running Rocky Helmet to increase the amount of damage they have on the field, a thicker Kingdra line to help you to OHKO Reshiram, or to actually run Energy to power up a benched Chandelure. Another great option is the Tropical Beach Stadium card, which gives each player the option to draw cards until their hand has 7 cards in it, but ends their turn. Tropical Beach is incredibly difficult to get your hands on, and you would want to run more than one. In my actual list of the deck that I'm playing, I run three, but it's not easy for everyone to get their hands on them. One last option is to run more recovery in the form of a higher number of Super Rod but that's up to you. I can't not talk about Jirachi in this article. Jirachi is Chandelure's best friend, but will make your deck a little slower if you're forced to run several Psychic energy. Running Rescue energy in itself is optional and comes down to personal preference.
Let's talk about this deck's matchups. I'm not going to say "this deck has a 60-40 matchup against blah blah blah because it's hard to do stuff to it". I'd rather go a little more in-depth and not spout random theorymon nonsense towards you, because I know you're a better reader than that. You lose to Trainer-lock. Plain and simple, there is absolutely nothing you can do against Trainer-lock decks. Reuniclus makes it very difficult for you to kill anything, and unless you have three Chandelure out (highly unlikely if your opponent is locking your Rare Candies, Pokemon Communication, etc), you're in big trouble. You play so many Trainers that losing your access to them is a huge deal.
You have a hard time against Reshiram decks, but it's not a lost cause. Even with 4 Chandelure in play and the ability to switch between all of them, you don't OHKO a Reshiram or a Typhlosion. This is where Kingdra or Rocky Helmet come into play. Reshiram can't OHKO you without Pluspower (it can't even do that if you play Defender), but you can OHKO them easily after applying Rocky Helmet damage. You can't afford to run a thicker Kingdra line because your Bench is normally going to be three Chandelure, a Dodrio, and a Kingdra, Blissey, or Cleffa. But that 10 extra damage from Kingdra makes Typhlosion a little easier to kill, because you don't have to waste all of your damage counters on him. Remember, you don't have to pile all of your damage on one Pokemon at a time. You can space them out a little to strategically guarantee a few kills in one turn. You want as much damage on the field as possible, and that's your goal.
Zekrom decks offer a similar problem, where you can't OHKO Zekrom without the help of a little extra damage in the form of Kingdra (or Rocky Helmet). You can get very easy prizes off Shaymin, Pachirisu, and maybe even Tornadus, but Zekrom is your main problem. One option is to just put six damage counters on it, get a Kingdra out, and use just two Chandelure to put another six on it. ZPST does outspeed you, but N can hit them very hard. ZPST needs to set up, and so do you, so Twins isn't an awful idea in this deck either.
Magnezone also creates problems for Chandelure, but nothing too extreme, actually. They need a lot of energy to one shot you with Lost Burn (even more if you have Defender), and you can take your time by just spreading damage turn after turn. Yanmega isn't a huge deal and you can kill it in two turns max. Magnezone is actually a hugely favorable matchup for you, which is somewhat surprising.
Other spread decks are also pretty great matchups, especially Kyurem. Kyurem is a little slower than you are, and while it can spread a little bit more aggressively, it can't be as focused as you can. Target their Feraligatr if you can, but otherwise, target their Kyurem for a 2HKO. It takes them a while to KO all of your Pokemon, and with Blissey and Max Potion, it will take them even longer.
I can't say what the matchups against many other decks will be because the decks that I have mentioned are the most popular and the ones that I have tested against. But if you want to play an extremely fun deck that also requires you to think strategically in the form of, "Where should I put my damage?", then play Chandelure. I think it's a really cool deck, but definitely not the best out there because of its somewhat poor matchups.
Another really cool and fun card that has been getting some attention is Vanilluxe. Vanilluxe is a really interesting card in the sense that it's a flippy Stage-2 that can max out at 80 damage. So why is that so awesome? Because it can Paralyze your opponent with the right flips. This introduces a lock factor to the deck that is somewhat intriguing. Vanilluxe only needs two energy to set up, so it's not horribly slow. The problem is that it IS a stage 2, and that it DOES require a flip. We can't get around the fact that it's a Stage-2, but what can we do to get around the flippy part? We can play Victini! Victini has been talked about so much as just a weird card that's trying to find its way into the metagame. Victini, or "Fliptini", as it has been dubbed, essentially turns a 50% chance into a 75% chance. With Vanilluxe, it almost guarantees at least 40 damage, and pretty much absolutely guarantees Paralysis. It's not a 100% guarantee, but it's still enough to make this deck really fun to play, and potentially good. Vanilluxe also has one of the best types in the TCG right now, being a Water type. This type gives it a really good matchup against Reshiram decks, which is something we've been looking for for a while.
"But wait!" you may say. "What happens if my opponent just plays Switch to get out of the Paralysis?" Excellent question. That's where Vileplume comes into play. Vileplume slows your opponent down, and makes it so you're locking them in two ways. They can't attack, and they can't play Trainers. This is a really huge deal for some decks, and makes Vanilluxe somewhat of an actual threat.
