Standard GardVeon Tag Team Decklist (Upcoming standard)

[AlphaTheKineticGuardian]

Disclaimer: this is a rough decklist idea I have come up with for the upcoming Gardevoir & Sylveon GX and, as such, some of the cards listed may not be out yet; I will include the Pokebeach translations below the decklist for those who do not know their effects.
Additionally, I will be using "UNB" as the set abbreviation for Unbroken Bonds (don't know if this is correct yet but it should help to indicate).

Pokemon (16)
3 Gardevoir & Sylveon GX UNB
4 Cutiefly LOT
3 Ribombee LOT
1 Ribombee BUS
2 Cottonee GUR
2 Whimsicott GX UNB
1 Ditto Prism Star LOT

Trainers (33)
4 Cynthia ULP
4 Professor Elm's Lecture LOT
3 Pokegear 3.0 UNB
3 Ultra Ball SUM
3 Nest Ball SUM
2 Guzma BUS
3 Tate & Liza CES
2 Erika's Hospitality TEU
2 Acerola BUS
1 Max Potion GUR
1 Wonderous Labyrinth Prism TEU
1 Adventure Bag LOT
2 Fairy Charm UB TEU
1 Fairy Charm Ability UNB
1 Fairy Charm [L] UNB

Energy (11)
11 Fairy Energy (Basic energy, no specific set)

Unreleased cards & their effects

Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX – Fairy – HP260
Basic Pokemon (TAG TEAM)

[C] Fairy Song: Search your deck for up to 2 [Y] Energy and attach them to your Benched Pokemon in any way you like. Then, shuffle your deck.

[Y][Y][C] Kaleidostorm: 150 damage. Choose any number of Energy attached to your Pokemon in play and rearrange them in any way you like.

[Y][Y][Y]+ Magical Miracle GX: 200 damage. If you have 3 extra [Y] Energy attached to this Pokemon (in addition to this attack’s Energy cost), your opponent shuffles their hand into their deck. (You can’t use more than 1 GX attack in a game.)

When your TAG TEAM is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 3 Prize cards.

Weakness: Metal (x2)
Resistance: Darkness (-20)
Retreat: 2

Whimsicott-GX – Fairy – HP190
Stage 1 – Evolves from Cottonee

Ability: Fluffy Cotton
If any damage is done to this Pokemon by attacks, flip a coin. If heads, prevent that damage.

[Y] Energy Blow: 10+ damage. This attack does 30 more damage times the amount of Energy attached to this Pokemon.

[Y] Toy Box GX: Search your deck for up to 5 cards and put them into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck. (You can’t use more than 1 GX attack in a game.)

When your Pokemon-GX is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.

Weakness: Metal (x2)
Resistance: Darkness (-20)
Retreat: 1

PokeGear 3.0 – Trainer
Item

Look at the top 7 cards of your deck. Choose 1 Supporter card you may find there, reveal it, and put it in your hand. Then, shuffle the rest of your cards into your deck.

You may play as many Item cards as you like during your turn (before your attack).

Fairy Charm Ability – Trainer
Item

Pokemon Tool: Attach a Pokemon Tool to 1 of your Pokemon that doesn’t already have a Pokemon Tool attached to it.

Prevent all damage done to the [Y] Pokemon this card is attached to by the attacks of your opponent’s Pokemon-GX and Pokemon-EX with Abilities.

You may play as many Item cards as you like during your turn (before your attack).

Fairy Charm [L] – Trainer
Item

Pokemon Tool: Attach a Pokemon Tool to 1 of your Pokemon that doesn’t already have a Pokemon Tool attached to it.

Prevent all damage done to the [Y] Pokemon that this card is attached to by the attacks of your opponent’s [L] Pokemon-GX and Pokemon-EX.

You may play as many Item cards as you like during your turn (before your attack).

__________________________________________________________________________

Let me know what you guys think of the list so far

 

[Dark Espeon]

Hi AlphaTheKineticGuardian,

Nice deck choice. Not sure if Whimsicott GX is needed in this deck. I would rtaher want some more defense and disruption trainers instead.

Pokémon:

- 1 Ribombee BUS (not needed with Gardevoir & Sylveon GX)
- 1 Cutiefly LOT (three should suffice on usual)
- 1 Ditto Prism Star (not needed in this deck)
- 2 Whimsicott GX (not impressed with it)
- 2 Cottonee (see above)

+ 1 Gardevoir & Sylveon GX (it is the ideal starter in this deck other than the free retreat Cutiefly)
+ 1 Xerneas Prism Star (excellent non-GX attacker in this deck and combos with Kaleidostorm)
+ 1 Tapu Lele UPR (works well with the hit-hide-heal tactic of this deck)

Trainer:
- 4 Professor Elm's Lecture (not needed in this deck)
- 3 Tate and Liza (Lillie is a better alternative)
- 3 PokéGear 3.0 (needed the room)

+ 4 Lillie (excellent turn 1 draw supporter and still decent afterwards)
+ 2 Deserted Power Plant / Mt. Lanakila (nice disruptive stadium)
+ 1 Guzma (excellent control supporter)
+ 2 Escape Rope (switch and disrupt)
+ 3 Switch (hit-hide-heal tactic)
+ 2 Max Potion (see above)

Hope that this provides some initial assistance.

