Yeah no worries. Just trying to figure out myself which deck to play for my son to play. I'm kind of between TinaChomp and Zacian V, although I haven't really seen a good list yet for the later. I have been working on one myself, but it definitely needs some work. I feel those two decks have all around favorable matchups with the exception of stall and vileplume lock, both of which I have been working on counters for. That being said, I'm not sure how much either of those decks will be played as they rely heavily on T1 supporter to set up. That no longer being possible in the event that you lose, they are going to have to compensate by adding a ton of ball search cards to replace what would have easily been accomplished by Brigette. In that sense they are in the same boat as ZoroGarb.
Discussion Sword & Shield In Expanded
- Thread starter Kenatta_tcg
- Start date
@Kenatta_tcg What age group is your son, if I can ask? My 8 year old is currently very negative on playing Expanded (even though I'm going to Collinsville, and we live like 5 hours away, he's unwilling to go because he can't imagine playing expanded). Are these roughly-standard-modified decks actually competitive, particularly in Juniors, or is it pretty hopeless to build a deck with basically last 2-3 years worth of cards and hope to win a couple of games in Expanded?
My son is in Juniors and playing for stipend, so he is more on the competitive side. This is his first shot at Expanded and he is really excited about it. He loves really aggressive decks and finds the format much faster that standard. My son started playing in the Sun & Moon era, so he didn't have a lot of expanded cards either. We had to acquire a lot of those (i.e. battle compressor, vs seeker, exeggcute, etc). The biggest hit is getting an Ace Trainer like Computer Search. In Juniors you will have any number of players show up with decks all across the map. The top tier players will all be playing top tier expanded decks and will pretty much always win as most of them are playing for stipend. Outside of that, you get some standard decks, and a lot of standard slightly modified expanded decks in Juniors. You will also see some easier to play expanded decks like Night March. At Dallas I want to say 1/2 the decks were Darkbox and Ultra Necrozma combined. As long as he isn't expecting to win it all he could probably still do pretty well with a slightly modified deck if his play skills are decent. Another thing to keep in mind is that Juniors never fill up, so they all end up prizing. I want to say minimum prize is like 18 packs. Top 8 usually gets 3 boxes.
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Ok, I'll talk to him about that! I definitely think we could make (for example) a Roxie's deck, if he was willing to practice it enough to play it (we have _most_ of the cards for that, at least, excepting the Ace Specs which we'll just ignore). He's gone 3-4 in two regionals so far (both last year), and was happy to do that, but those were both standard so I assume a bigger crew. Losing 7 would crush him, though, but losing 4-5 would be fine (and expected). He's played against two stipend-competitive Juniors before, and at least shown up to the competition, though isn't able to beat them of course... but he's only 8 so what can you expect.
It's really hard to say how well he will do. 8 is a tough age in Juniors. My son is 9 and has been playing competitively for over a year now, so he has a lot of experience, which helps quite a lot. The problem is that there is no clear meta for this tournament as its the first expanded regional with Sw & Sh. Ironically, that is why I created this forum was to get insight into possible options.Ok, I'll talk to him about that! I definitely think we could make (for example) a Roxie's deck, if he was willing to practice it enough to play it (we have _most_ of the cards for that, at least, excepting the Ace Specs which we'll just ignore). He's gone 3-4 in two regionals so far (both last year), and was happy to do that, but those were both standard so I assume a bigger crew. Losing 7 would crush him, though, but losing 4-5 would be fine (and expected). He's played against two stipend-competitive Juniors before, and at least shown up to the competition, though isn't able to beat them of course... but he's only 8 so what can you expect.
I get avoiding the Ace Specs due to price, but I will say the power level of those cards is off the charts. Just that one inclusion gives the other play a significant advantage. I would approach it as a learning opportunity as he still has another 2 years in Juniors. A lot of the top players will age up this year and it will get easier as he has more experience and there are newer players. Even though my son has a lot more experience I always remind him not to worry about the results because you can't control matchups. He placed 2nd in a regional earlier this year insisting on playing a list in standard of ADP not teched against Mewbox, which I told him was a mistake. Over 1/4 of the decks in Juniors were Mewbox and he didn't hit a single one. You can't control that kind of stuff. The reverse is true as well. He had a friend who played Mewbox and didn't tech the mirror match. His friend hit 4 in a row and lost all of them. Just tell him to enjoy the experience and learn as much as possible for future years.