I want to mention Ursaring with this deck. Ursaring has been getting a lot of hype recently with Victini, or, more specifically, Teddiursa has. Teddiursa makes it so for one energy and a heads on a coin flip, you can lock your opponent out of trainer cards, and Teddiursa takes 30 less damage next turn. You have the option to trainer lock from the very first turn of the game, and can keep it going once you get Vileplume out. This is actually a really huge deal and makes Ursaring somewhat viable.
I want to provide a list, but I haven't tested this deck much at all. I want to, because I think it has some hidden potential somewhere. It's extremely difficult to set up a Stage-2 when you're Trainer locking yourself, but hey, it's just something new to try, right? I'm not saying this deck will be amazing, but it will find its place somewhere on the tier list.
4 Teddiursa
3 Ursaring
1 Roselia
1 Roserade
3 Vanillite
2 Vanillish
2 Vanilluxe
3 Oddish
1 Gloom
2 Vileplume
2 Victini
1 Cleffa
25 Pokemon
4 Pokemon Collector
4 Pokemon Communication
4 Rare Candy
4 N
4 Sage's Training
3 Professor Oak's New Theory
23 Trainers
4 Water Energy
4 Rainbow Energy
4 Double Colorless Energy
12 Energy
I want to mention why I included Roserade in the deck. With Ursaring active, you can't inflict Special Conditions on your opponent. Roserade makes it so, with Rainbow Energy, you Confuse and Poison the Defending Pokemon. This, combined with the damage inflicted by Ursaring, is a really huge deal. You're also threatening them with Vanilluxe at the same time. Ursaring can just stay active until your opponent finally kills them, and you can very easily revenge kill with either another Ursaring, or a Vanilluxe.
Don't forget that you don't HAVE to run Ursaring in the deck. I know some people may think it's slow and unreliable. It's personal preference if you want to run it, and really, Teddiursa itself is just a cool card. Ursaring just works under Trainer lock I feel and thanks to Rainbow Energy, it can be somewhat reliable when it comes to doing a lot of damage.
You do great against Reshiram decks. I mean absolutely fantastic. They have no way to one shot your Vanilluxe without Kingdra, and you can just paralyze them or even one shot them if you're lucky. The Trainer lock hurts because they won't be able to get their Typhlosion out at quickly as they would like, and can't access their other desirable cards such as Pluspower and Pokemon Catcher. They won't be able to keep up with all the attackers you have on the field unless they have a really strong and early start, and you'll just run right through them if you can get a Vanilluxe out soon enough.
Other Trainer lock decks, such as Gothitelle or other Vileplume variants, are manageable. Reuniclus is a pain, but no Gothitelle deck likes to be Trainer locked themselves. Most Vileplume variants won't like to deal with Ursaring's damage, and the fact that he can discard the top card of their deck. Ursaring can one shot a Gothitelle through Roserade, Megaton Lariat, and Berserk. This is sometimes necessary and oftentimes worth it. Don't forget the early Trainer lock too with Teddiursa. That's a pain for any deck to deal with.
Zekrom is a tossup. I don't really know how this deck performs against it. As usual, if it gets the Vileplume out, Zekrom will struggle. If not, I feel like this deck can still hold its own somewhat. The early Teddiursa Trainer lock will hurt so badly, and take away their ability to use Dual Balls or Catchers or any of their much loved Trainer cards. Vanilluxe is also a pain for Zekrom, but if they ARE able to set up, then you're going to be having a huge uphill battle. That's why Twins is a possibility in this deck, but it's also debatable. Black Belt may not even be a bad idea for helping Ursaring get those tough kills later on.
You don't like Kyurem decks very much. If they get the first spread off, you obviously can't use Megaton Lariat, of that will put you in Outrage KO range. You can't use Hammer Arm or else that will put you in Outrage KO range after the spread. You have to hope that cutting off their access to Trainers is enough, and that you get good flips through Victini and Vanilluxe, or else you'll have a hard time keeping up with their damage. They can 2shot a Victini with their spread which is a free prize essentially. Just try to use N to disrupt them late game and hope they don't set up on you.
I think that's the theme with this deck. Hope they don't find a way to set up amidst the Trainer lock. This deck tries to do a lot of things - but it accomplishes those things very well, given the correct circumstances. I fear this is a deck that looks great on paper but can't perform well in an actual game. It's something to consider testing, and I think it's fun.
I don't know how much of a sleeper card Cobalion is anymore. A lot of people are looking closely at him and wondering if he can actually do well. Cobalion was featured on the awesome blog, TheDeckOut. Cobalion is also a huge deck in the Japanese metagame, and people are wondering if that will translate (no pun intended) to other metagames around the world. I think Cobalion has his place against certain decks, but nearly unwinnable matchups against other decks make him a very iffy card to consider playing, especially when his worst matchups are two of the most popular and hyped decks for Cities.
So when we first look at Cobalion, we notice his weakness. There's virtually no getting around that fact, unfortunately. Cobalion does not like Reshiram. We'll have to look past that for a little bit as we explore this card a little more. After being disappointed in his weakness, we see his second attack. For three energy (two Metal and a Colorless), Cobalion does 80 damage and makes it so your opponent can't attack next turn. So that's interesting. Cobalion likes to set up fast and lock your opponent into not attacking. The best way to help Cobalion set up fast is Electrode Prime. Yes, you give your opponent a prize, and it's not an absolute guarantee that you'll get all the energy you need, even. But it's the only acceleration that fits this deck, and giving your opponent a prize isn't a huge deal thanks to the supporter N.
