The problem with the meta right now is that, because of Burning Shadows and the recent ban to Forest of Giant Plants and Archeops, the meta is a freakin' mess right now.
If you're going to Daytona, I'd maybe wait a little bit to figure out what to play until those results come out. I've been relentlessly researching Expanded since they released the listing for regionals (Dallas is having Expanded...so I have to study for that, oi vey).
The thing to keep in mind is that, unlike Standard, the Expanded meta is like a BIG circle; it's rock-paper-scissors on crank. EVERY meta-relevant deck (which is about 9-13, depending on who you talk to) has at least 2 hard counters.
I'm not an expert on Expanded, but from what I have been researching, get ready for a TON of Night March. Marshadow is a big tech component in the deck that can help it against facing Darkrai decks (both NM and Darkrai are in contention of being the most consistent decks of Expanded).
That said, NM rolls over and dies to Item lock builds (Trevenant Break and Seismitoad variants) and maybe Mega Ray seeing as how NM decks have nothing but super low HP Pokémon and a teched Parallel City or Soodowoodo won't help.
I can't help with the Seismitoad variants (Toad bats, Toad Giratina, Toad Garbodor). But Trevenant Break is good against most of the field except Darkrai and anything with Rough Seas (Greninja and the odd Wailord EX from out of nowhere).
Mega Ray is good, but very much glass-cannon. Of all the decks to tech for, this is the one deck where one copy of Soodowoodo can shut it down (Parallel City can also help, but Mega Ray players expect to be hit by that).
Primal Groudon is one of the best decks in the format. However, because of the limited availability of Tropical Beach, you are guaranteed to NOT face much--or any in a regional. But usually, if any show up, they usually get top 32. Keep in mind, the deck is INCREDIBLY slow. But once it gets going, it's one shoting EVERYTHING. I haven't been against it, but it seems like you have to be super aggressive against it as it's a deck that's meant to go the distance. Hit it early, hit it hard.
Gardevoir GX is supposedly going to be a contender in the format. From what I have seen so far, it does to Night March because of the uneven prize trade.
I hope this helps!
For anyone who is more experienced in Expanded: if I am wrong, feel free to correct me. I'm still learning, I don't have PTCGO (all my testing has been pencil-and-paper proxies), and a lot of this is based on Facebook groups and people I have been talking to. I'm sure I have something wrong somewhere. But I'm trying.