Yeah, that makes sense. We talked last night about some deck possibilities, and we'll see if he changes his mind. He seemed intrigued by a few decks, unfortunately most intrigued by Archie's Blastoise which seems pretty dead with the supporter rule change of course. But maybe Roxie's (which we actually have nearly all of the cards for, save a Shaymin and a couple minor things) might work, if he can practice it enough to get it off. He also really liked Shock Lock, which of course is a definite no since it not only basically requires the tropical beaches (at a cost of over k) but is pretty hard to play also... so if he does try one of the other decks maybe I'll proxy one up so he can practice against it (I'm guessing few or no Juniors will play it, anyway.)
I also wonder if the new Sableye/Obstagoon deck might have a place in the Expanded meta... combining with Roxies in some fashion, probably. He had fun beating me last night with that (vs. my Lapras VMax deck).
(I'm guessing few or no Juniors will play it, anyway.)I also wonder if the new Sableye/Obstagoon deck might have a place in the Expanded meta... combining with Roxies in some fashion, probably. He had fun beating me last night with that (vs. my Lapras VMax deck).
After some playtesting I will give you some thoughts on the decks you mentioned. Archie's Blastoise is going to be weakened by the supporter rule, but it won't go away. That said in Dallas very few juniors played that deck. Roxiechomp is solid, but hurt greatly without the computer search as you need an almost perfect amount of cards to hit turn 1 KOs. I find myself digging a lot for one piece, and the comp search gives you that one a lot of the time. I definitely think some Obstagoon pieces could go in to Roxichomp, like galarian zigzagoon. Even Hunter mentioned that one in his interview. Shock Lock only had 1 junior play it at Dallas, for obvious financial reasons. It's a good deck, but mostly gets a lot of wins against people who don't know how to play against it or aren't teched in against it. I don't think Obstagoon has any viability in expanded because it is just too slow and too low on damage output. Dark Box will be super popular at Collinsville I would imagine, as it was the #1 most played deck in juniors, followed closely by both versions of Ultra Necrozma. From what I recall those 3 decks were almost 3/4 of all decks played in juniors.Yeah, that makes sense. We talked last night about some deck possibilities, and we'll see if he changes his mind. He seemed intrigued by a few decks, unfortunately most intrigued by Archie's Blastoise which seems pretty dead with the supporter rule change of course. But maybe Roxie's (which we actually have nearly all of the cards for, save a Shaymin and a couple minor things) might work, if he can practice it enough to get it off. He also really liked Shock Lock, which of course is a definite no since it not only basically requires the tropical beaches (at a cost of over k) but is pretty hard to play also... so if he does try one of the other decks maybe I'll proxy one up so he can practice against it
I also wonder if the new Sableye/Obstagoon deck might have a place in the Expanded meta... combining with Roxies in some fashion, probably. He had fun beating me last night with that (vs. my Lapras VMax deck).
You could also go toward more of a Sw & Sh deck if you are investing in the newer sets. Decks like Zacian V and Snorlax VMax I am sure will make their rounds in all divisions. Unfortunately there aren't a lot of lists out for those as a lot of players are still testing. We are currently testing both those lists to find ways to make them work. Just a few thoughts that might help.
I tried running budget Shock Lock at Dallas and somehow got the worst brick hands I could ask for, as well as some seriously weird matchups (Bird Trio / Milotic was a hopeless autoloss).
If I were going to Collinsville, I'd run this, depending on how geared people are for teching for Shock Lock:
POKEMON: 19
- 4 - Raichu (BUS)
- 4 - Pikachu (CEC)
- 3 - Sableye (DEX)
- 2 - Emolga (TEU)
- 2 - Dedenne-GX
- 2 - Yveltal (TEU)
- 1 - Girafarig (LOT)
- 1 - Ditto Prism Star
TRAINERS: 33
- 4 - Professor Juniper/Professor Sycamore/Professor's Research
- 4 - N
- 3 - Faba
- 2 - Bellelba & Brycen-Man
- 2 - Team Rocket's Handiwork
- 1 - Pokemon Ranger
- 4 - Ultra Ball
- 4 - Quick Ball
- 2 - Devolution Spray
- 2 - Ordinary Rod
- 1 - Scoop Up Cyclone (ACE SPEC)
ENERGY: 8
- 8 - Darkness Energy
Thoughts for Collinsville/Takeaways from Dallas
- Mewtwo & Mew-GX - You have to playtest this matchup like CRAZY. This matchup (and to a lesser extent, Shock Lock) is why you are fielding 2 Yveltals. IF you point all your Faba at Dimension Valley, and hit their Mewtwo & Mew-GX with Derail constantly, they can't keep up. As soon as you see M Gardevoir EX in the discard, hit it with Get Lost (which drops their damage potential to abysmal numbers). Them using Cobalion-GX makes the matchup hard, but not unwinnable--you just dont shoot for paralysis lock as your primary goal, but you do get out a couple Pikachu out early to bait out their GX attack and force them to go Lost Bommerang GX (I'm more scared of them using Iron Law GX). But there's A LOT that happens in this matchup that could go very very wrong very very quickly.