Cobalion does decently well against some decks, and not so decently well against others. It wants to do a lot of things but sometimes falls flat on its face. It's not super reliable, not particularly threatening, and when a Reshiram player sees you flip over your Cobalion, they smile, knowing they have an autowin. Still, Cobalion deserves to be looked at, so here's a list. I've actually tested this deck somewhat extensively, so this list has been through about twenty games so far.
3 Cobalion
3 Kyurem
3 Voltorb
3 Electrode
1 Cleffa
13 Pokemon
4 Pokemon Collector
4 Pokemon Communication
4 N
4 Junk Arm
4 Professor Juniper
2 Switch
2 Pokemon Catcher
3 Eviolite
1 Super Rod
4 Professor Oak's New Theory
32 Trainers
4 Basic Metal Energy
4 Special Metal Energy
7 Water Energy
15 Energy
Kyurem is added to the deck to help your Reshiram matchup, although it doesn't help it much. Reshiram is still going to one shot your Cobalion and even if you attack them before they attack you (the only scenario I see this happening is if they get an awful start or if you go first and use Electrode T2), they can just retreat and still kill you. Over time, they'll become more powerful than you and will have no problem just running over your deck. This is a terrible matchup that's just not in your favor at ALL.
Another terrible matchup is Durant. Celebi23 already covered Durant in his article and he went over how it can beat Cobalion, but let me just say that this is actually a winnable matchup. The spread from Kyurem helps you 3HKO benched Durant, or Cobalion could try to stall. Obviously Durant beats this deck because you go through your deck so fast with Electrode and Juniper, but it isn't a completely lost cause. It's not favorable, but if you see a Durant, you shouldn't scoop like you should with Reshiram.
The good news is that this deck completely tears apart Kyurem/Feraligatr. There's almost nothing that deck can do against this deck. Cobalion just one shots Kyurem all day, and it's nearly impossible for Kyurem to retaliate with a KO. If your metagame has a lot of Kyurem/Feraligatr, you've found your answer.
Against other decks such as Trainer lock and ZPST, it's somewhat of a tossup. You can beat Trainer lock decks such as Gothitelle pretty easily thanks to both resistance, and the fact that you don't rely on Trainers too much. I don't want to discuss these matchups too much because it's theorymon as I haven't tested them, but I also think you do okay against ZPST. I don't know, but there's something to be said about making it so Zekrom has a turn where it can't do anything to you.
One last thing I want to mention is the inclusion of a somewhat unorthodox card in this deck, Weavile. Weavile fishes out Switch, Pokemon Catcher, and other unwanted cards from your opponent's hand. The free retreat is nice, and it doesn't really clunk up the deck any. I've been playing it to great success. It's nice to have even more disruption other than making it so your opponent can't attack. It's definitely something to consider, and could help your matchup against Trainer lock even more. It won't do a whole lot to Reshiram most likely, but there's always the possibility that you discard something important like a Reshiram, a Typhlosion, or maybe the only Supporter in their hand. Think about it.
Cobalion's place in the metagame will be defined by the metagame itself. It's not a secret that Reshiram will be popular, but it's also not a secret that other decks will be popular. Other decks that Cobalion can do well against. Cobalion isn't a bad deck to use at a tournament to just scout the metagame, but if you believe that Reshiram will be popular at your Cities (which it probably will be), then Cobalion may not be the best deck to play. It comes down to how confident you are that this deck can beat Reshiram, which is just... doesn't. 90% of the time it won't beat Reshiram. That's an unfortunate fact. Still, this is a really cool deck I think that does beat a lot of the more popular decks, so it may end up being something to test.
Here's the oddball. Upon first inspection, Haxorus seems like it can't decide if it wants to be a great card or not. He does 120 for three energy, has no Weakness, has a pretty decent amount of HP, and... unfortunately, has a two-Energy Retreat Cost. Nobody likes to see that. Immediately, you probably remember Dodrio from earlier in this article and how well he worked with Chandelure. I think the problem Haxorus faces is that there are decks that just do his job better. He's not particularly fast, offers no sort of disruption, and after he does his 120 damage, he can't attack next turn. Dodrio is still a great option in this deck because you can theoretically switch between two Haxorus. Powering up your Haxorus is a bit difficult. You want to hit for 120 on T2, but what about after that? You can't really hit for 120 on T3 if you attach and energy T1, attach DCE T2, and then have to attach an energy T3. There's a way to remedy this situation, I feel, but I honestly don't know how good it is. Eelektrik. Eelektrik can help you set up your Benched Haxorus who's ready to start swinging on the third turn, ideally. Ideally. That's the secret word for this deck. You want to have, on your second-to-third turn, a Dodrio, one to two Eelektrik, and two Haxorus. That's a lot of stuff. Is it impossible? No. Haxorus, being a Stage-2, is slow by default. I think this deck is extremely fun though, and I actually think it's competitive to a point. A lot of people are going to turn the other cheek when it comes to Haxorus, but I think he has potential. The most important thing about him is that he has a lot of HP, he does a lot of damage, and the only thing holding him back is his retreat cost and the fact that he may not set up T2. May not. He still can, absolutely, with the right list. Speaking of the right list...