 

[Fafnirchaos]

While Gardevoir & Sylveon's GX Attack may sound good, It makes cards like Oranguru and zebstrika that much more powerful, and if your opponent has one on the field lets say Oranguru all charged up, he's gonna hit you for a heck of a lot of damage while getting some of those cards back. I personally like It's first 2 attacks drawing and moving energies, and I personally would only use it's GX attack for the damage(If i would use it at all).

 

[AlphaTheKineticGuardian]

Hi AlphaTheKineticGuardian,
Nice deck choice. Not sure if Whimsicott GX is needed in this deck. I would rtaher want some more defense and disruption trainers instead.
Pokémon:
- 1 Ribombee BUS (not needed with Gardevoir & Sylveon GX)
- 1 Cutiefly LOT (three should suffice on usual)
- 1 Ditto Prism Star (not needed in this deck)
- 2 Whimsicott GX (not impressed with it)
- 2 Cottonee (see above)

+ 1 Gardevoir & Sylveon GX (it is the ideal starter in this deck other than the free retreat Cutiefly)
+ 1 Xerneas Prism Star (excellent non-GX attacker in this deck and combos with Kaleidostorm)
+ 1 Tapu Lele UPR (works well with the hit-hide-heal tactic of this deck)

Trainer:
- 4 Professor Elm's Lecture (not needed in this deck)
- 3 Tate and Liza (Lillie is a better alternative)
- 3 PokéGear 3.0 (needed the room)

+ 4 Lillie (excellent turn 1 draw supporter and still decent afterwards)
+ 2 Deserted Power Plant / Mt. Lanakila (nice disruptive stadium)
+ 1 Guzma (excellent control supporter)
+ 2 Escape Rope (switch and disrupt)
+ 3 Switch (hit-hide-heal tactic)
+ 2 Max Potion (see above)

Hope that this provides some initial assistance.

Thanks for the feedback, really helps.
I might run the suggestions you brought up as its own deck but I have had reasons for including the other cards; rather than running the typical variant I wanted to experiment with a more defensive core
Here's my revision with help from your feedback (+ for added, - for removed, +- for kept):
Pokemon
- Ribombee BUS (wanted it for guaranteed energies but I can see why it isn't needed)
- 1 Cutiefly (same as the reason you give

+- Ditto (because I want to run both Whimsicott and Ribombee it allows me to get either of the one I don't have on the field so long as it's early game to prevent Guzma plays)
+- Whimsicott GX, Cottonee (ok, here's where I have to explain: the idea of Whimsicott is to act as a "50/50 you can't hit me" kind of wall whilst dealing decent damage for 1-2 energies, being mostly there to help with match ups such as Melmetal/Lucario Tag Team that GardVeon may struggle with due to weakness or to bring stronger things in range of Kalidostorm or Magical Miracle; equally, I have considered using Mimikyu GX as it can guarantee a KO after Kalidostorm without giving three prizes but decided to use Whimsicott for the 50/50 damage block)

+ Xerneas Prism (Great idea, why didn't I think?)
+ Tapu Lele ULP (and again, spreading potential 2HKOs is this deck's goal besides defence, great idea to just add up field damage to one big KO)

Trainers
-4 Prof Elm's (guess draw support can make up for lack of basic search, and Nest Balls too)
-3 Pokegear (mostly for Elm's, guess I could do without)
-1 Tate and Liza (only one due to having 4 draw support variants, keeping two because of the ability to switch as well as shuffle/draw in a pinch)

+-2 Tate and Liza (see above)
+3 Lillie (only 3 for room sake)
+1 Guzma (need more switch I guess; speaking of which...)
+3 Switch
+1 Escape Rope (again, switch)
+1 Max Potion (no room for 2 if I'm correct with the other adjustments, same for only having one rope)

But yeah, thanks again for the help overall, gives me some more insight into what I can do with the archetype

P.S. - You mentioned that it was a good deck choice, for me it was a no brainer; the card is amazingly good and both Gardevoir and Sylveon are my favourite fairy type Pokemon (and on top of that, fairy is my favourite type too! Saw no reason not to play it)

 

[AlphaTheKineticGuardian]

While Gardevoir & Sylveon's GX Attack may sound good, It makes cards like Oranguru and zebstrika that much more powerful, and if your opponent has one on the field lets say Oranguru all charged up, he's gonna hit you for a heck of a lot of damage while getting some of those cards back. I personally like It's first 2 attacks drawing and moving energies, and I personally would only use it's GX attack for the damage(If i would use it at all).