- Shock Lock - lean on Derail. If you Prize your Scoop Up Cyclone, scoop and go to Game 2. As long as you have Scoop Up Cyclone in your deck, you can constantly Paralyze them and Scoop up your Paralyzed Sableye, advance another Sableye and get Devolution Spray and Scoop Up Cyclone back. This puts them on finite resources. Once you are in a favorable position and they can't Paralyze you, manually retreat and send up Yveltal and Derail/Clutch.
- If Mewtwo & Mew-GX and/or Shock Lock are not meta priorities, you can drop Yveltal. Add a 2nd Girafarig.
- If Zoro Garb is taking a massive hit as I've been reading, you can drop all instances of Faba and add Stealthy Hood. Try and find room for 4 because Wobbuffet is said to be HUGE.
- Turbo Dark is an easy matchup, just watch for CEC Guzzlord. If they fill their bench before they drop CEC Guzzlord, don't use the secondary effect of Bellelba & Brycen-Man, even if you have a Dedenne-GX on your bench. Just use the Dedenne-GX to bait out Guzma.
- Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX - This matchup is weird. They won't be able to attack for a bit. But make sure you get a Sableye active and a Sableye on your bench, both with Energy. Mill their deck ASAP and hit them often. They can run a bunch of outs to Paralysis lock, so its important that you hit them often, especially with Bellelba & Brycen-Man. They WILL get you with the GX+ attack. So have Sableye active and another on your Bench, both with 1 Energy. Also, once they get 4-5 Energy in play, make sure you have 1 VS Seeker in your discard pile and don't Junk Hunt for it until they use the GX attack. They are going to get out of paralysis lock with AZ or Guzma, so you don't know who will get hit, so you have 2 Sableye ready to go. You lose your hand. IF you don't draw out of it next turn, Junk Hunt a VS Seeker and an Ordinary Rod (or a devolution spray if your setup has a Raichu in play). Beyond the GX attack and getting the lock back up, you just need to hit their deck as hard as you can. Also, if they tech GRI Comfey, it's an autoloss.
I have been on a hiatus since Dallas and I haven't tested the deck in a bit, if there are any matchups you can think of that anyone would want clarification on, let me know.
If I were going to Collinsville, I'd run this, depending on how geared people are for teching for Shock Lock:
POKEMON: 19
- 4 - Raichu (BUS)
- 4 - Pikachu (CEC)
- 3 - Sableye (DEX)
- 2 - Emolga (TEU)
- 2 - Dedenne-GX
- 2 - Yveltal (TEU)
- 1 - Girafarig (LOT)
- 1 - Ditto Prism Star
TRAINERS: 33
- 4 - Professor Juniper/Professor Sycamore/Professor's Research
- 4 - N
- 3 - Faba
- 2 - Bellelba & Brycen-Man
- 2 - Team Rocket's Handiwork
- 1 - Pokemon Ranger
- 4 - Ultra Ball
- 4 - Quick Ball
- 2 - Devolution Spray
- 2 - Ordinary Rod
- 1 - Scoop Up Cyclone (ACE SPEC)
ENERGY: 8
- 8 - Darkness Energy
Thoughts for Collinsville/Takeaways from Dallas
- Mewtwo & Mew-GX - You have to playtest this matchup like CRAZY. This matchup (and to a lesser extent, Shock Lock) is why you are fielding 2 Yveltals. IF you point all your Faba at Dimension Valley, and hit their Mewtwo & Mew-GX with Derail constantly, they can't keep up. As soon as you see M Gardevoir EX in the discard, hit it with Get Lost (which drops their damage potential to abysmal numbers). Them using Cobalion-GX makes the matchup hard, but not unwinnable--you just dont shoot for paralysis lock as your primary goal, but you do get out a couple Pikachu out early to bait out their GX attack and force them to go Lost Bommerang GX (I'm more scared of them using Iron Law GX). But there's A LOT that happens in this matchup that could go very very wrong very very quickly.