4 Axew
2 Fraxure
4 Haxorus
2 Tynamo
2 Eelektrik
2 Doduo
2 Dodrio
1 Cleffa
19 Pokemon
4 Pokemon Collector
4 Pokemon Communication
4 Junk Arm
4 Rare Candy
4 Sage's Training
2 Pluspower
2 Switch
2 Pokemon Catcher
3 Professor Juniper
29 Trainers
4 Double Colorless Energy
8 Lightning Energy
12 Energy
This is an extremely rough list, but you get the idea. You want to have Lightning Energy in the Discard Pile whenever you can, and just use Eelektrik so ensure you always have charged up Haxorus on the bench. That way, you can constantly Retreat thanks to Dodrio, and just do a consistent 120 damage per turn. This deck wants to run a lot of Trainers. It wants to be doing 130 damage, not 120. More Pluspower is something to consider. Another thing you really want is hand refresh. The list is tight because you're running three evolution lines, (and a Stage-2), but you run a lot of draw and a lot of Supporters, so it's not impossible to get what you want out. This list, I actually think, may look questionable on paper, but so far, it has performed pretty well in practice games. This deck still wants Super Rod, more Pluspower, more draw, and some other cards, but again, the list is tight!
Against Reshiram, so far, success has varied. Typhlosion is annoying because of its ability to discard your DCE, so that slows you down a lot. You obviously don't one-shot Reshiram without Pluspower, so again, that's really annoying. Reshiram doesn't one shot you with Blue Flare, but it can with Outrage if you use Giga Impact. A problem this deck faces is that it's fairly linear. It has one attacker and has to rely on that attacker...with one attack. Surprisingly enough, most of the time, I've been able to keep up with Reshiram's speed. You do have to rely on them to damage themselves before you attack, which obviously they're going to do at some point. This deck actually does fairly well against Reshiram, which makes it not the worst choice if you're looking for a way to surprise some Reshiram players.
Against Trainer lock, Haxorus suffers. You rely on a lot of Trainers to get your most valuable cards out. Haxorus has literally no way to one-shot a Gothitelle, so Rocky Helmet isn't a bad tech if you can fit it in. With Rocky Helmet you have found your way to kill Gothitelle. Otherwise, you're out of luck. Against Vileplume decks you're also a bit out of luck. Trainer lock in general along with Reuniclus are just not what Haxorus likes to see. Zekrom is another deck he doesn't like to see. It's arguable that yeah, Zekrom can't OHKO you, but they're faster than you and can try to pick off your staples like Eelektrik. You can't OHKO them until after Bolt Strike damage, but if you're able to keep your Haxorus numbers high, then you actually shouldn't have a problem. You also one-shot Tornadus, which is fantastic.
Haxorus is just a really interesting card. People think other cards do his job better, but he has just so much HP and reliability that I'm not sure if I would agree. I think he's the definition of a sleeper card personally. People look at him and think he's just another case of "cool Pokemon, bad card", but I just don't agree with that. I can't say for sure whether or not he'll be good, but he's absolutely something to try out.
Well, that's all for now. These aren't really the only decks that Noble Victories introduce, but Celebi23 covered most of the other ones. This article kind of drew the rest of the picture that Celebi23's article painted, and I hope that some of you found it fun to read and informative. I actually think some of these decks are contenders at Cities. Even if they're not, they're fun to play! They're different! They don't have the most rounded matchups in the game, but they're surprises. Surprise decks, in recent months, have had varying levels of success at tournaments. google went into Worlds with a surprise deck and took second place. Since Worlds, there have been no real "rogue" decks. None of the decks that I've mentioned are really even rogue, as some people have mentioned their use at one point or another. Regardless, I hope you were inspired in some way, shape, or form by this article, and I wish you all the best of luck at Cities!
Credit to forum moderator [mod]Futachimaru[/mod] for the amazing banner!
Introduction
Cities are upon us. For so many months, our metagame has been structured in a way that has forced only a handful of decks to be considered "good". A lot of players are looking for a change. The newest set, Noble Victories, brings that welcomed change. The purpose of this article is to inform you of the decks that may not be top-tier, but can still perform at a top-tier level in an appropriate metagame. I know you're going to say, "Why would I want to read this article if the best decks aren't included?" Because you're looking for something different. Because you're looking for something surprising. Because you're bored of using Reshiram, Zekrom, Yanmega, Magnezone, or any of the popular decks. Because it is still very possible that the decks listed in this article have a chance to do well at tournaments. If you want to see the decks that are universally considered to be top tier, check out Celebi23's great article, Cities - What's the Play?. If you want to open your mind to play something different because you're tired of playing the same old decks, or you're a new player and you can't get a hold of some of the more expensive cards or just want something new, then keep reading!
Oh, right, one last thing. Please don't take any of the decklists I'm going to show you to a tournament. These decks haven't been tested extensively and shouldn't be taken to tournaments or anything. They're more of a building block for you to try and build your own deck! I'm normally against giving out decklists in general, but I feel as though they're necessary to give you a better understanding of the deck.