Overall, the deck really isn't for attacking, it's more defence driven (which is why I like it)

If you look at the reply Dark Espeon gave me, he makes suggestions that make the deck more true to the one that has seen tournament success in Japan; that deck uses a strategy of hitting for 150, moving the energies off to another GardVeon and switch-healing/picking the active up with Acerola before using the one with the transferred energies for another 150

I can see the Zebstrika/Oranguru argument (you might have to explain that deck to me as I haven't heard about it, I'm assuming you mean the one with Resource management?) but as long as it's not a OHKO attack on this tag team it isn't an issue.

 

[Fafnirchaos]

Overall, the deck really isn't for attacking, it's more defence driven (which is why I like it)

If you look at the reply Dark Espeon gave me, he makes suggestions that make the deck more true to the one that has seen tournament success in Japan; that deck uses a strategy of hitting for 150, moving the energies off to another GardVeon and switch-healing/picking the active up with Acerola before using the one with the transferred energies for another 150

I can see the Zebstrika/Oranguru argument (you might have to explain that deck to me as I haven't heard about it, I'm assuming you mean the one with Resource management?) but as long as it's not a OHKO attack on this tag team it isn't an issue.

No what I meant was Her GX attack(with the 3 extra energies) which forces your Opponents hand into their deck, is only great in certain situations, and as I stated oranguru can draw cards from their deck and has the attack psychic, which does damage based upon energy counts on your opponents active. As a lot players usually run Oranguru that GX attack isn't going to cripple your opponent as much you would want.

Zebstrika is a different situation though it won't be able to attack but it draws cards from the deck(even with no cards in your hand).

If the GX attacked stated(Because of it's high energy cost) that your opponent wasn't able to draw a card the next turn then it would be a more interesting, however because that isn't the case, it's real power comes into effect near the beginning of the game, and seeing that it is a a minimum 3(of your turn if you go second) turns, in order to do the GX attack, your opponent will already be setup and ready to tank your Gardevoir, or swap it out for something else.

Your biggest weakness is going to be Larcario/Melmetal, as all he needs is a DCE you remove all your energies and with the weakness that your team has against metal, your gonna have to hit some high numbers in order to take out all the buffed up Metal Pokemon on your opponents side of the field.

I'm not saying it's a bad deck by any means, however like any deck you need to look at biggest weakness and look at something to deal with it.

 

[OppositeAttract]

From the Japanese lists this deck relies heavily on using Ribombee from lost thunder so your opponent can't guzma your fairy pokemon, taking a hit and acerolaing that damage away. Given this is the case I believe the deck needs max acerola's and green searches. I could definitely see Whimsicott being an interesting tech but in the same way jolteon gx is utilized in PikaRom.

 

[AlphaTheKineticGuardian]

No what I meant was Her GX attack(with the 3 extra energies) which forces your Opponents hand into their deck, is only great in certain situations, and as I stated oranguru can draw cards from their deck and has the attack psychic, which does damage based upon energy counts on your opponents active. As a lot players usually run Oranguru that GX attack isn't going to cripple your opponent as much you would want.

Zebstrika is a different situation though it won't be able to attack but it draws cards from the deck(even with no cards in your hand).

If the GX attacked stated(Because of it's high energy cost) that your opponent wasn't able to draw a card the next turn then it would be a more interesting, however because that isn't the case, it's real power comes into effect near the beginning of the game, and seeing that it is a a minimum 3(of your turn if you go second) turns, in order to do the GX attack, your opponent will already be setup and ready to tank your Gardevoir, or swap it out for something else.

Your biggest weakness is going to be Larcario/Melmetal, as all he needs is a DCE you remove all your energies and with the weakness that your team has against metal, your gonna have to hit some high numbers in order to take out all the buffed up Metal Pokemon on your opponents side of the field.

I'm not saying it's a bad deck by any means, however like any deck you need to look at biggest weakness and look at something to deal with it.

Guess I misunderstood that it wasn't Oranguru AND Zebstrika as a deck but I do get your point; using the secondary effect may not always be the best goal.

I have looked into the MelCario matchup, it's going to be the biggest problem for this deck to face in my eyes; Whims is in there to help with that (giving them a 50/50 to attack for a two prize gain whilst you set up the necessary energies for the GX since that deck probably wont have Oranguru etc.) and if its still difficult I'll throw in a weakness policy or two.

 

[Fafnirchaos]

Guess I misunderstood that it wasn't Oranguru AND Zebstrika as a deck but I do get your point; using the secondary effect may not always be the best goal.

I have looked into the MelCario matchup, it's going to be the biggest problem for this deck to face in my eyes; Whims is in there to help with that (giving them a 50/50 to attack for a two prize gain whilst you set up the necessary energies for the GX since that deck probably wont have Oranguru etc.) and if its still difficult I'll throw in a weakness policy or two.

Well I know it's a long shot but I was thinking of something a little more Effective. Solgaleo GX(Promo) Removes weakness(Steel is a two shot deck most of the times so Puts you on fair grounds) Has a GX that fully heals your bench for 2 Energies and Brings Energies from the discard(In case anything gets Knocked out)