- Shock Lock - lean on Derail. If you Prize your Scoop Up Cyclone, scoop and go to Game 2. As long as you have Scoop Up Cyclone in your deck, you can constantly Paralyze them and Scoop up your Paralyzed Sableye, advance another Sableye and get Devolution Spray and Scoop Up Cyclone back. This puts them on finite resources. Once you are in a favorable position and they can't Paralyze you, manually retreat and send up Yveltal and Derail/Clutch.
- If Mewtwo & Mew-GX and/or Shock Lock are not meta priorities, you can drop Yveltal. Add a 2nd Girafarig.
- If Zoro Garb is taking a massive hit as I've been reading, you can drop all instances of Faba and add Stealthy Hood. Try and find room for 4 because Wobbuffet is said to be HUGE.
- Turbo Dark is an easy matchup, just watch for CEC Guzzlord. If they fill their bench before they drop CEC Guzzlord, don't use the secondary effect of Bellelba & Brycen-Man, even if you have a Dedenne-GX on your bench. Just use the Dedenne-GX to bait out Guzma.
- Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX - This matchup is weird. They won't be able to attack for a bit. But make sure you get a Sableye active and a Sableye on your bench, both with Energy. Mill their deck ASAP and hit them often. They can run a bunch of outs to Paralysis lock, so its important that you hit them often, especially with Bellelba & Brycen-Man. They WILL get you with the GX+ attack. So have Sableye active and another on your Bench, both with 1 Energy. Also, once they get 4-5 Energy in play, make sure you have 1 VS Seeker in your discard pile and don't Junk Hunt for it until they use the GX attack. They are going to get out of paralysis lock with AZ or Guzma, so you don't know who will get hit, so you have 2 Sableye ready to go. You lose your hand. IF you don't draw out of it next turn, Junk Hunt a VS Seeker and an Ordinary Rod (or a devolution spray if your setup has a Raichu in play). Beyond the GX attack and getting the lock back up, you just need to hit their deck as hard as you can. Also, if they tech GRI Comfey, it's an autoloss.
I have been on a hiatus since Dallas and I haven't tested the deck in a bit, if there are any matchups you can think of that anyone would want clarification on, let me know.
Funny, I thought shocklock wasn't anywhere near as good without tropical beach, which I didn't see in your list. Obviously most players can't come anywhere near affording it, so no criticism meant there. Just thought it was kind of bricky without that card. Ironically every list I have tested in various decks has played a counter for that deck, and it seems like a lot of people are going to have counters for it just by default. For example, Tinachomp has Comfey to counter hypnotoxic laser and darkbox, which naturally just works as a counter for shocklock. I tested Zacian V quite a bit and run a Cobailion GX in every list to counter hypnotoxic laser, which again counters shocklock as well. I think Gardeon is going to be almost non-existent at Collinsville. It really is terrible in new meta as Green's can't be played turn 1 any game you go first and the deck just gets donked a lot. What Hunter did at Dallas has been my experience over and over again playing against Gardeon with a variety of decks. My expectation after testing and working with several of the higher leaderboard players in our area is that Ultra Necrozma, Darkbox, Zacian V, and Tinachomp are going to be the more popular decks this time around (not in any particular order). Sadly I think your shocklock deck is going to get hard countered just due to be people trying to counter the OHKO from darkbox, which will probably be the most played deck at Collinsville. I also wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of mewbox running around, just making it an all around difficult weekend for shocklock.
Alolan Muk can be teched in for Wobbuffet, MewMew, and Comfey/Virizion-EX/Cobalion-GX. I think it’s too good to pass up, even if you run quite a bit of your own basic abilities.
Moving forward, evolution decks or decks that can play Ditto Prism Star might start playing the new Galarian Rapidash if any Shock Lock fairest is to become too good or popular, or the deck can’t run Comfey/Virizion-EX/Cobalion-GX for whatever reason. While this is not happening right now, it’s definitely something to consider for the future of the deck. And honestly, another good reason to add Alolan Muk, as much as that would then be more luck-reliant, since if they get out Galarian Rapidash at all, you just lose.
I think the funny part is that the next batch of Expanded Regionals for the rest of the season are all going to be under BW-SwSh. Like, none of them will get the new expansion, so it's seriously three Expanded Regionals that are all SwSh.