Chandelure
The very first deck I want to talk about is Chandelure. I am so excited for this card. I know a lot of people kind of wrote him off as being "okay", but not great because of his Retreat Cost and not-so-amazing attack. But his Ability more than makes up for it. Being able to play three damage counters wherever you'd like is reminiscent of Gengar from Stormfront - except you don't have to attack with Chandelure, and you don't have to place all the damage counters on one Pokemon. Of course, the downside is that Chandelure does have a hefty Retreat Cost of two Energy. The very first solution to this issue is Dodrio from HS Undaunted. Dodrio gives Chandelure an Energyless Retreat Cost, due to its Poke-Body Retreat Aid. This means if you have two Chandelure and one Dodrio in play, you can place six damage counters on your opponent's Pokemon in absolutely any way you'd like. This is a pretty huge deal, as not only will this allow you to focus on which Pokemon you'd like to KO, this also allows you to have the freedom to switch between two Chandelure, and place one on "injured reserve", so to speak. This is just one way to play it, but here's a basic list for you guys.
4 Litwick
2 Lampent
4 Chandelure
3 Doduo
3 Dodrio
1 Chansey
1 Blissey Prime
1 Cleffa
1 Horsea
1 Kingdra
21 Pokemon
4 Pokemon Collector
4 Pokemon Communication
4 Defender
4 Junk Arm
4 Rare Candy
4 N
4 Switch
4 Professor Oak's New Theory
3 Max Potion
2 Super Rod
37 Trainers
2 Rescue Energy
2 Energy
Some alternative options include running Rocky Helmet to increase the amount of damage they have on the field, a thicker Kingdra line to help you to OHKO Reshiram, or to actually run Energy to power up a benched Chandelure. Another great option is the Tropical Beach Stadium card, which gives each player the option to draw cards until their hand has 7 cards in it, but ends their turn. Tropical Beach is incredibly difficult to get your hands on, and you would want to run more than one. In my actual list of the deck that I'm playing, I run three, but it's not easy for everyone to get their hands on them. One last option is to run more recovery in the form of a higher number of Super Rod but that's up to you. I can't not talk about Jirachi in this article. Jirachi is Chandelure's best friend, but will make your deck a little slower if you're forced to run several Psychic energy. Running Rescue energy in itself is optional and comes down to personal preference.
Let's talk about this deck's matchups. I'm not going to say "this deck has a 60-40 matchup against blah blah blah because it's hard to do stuff to it". I'd rather go a little more in-depth and not spout random theorymon nonsense towards you, because I know you're a better reader than that. You lose to Trainer-lock. Plain and simple, there is absolutely nothing you can do against Trainer-lock decks. Reuniclus makes it very difficult for you to kill anything, and unless you have three Chandelure out (highly unlikely if your opponent is locking your Rare Candies, Pokemon Communication, etc), you're in big trouble. You play so many Trainers that losing your access to them is a huge deal.
You have a hard time against Reshiram decks, but it's not a lost cause. Even with 4 Chandelure in play and the ability to switch between all of them, you don't OHKO a Reshiram or a Typhlosion. This is where Kingdra or Rocky Helmet come into play. Reshiram can't OHKO you without Pluspower (it can't even do that if you play Defender), but you can OHKO them easily after applying Rocky Helmet damage. You can't afford to run a thicker Kingdra line because your Bench is normally going to be three Chandelure, a Dodrio, and a Kingdra, Blissey, or Cleffa. But that 10 extra damage from Kingdra makes Typhlosion a little easier to kill, because you don't have to waste all of your damage counters on him. Remember, you don't have to pile all of your damage on one Pokemon at a time. You can space them out a little to strategically guarantee a few kills in one turn. You want as much damage on the field as possible, and that's your goal.
Zekrom decks offer a similar problem, where you can't OHKO Zekrom without the help of a little extra damage in the form of Kingdra (or Rocky Helmet). You can get very easy prizes off Shaymin, Pachirisu, and maybe even Tornadus, but Zekrom is your main problem. One option is to just put six damage counters on it, get a Kingdra out, and use just two Chandelure to put another six on it. ZPST does outspeed you, but N can hit them very hard. ZPST needs to set up, and so do you, so Twins isn't an awful idea in this deck either.
Magnezone also creates problems for Chandelure, but nothing too extreme, actually. They need a lot of energy to one shot you with Lost Burn (even more if you have Defender), and you can take your time by just spreading damage turn after turn. Yanmega isn't a huge deal and you can kill it in two turns max. Magnezone is actually a hugely favorable matchup for you, which is somewhat surprising.
Other spread decks are also pretty great matchups, especially Kyurem. Kyurem is a little slower than you are, and while it can spread a little bit more aggressively, it can't be as focused as you can. Target their Feraligatr if you can, but otherwise, target their Kyurem for a 2HKO. It takes them a while to KO all of your Pokemon, and with Blissey and Max Potion, it will take them even longer.
I can't say what the matchups against many other decks will be because the decks that I have mentioned are the most popular and the ones that I have tested against. But if you want to play an extremely fun deck that also requires you to think strategically in the form of, "Where should I put my damage?", then play Chandelure. I think it's a really cool deck, but definitely not the best out there because of its somewhat poor matchups.