That said, it's going to require Shock Lock going off the radar again, and possibly Turbo Dark for people to stop teching Comfey and Cobalion-GX. Apparently, Zacian V decks can function very similarly like Turbo Dark. Turbo Dark has a more "box" aspect to it. I don't know, I've only seen a couple lists floating about. But yeah, it doesn't seem like a good time to use any variant of Shock Lock right now.
Expanded GardEon doesn't use Green's--in any capacity. If anything tanks it, it's the fact that Zacian V OHKOs it quickly. The Supporter rule doesn't seem to hurt it too badly since it usually relies on being tanky and spend the first 3 turns getting set up anyway.
MewBox is definitely doable, but it's a 50-50 matchup at best if you absolutely know what you're doing.
I have seen some lists for Gardeon, and they all get destroyed in this meta because of Zacian V being floated so much. Between max elixir and metal saucer it is super easy to hit turn 1 running 2 Shaymin and 2 Dedenne. Also, even if it weren't Gardeon, the variant I am testing for Zacian V has 2 Dhelmise and 2 Choice band with 3 Skyfield, so turn 1 OHKO on any tag team is pretty easy. In fact, in my testing I'm not sure I have missed a turn 1 tag team OHKO yet. That said, Zacian V has terrible 1 prize attacker matchups, particularly Ultra Necrozma. If they play Garbotoxin, which a lot of lists do, that matchup is almost an auto-loss. Your only real hope is a brick/donk. Incidentally the list I was testing does run Cobalion for the dark matchup.
Personally I think Turbo Dark is going to be everywhere next week at Collinsville. It is consistent, has a good matchup spread, and is a known commodity, which is pretty strong in an unknown meta. It doesn't get affected much by the supporter rule, and thanks to the inclusion of Guzzlord can catch up on prizes against Ultra Necrozma and other one prize attacker decks. Mewtwo also seems to be fairly consistent in the new meta/turn 1 rule. I would expect a lot of that as well. Ultra Necrozma, as bricky as it is, will probably also see a lot of play. I believe this will include a lot of players hoping to capitalize on a heavy dedenne/shaymin meta. Turn 1 labs followed by turn 2 garbotoxin is down right brutal in this format. Of course hitting that combo certainly isn't easy in a deck that lacks EX/GX draw power, but it certainly does feel good when you do.
Does anyone have a Tinachomp list? I’m going to Charlotte and I want to start testing but can’t find a SWSH list anywhere. I also wanted to know if anyone had tips for the senior division in expanded
You can take Hunter's list off Limitlesstcg and just make a few small changes to it. There really isn't much from Sw&Sh to add to that list other than quick ball and probably Zigagoon. Senior's division is tough, especially if this your first regional in expanded. You can expect around 100 players and all the top tier players in the US/Canada to be there. They travel pretty consistently to regionals and internationals. I actually feel like this matchup has a pretty good spread going into Collinsville, but I could be wrong. The tough matchups for this deck are going to be Vileplume and Snorlax VMax if you aren't teched. Zacian V is a 50/50 matchup. The rest of the matchups are pretty favorable, especially your Ultra Necrozma matchup, which I expect to see a lot of at Collinsville. A lot of people just want to drop labs turn 1 and garbotoxin turn 2 to totally brick opponents relying on Shaymin and Dedenne. Fortunately you will get to see Collinsville results this weekend and can use those for Charlotte. My son is in Juniors and attending Collinsville and then probably Charlotte after that. Collinsville will be a blind meta since we just got Sw&Sh legal, whereas Charlotte you will have more of an established meta since Collinsville already happened. Personally I would wait to make a deck choice for Charlotte till you see what happens this weekend.
Yeah I’ve also been testing Zacian V, I cut three ultra balls for quick balls but I don’t know what to cut for zigzagoons. I went to Greensboro last year which was expanded, but I finished about middle of the group with a Zoro deck but I defiantly wasn’t prepping for the meta going into the tournament, which is something I’m definitely doing this time. This is my last year of seniors so I definitely have experience with seniors. I have also played some of the best seniors there are and one of them who is competing for a stipend lives near enough to me that we meet at cups sometimes and I beat him two weekends ago. My problem is that testing is hard since my closest league is 45 minutes away and I can only go for point tournaments and no one plays at my school and I don’t have a very stacked PTCGO account so I have to create rogue decks that I would never play in a tournament. I test against myself most of the time but I just wish I had someone to test with.