Vanilluxe
Another really cool and fun card that has been getting some attention is Vanilluxe. Vanilluxe is a really interesting card in the sense that it's a flippy Stage-2 that can max out at 80 damage. So why is that so awesome? Because it can Paralyze your opponent with the right flips. This introduces a lock factor to the deck that is somewhat intriguing. Vanilluxe only needs two energy to set up, so it's not horribly slow. The problem is that it IS a stage 2, and that it DOES require a flip. We can't get around the fact that it's a Stage-2, but what can we do to get around the flippy part? We can play Victini! Victini has been talked about so much as just a weird card that's trying to find its way into the metagame. Victini, or "Fliptini", as it has been dubbed, essentially turns a 50% chance into a 75% chance. With Vanilluxe, it almost guarantees at least 40 damage, and pretty much absolutely guarantees Paralysis. It's not a 100% guarantee, but it's still enough to make this deck really fun to play, and potentially good. Vanilluxe also has one of the best types in the TCG right now, being a Water type. This type gives it a really good matchup against Reshiram decks, which is something we've been looking for for a while.
"But wait!" you may say. "What happens if my opponent just plays Switch to get out of the Paralysis?" Excellent question. That's where Vileplume comes into play. Vileplume slows your opponent down, and makes it so you're locking them in two ways. They can't attack, and they can't play Trainers. This is a really huge deal for some decks, and makes Vanilluxe somewhat of an actual threat.
I want to mention Ursaring with this deck. Ursaring has been getting a lot of hype recently with Victini, or, more specifically, Teddiursa has. Teddiursa makes it so for one energy and a heads on a coin flip, you can lock your opponent out of trainer cards, and Teddiursa takes 30 less damage next turn. You have the option to trainer lock from the very first turn of the game, and can keep it going once you get Vileplume out. This is actually a really huge deal and makes Ursaring somewhat viable.
I want to provide a list, but I haven't tested this deck much at all. I want to, because I think it has some hidden potential somewhere. It's extremely difficult to set up a Stage-2 when you're Trainer locking yourself, but hey, it's just something new to try, right? I'm not saying this deck will be amazing, but it will find its place somewhere on the tier list.
4 Teddiursa
3 Ursaring
1 Roselia
1 Roserade
3 Vanillite
2 Vanillish
2 Vanilluxe
3 Oddish
1 Gloom
2 Vileplume
2 Victini
1 Cleffa
25 Pokemon
4 Pokemon Collector
4 Pokemon Communication
4 Rare Candy
4 N
4 Sage's Training
3 Professor Oak's New Theory
23 Trainers
4 Water Energy
4 Rainbow Energy
4 Double Colorless Energy
12 Energy
I want to mention why I included Roserade in the deck. With Ursaring active, you can't inflict Special Conditions on your opponent. Roserade makes it so, with Rainbow Energy, you Confuse and Poison the Defending Pokemon. This, combined with the damage inflicted by Ursaring, is a really huge deal. You're also threatening them with Vanilluxe at the same time. Ursaring can just stay active until your opponent finally kills them, and you can very easily revenge kill with either another Ursaring, or a Vanilluxe.
Don't forget that you don't HAVE to run Ursaring in the deck. I know some people may think it's slow and unreliable. It's personal preference if you want to run it, and really, Teddiursa itself is just a cool card. Ursaring just works under Trainer lock I feel and thanks to Rainbow Energy, it can be somewhat reliable when it comes to doing a lot of damage.
You do great against Reshiram decks. I mean absolutely fantastic. They have no way to one shot your Vanilluxe without Kingdra, and you can just paralyze them or even one shot them if you're lucky. The Trainer lock hurts because they won't be able to get their Typhlosion out at quickly as they would like, and can't access their other desirable cards such as Pluspower and Pokemon Catcher. They won't be able to keep up with all the attackers you have on the field unless they have a really strong and early start, and you'll just run right through them if you can get a Vanilluxe out soon enough.
Other Trainer lock decks, such as Gothitelle or other Vileplume variants, are manageable. Reuniclus is a pain, but no Gothitelle deck likes to be Trainer locked themselves. Most Vileplume variants won't like to deal with Ursaring's damage, and the fact that he can discard the top card of their deck. Ursaring can one shot a Gothitelle through Roserade, Megaton Lariat, and Berserk. This is sometimes necessary and oftentimes worth it. Don't forget the early Trainer lock too with Teddiursa. That's a pain for any deck to deal with.
Zekrom is a tossup. I don't really know how this deck performs against it. As usual, if it gets the Vileplume out, Zekrom will struggle. If not, I feel like this deck can still hold its own somewhat. The early Teddiursa Trainer lock will hurt so badly, and take away their ability to use Dual Balls or Catchers or any of their much loved Trainer cards. Vanilluxe is also a pain for Zekrom, but if they ARE able to set up, then you're going to be having a huge uphill battle. That's why Twins is a possibility in this deck, but it's also debatable. Black Belt may not even be a bad idea for helping Ursaring get those tough kills later on.
You don't like Kyurem decks very much. If they get the first spread off, you obviously can't use Megaton Lariat, of that will put you in Outrage KO range. You can't use Hammer Arm or else that will put you in Outrage KO range after the spread. You have to hope that cutting off their access to Trainers is enough, and that you get good flips through Victini and Vanilluxe, or else you'll have a hard time keeping up with their damage. They can 2shot a Victini with their spread which is a free prize essentially. Just try to use N to disrupt them late game and hope they don't set up on you.
I think that's the theme with this deck. Hope they don't find a way to set up amidst the Trainer lock. This deck tries to do a lot of things - but it accomplishes those things very well, given the correct circumstances. I fear this is a deck that looks great on paper but can't perform well in an actual game. It's something to consider testing, and I think it's fun.
Cobalion
I don't know how much of a sleeper card Cobalion is anymore. A lot of people are looking closely at him and wondering if he can actually do well. Cobalion was featured on the awesome blog, TheDeckOut. Cobalion is also a huge deck in the Japanese metagame, and people are wondering if that will translate (no pun intended) to other metagames around the world. I think Cobalion has his place against certain decks, but nearly unwinnable matchups against other decks make him a very iffy card to consider playing, especially when his worst matchups are two of the most popular and hyped decks for Cities.
So when we first look at Cobalion, we notice his weakness. There's virtually no getting around that fact, unfortunately. Cobalion does not like Reshiram. We'll have to look past that for a little bit as we explore this card a little more. After being disappointed in his weakness, we see his second attack. For three energy (two Metal and a Colorless), Cobalion does 80 damage and makes it so your opponent can't attack next turn. So that's interesting. Cobalion likes to set up fast and lock your opponent into not attacking. The best way to help Cobalion set up fast is Electrode Prime. Yes, you give your opponent a prize, and it's not an absolute guarantee that you'll get all the energy you need, even. But it's the only acceleration that fits this deck, and giving your opponent a prize isn't a huge deal thanks to the supporter N.
Cobalion does decently well against some decks, and not so decently well against others. It wants to do a lot of things but sometimes falls flat on its face. It's not super reliable, not particularly threatening, and when a Reshiram player sees you flip over your Cobalion, they smile, knowing they have an autowin. Still, Cobalion deserves to be looked at, so here's a list. I've actually tested this deck somewhat extensively, so this list has been through about twenty games so far.
3 Cobalion
3 Kyurem
3 Voltorb
3 Electrode
1 Cleffa
13 Pokemon
4 Pokemon Collector
4 Pokemon Communication
4 N
4 Junk Arm
4 Professor Juniper
2 Switch
2 Pokemon Catcher
3 Eviolite
1 Super Rod
4 Professor Oak's New Theory
32 Trainers
4 Basic Metal Energy
4 Special Metal Energy
7 Water Energy
15 Energy
Kyurem is added to the deck to help your Reshiram matchup, although it doesn't help it much. Reshiram is still going to one shot your Cobalion and even if you attack them before they attack you (the only scenario I see this happening is if they get an awful start or if you go first and use Electrode T2), they can just retreat and still kill you. Over time, they'll become more powerful than you and will have no problem just running over your deck. This is a terrible matchup that's just not in your favor at ALL.
Another terrible matchup is Durant. Celebi23 already covered Durant in his article and he went over how it can beat Cobalion, but let me just say that this is actually a winnable matchup. The spread from Kyurem helps you 3HKO benched Durant, or Cobalion could try to stall. Obviously Durant beats this deck because you go through your deck so fast with Electrode and Juniper, but it isn't a completely lost cause. It's not favorable, but if you see a Durant, you shouldn't scoop like you should with Reshiram.
The good news is that this deck completely tears apart Kyurem/Feraligatr. There's almost nothing that deck can do against this deck. Cobalion just one shots Kyurem all day, and it's nearly impossible for Kyurem to retaliate with a KO. If your metagame has a lot of Kyurem/Feraligatr, you've found your answer.
Against other decks such as Trainer lock and ZPST, it's somewhat of a tossup. You can beat Trainer lock decks such as Gothitelle pretty easily thanks to both resistance, and the fact that you don't rely on Trainers too much. I don't want to discuss these matchups too much because it's theorymon as I haven't tested them, but I also think you do okay against ZPST. I don't know, but there's something to be said about making it so Zekrom has a turn where it can't do anything to you.
One last thing I want to mention is the inclusion of a somewhat unorthodox card in this deck, Weavile. Weavile fishes out Switch, Pokemon Catcher, and other unwanted cards from your opponent's hand. The free retreat is nice, and it doesn't really clunk up the deck any. I've been playing it to great success. It's nice to have even more disruption other than making it so your opponent can't attack. It's definitely something to consider, and could help your matchup against Trainer lock even more. It won't do a whole lot to Reshiram most likely, but there's always the possibility that you discard something important like a Reshiram, a Typhlosion, or maybe the only Supporter in their hand. Think about it.
Cobalion's place in the metagame will be defined by the metagame itself. It's not a secret that Reshiram will be popular, but it's also not a secret that other decks will be popular. Other decks that Cobalion can do well against. Cobalion isn't a bad deck to use at a tournament to just scout the metagame, but if you believe that Reshiram will be popular at your Cities (which it probably will be), then Cobalion may not be the best deck to play. It comes down to how confident you are that this deck can beat Reshiram, which is just... doesn't. 90% of the time it won't beat Reshiram. That's an unfortunate fact. Still, this is a really cool deck I think that does beat a lot of the more popular decks, so it may end up being something to test.