Yeah I get the complexity of it. I have a son in juniors who is stipend chasing and daughter who already has her invite to worlds but plays only semi-competitively. We live in an area filled with pros at all levels. That being said, juniors and seniors are definitely ignored a lot. Unless you are actively paying someone for lessons, getting into a testing community is really difficult. Most of the masters don't take them seriously, which is evident even on twitch streams where viewers complain about having to watch juniors and seniors matchups. PTCGO isn't really all that helpful either because ladder is filled with tons of crazy decks. It would really be nice if PTCGO had a competitive arena to allow players testing for regionals/internationals to test, but unfortunately we are stuck with all the randomness that is current ladder.
On your Zacian comment I have tested that deck more than any for Collinsville and I have to say I am not high on it. It feels clunky at times where you inevitably hit that 1-2 turns per game where you can't get your Zacian moved to attack again. Ultra Necrozma destroys it (either by labs or garbotoxin), which I expect to be pretty popular at Collinsville. Just about every 1 prize attacking matchup is slightly unfavorable. It performs well in all the GX and Tag Team matchups, so I guess if you could just hit those you could cruise to a top 8.
As for Tinachomp, I would cut the Giratina for the Zigzagoon. You need the damage on the active to get the full benefit of TinaChomp, so hitting the bench doesn't really do much for you unless you also plan on gusting, which requires a lot more in one turn. I find in testing that Zigzagoon is the early play, usually to get turn 1 attack off for KO, and Roxie Chomp usually ends up being mid-late game to close out. It's great if you hit turn 1 Roxie with Weezing, but that definitely isn't going to happen all the time. Zigzagoon makes it much easier to turn 1 KO. The matchups you need to be concerned with when playing this deck are definitely going to be Zacian V, Snorlax V, and Vileplume. Zacian V can get an OHKO on you with Dhelmise and you don't have any great counter for that matchup. Snorlax V can OHKO you and you can't OHKO them. Vileplume is pretty much just a straight up auto-loss unless they brick or you donk them. Even Hunter admitted that in his interview. I'm not sure Vileplume is really great now that turn 1 rule is in effect, but I definitely would try to find techs to deal with the other 2 matchups. I'm sure both those decks are going to be floating around.
I play Noivern for the vileplume matchup, I thought about maybe playing a laser for the Snorlax matchup but there were two things I debated about, 1. I don’t know if it has a ton of switching options and 2. I don’t think it has a large appeal to the seniors division and it seems bad tbh. I really want to test but I feel like it’s a little pointless until Collinsville is over.
Yeah, lucky for you that you can just see what Collinsville produces. The best tech against Snorlax VMax is going to be Sudowoodo. Bench Barrier obviously hurts. You can play stealthy hood as well to improve vileplume and play on Sudowoodo if they try to shut it down with Muk. That makes them have to Guzma. Snorlax VMax is probably tier 2 or so, but it feels really linear in testing. It's a pretty easy deck to pilot and you might sneak some wins with it if you want something outside the box. Ultra Necrozma has a horrible matchup against it, and that seems to be a pretty popular deck coming into Collinsville. My guess is it will continue to be popular at Charlotte. Since Snorlax only plays triple accel energy the Necrozma can't ditch it, and most Snorlax lists play max potion or Acerola to go around it. This was one of the 4 or 5 decks I considered my son playing at Collinsville because you might hit some good matchups in a blind meta.
So he ended up going, at the last minute... and so the only deck I could make in time was a Zacian V Turbo deck (the only one I had even close to the right cards for). Even missing the Ether and Trainer's Mails (both key cards), and replacing all of the Shaymins with Dedennes, he did alright (3-3) - not bad really - and then got some CP in the cup the next day too. I love the cups - take away the "top" Juniors and you have a cup that a midlevel junior can perform well at, without so much pressure but still having plenty of games against kids (as opposed to the "guaranteed top 2 junior cup" that is so common, where there's just two of them, they play one game, then the rest of the day is against Masters). Not bad given he picked up the deck for the first time Saturday morning! Now if I could only convince him that Dedenne is a poor choice for a starter...
Thanks for the advice
We won't play again until Fort Wayne most likely (which is Standard), though may hit a few likely-expanded Cups in the next month or so. Will get the cards we're missing and make some adjustments (and he's suggested a few good ones based on other decks he saw, which I think is amazing!) and see how things go!
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