Haxorus
Here's the oddball. Upon first inspection, Haxorus seems like it can't decide if it wants to be a great card or not. He does 120 for three energy, has no Weakness, has a pretty decent amount of HP, and... unfortunately, has a two-Energy Retreat Cost. Nobody likes to see that. Immediately, you probably remember Dodrio from earlier in this article and how well he worked with Chandelure. I think the problem Haxorus faces is that there are decks that just do his job better. He's not particularly fast, offers no sort of disruption, and after he does his 120 damage, he can't attack next turn. Dodrio is still a great option in this deck because you can theoretically switch between two Haxorus. Powering up your Haxorus is a bit difficult. You want to hit for 120 on T2, but what about after that? You can't really hit for 120 on T3 if you attach and energy T1, attach DCE T2, and then have to attach an energy T3. There's a way to remedy this situation, I feel, but I honestly don't know how good it is. Eelektrik. Eelektrik can help you set up your Benched Haxorus who's ready to start swinging on the third turn, ideally. Ideally. That's the secret word for this deck. You want to have, on your second-to-third turn, a Dodrio, one to two Eelektrik, and two Haxorus. That's a lot of stuff. Is it impossible? No. Haxorus, being a Stage-2, is slow by default. I think this deck is extremely fun though, and I actually think it's competitive to a point. A lot of people are going to turn the other cheek when it comes to Haxorus, but I think he has potential. The most important thing about him is that he has a lot of HP, he does a lot of damage, and the only thing holding him back is his retreat cost and the fact that he may not set up T2. May not. He still can, absolutely, with the right list. Speaking of the right list...
4 Axew
2 Fraxure
4 Haxorus
2 Tynamo
2 Eelektrik
2 Doduo
2 Dodrio
1 Cleffa
19 Pokemon
4 Pokemon Collector
4 Pokemon Communication
4 Junk Arm
4 Rare Candy
4 Sage's Training
2 Pluspower
2 Switch
2 Pokemon Catcher
3 Professor Juniper
29 Trainers
4 Double Colorless Energy
8 Lightning Energy
12 Energy
This is an extremely rough list, but you get the idea. You want to have Lightning Energy in the Discard Pile whenever you can, and just use Eelektrik so ensure you always have charged up Haxorus on the bench. That way, you can constantly Retreat thanks to Dodrio, and just do a consistent 120 damage per turn. This deck wants to run a lot of Trainers. It wants to be doing 130 damage, not 120. More Pluspower is something to consider. Another thing you really want is hand refresh. The list is tight because you're running three evolution lines, (and a Stage-2), but you run a lot of draw and a lot of Supporters, so it's not impossible to get what you want out. This list, I actually think, may look questionable on paper, but so far, it has performed pretty well in practice games. This deck still wants Super Rod, more Pluspower, more draw, and some other cards, but again, the list is tight!
Against Reshiram, so far, success has varied. Typhlosion is annoying because of its ability to discard your DCE, so that slows you down a lot. You obviously don't one-shot Reshiram without Pluspower, so again, that's really annoying. Reshiram doesn't one shot you with Blue Flare, but it can with Outrage if you use Giga Impact. A problem this deck faces is that it's fairly linear. It has one attacker and has to rely on that attacker...with one attack. Surprisingly enough, most of the time, I've been able to keep up with Reshiram's speed. You do have to rely on them to damage themselves before you attack, which obviously they're going to do at some point. This deck actually does fairly well against Reshiram, which makes it not the worst choice if you're looking for a way to surprise some Reshiram players.
Against Trainer lock, Haxorus suffers. You rely on a lot of Trainers to get your most valuable cards out. Haxorus has literally no way to one-shot a Gothitelle, so Rocky Helmet isn't a bad tech if you can fit it in. With Rocky Helmet you have found your way to kill Gothitelle. Otherwise, you're out of luck. Against Vileplume decks you're also a bit out of luck. Trainer lock in general along with Reuniclus are just not what Haxorus likes to see. Zekrom is another deck he doesn't like to see. It's arguable that yeah, Zekrom can't OHKO you, but they're faster than you and can try to pick off your staples like Eelektrik. You can't OHKO them until after Bolt Strike damage, but if you're able to keep your Haxorus numbers high, then you actually shouldn't have a problem. You also one-shot Tornadus, which is fantastic.
Haxorus is just a really interesting card. People think other cards do his job better, but he has just so much HP and reliability that I'm not sure if I would agree. I think he's the definition of a sleeper card personally. People look at him and think he's just another case of "cool Pokemon, bad card", but I just don't agree with that. I can't say for sure whether or not he'll be good, but he's absolutely something to try out.
Conclusion
Well, that's all for now. These aren't really the only decks that Noble Victories introduce, but Celebi23 covered most of the other ones. This article kind of drew the rest of the picture that Celebi23's article painted, and I hope that some of you found it fun to read and informative. I actually think some of these decks are contenders at Cities. Even if they're not, they're fun to play! They're different! They don't have the most rounded matchups in the game, but they're surprises. Surprise decks, in recent months, have had varying levels of success at tournaments. google went into Worlds with a surprise deck and took second place. Since Worlds, there have been no real "rogue" decks. None of the decks that I've mentioned are really even rogue, as some people have mentioned their use at one point or another. Regardless, I hope you were inspired in some way, shape, or form by this article, and I wish you all the best of luck at Cities!
