Intro -
Hey guys! I just got back home from a very exciting weekend in Indianapolis, and I'm very excited to share my experiences from the event. On top of that, I'll be discussing where I think the future lies for the deck I piloted in standard post-rotation. If you're wondering how I placed, I did pretty well in the tournament but dropped on round 9 with a record of 4-2-2, but if I would've played out the last game (and assuming I won or tied) I would've been in the top 128.
What's up with your card choices?
So first off I want to talk about the deck, and why I made some of the choices I did. It's relatively close to your "run of the mill" Espeon/Garb deck, but there are some spicy techs which I'm sure you guys see. First of all the Pokemon Center Lady "one of" is such a good card to have for the mirror. If your opponent Psybeam's a Garboder or Espeon, you can Center lady to not only remove all the damage (Unless the Espeon had Choice Band) as well as the confusion. This is crucial because it allows you to retaliate freely without worrying about a coin flip. An interesting play I found in the mirror, if they don't run this tech, is to Psybeam a Garboder, have it flip tails, and then Divide-GX to finish off the 30 remaining HP and snipe a 70 HP unevolved Trubbish sitting on the bench. But this can't be done if you have access to the Center Lady.
Besides Center Lady, which needed a full explanation, Oricorio is obviously just to improve your bees matchup, and double hex is for severly crippling your opponent if you can't get your Garboder out, or just guarantee abilities are off. Brigette is better than fan club in this deck because you get much more value out of getting double Eevee or Trubbish and one of whatever isn't the 2 you just picked, than a fan club for 2 when you might not even need the Lele at the moment.
The final thing I want to explain is why I have both Flareon and Garbotoxin within 100 miles of each other. Obviously one trumps the other, but there is only one matchup where you need both so in any other situation you just ultra ball or sycamore the Pokemon you don't need away. But if you face Metagross, you need both out, and frankly at the same time. But that isn't possible, so here's how I usually play it. Getting Garbotoxin online is most important because Metagross is not able to function with manual attachment of energy only. Flareon is a punishment you can give if they field blower off your Garboder. Obviously if one is prized then it makes it even more easy to choose. But the Metagross matchup is actually pretty easy with both these Pokemon ready to serve at your bench.
Tips on playing the deck + how to handle the mirror -
So your "optimal" start is to have an Espeon active with 1 Eevee and 2 Trubbish on the bench on your first turn, and if you're going second you obviously want to Psybeam them. Psybeam is a criminally underrated attack in my opinion, because with a choice band you can hit for 60 and force confusion which puts your opponent in an awkward spot. In fact, if I know I'm taking a 2 shot with Psychic, and if the math works out so that I can do this, I'll always Psybeam them first even if I can psychic instead. The only time I would just Psychic is if I know they can retreat freely next turn or if the math wouldn't give me a 2 shot with Psybeam + Psychic. Another general play tip is that Espeon is your main attacker early game, while Garboder is just for if they slip up and play too many items. Garboder is your favorable attacker so you really want them to play items.
The mirror match is a very weird game of Pokemon. It's so different in play-style that it almost doesn't seem like you're playing the Pokemon TCG. You need to make every effort possible so that no items ever see the light of day while you're playing. This is by far the most conservative you ever need to be in a game. Don't even place tools down unless they are totally necessary to either get a knockout, or get a Pokemon out of active to get a knockout or do damage. But never place items down just because they're available. Too many tools invites a field blower to come out. Speaking of field blower, only play it yourself if your opponent has 2 or more tools that won't be taken off after getting a KO. (i.e. if you're knocking out the active that turn and it has a tool, don't count that tool because it'll be removed anyway.) Also, I almost never recommend that you play it if playing it increases your item count to 4 or higher. The point of this conservative play is to make sure a Garboder is never able to one shot your Espeon. If your opponent inadvertently gets 4-5 or more items in the discard pile, you can start getting great prize trades from your Garboder taking out Espeons. Finally, be very aware of the prize trade and how things will play out turns in advance. The mirror is very close in prizes so you need to pay attention to how the match is going and where it will be soon. That's all I can really say about the mirror, but you guys will have to verse it yourself to find out how crazy it gets. Like for example, in one of my matches against the mirror I only played 2 items by the end of the game. I also never lost to the mirror, and honestly my most confident matchup is the mirror because not too many people know how to play it.
Final notes and whether this is viable or not post-rotation -
So overall I really like the deck, and I strongly believe that it's one of the best decks around. The only problem that I had with this deck was that if your opponent took a very early lead, it was hard for the deck to make a comeback unless coin flips were ridiculously in your favor. I also don't think there are any real "auto-losses", but Drampa/Garb, Zoroark/Drampa, and Greninja are all decks that can be a struggle, especially Greninja. Greninja is the closest thing you'll find to an auto-loss from what I've tested and seen. When the infamous rotation occurs after worlds, this deck doesn't lose too many key players which is nice. The only Pokemon you lose is Flareon, and the only trainers you lose are Hex, VS Seeker, and Lysandre. But Hex is the only thing that really has a big impact on the deck (Because we're getting Guzma soon and every deck is losing VS Seeker so it just means we'll have to bump up supporter counts overall.) That all being said, I think the deck will still be very viable going into the 2017-2018 season as long as Burning Shadows doesn't tilt the meta like guardians rising did. (Which I doubt it will) So finally I just want to sincerely thank anyone that has read up to this point, I put a lot of thought into this little article so I appreciate it if people can read and learn from this. Also, feel free to ask me any questions you have about the deck or how certain matchups go because I probably have an answer. Thanks again guys, and have a great day!
Hey guys! I just got back home from a very exciting weekend in Indianapolis, and I'm very excited to share my experiences from the event. On top of that, I'll be discussing where I think the future lies for the deck I piloted in standard post-rotation. If you're wondering how I placed, I did pretty well in the tournament but dropped on round 9 with a record of 4-2-2, but if I would've played out the last game (and assuming I won or tied) I would've been in the top 128.
Pokemon - (19)
Trubbish x 4 (The one from breakpoint)
Garboder x 3 (Guardians Rising)
Garboder x 1 (Breakpoint)
Eevee x 4
Espeon-GX x 3
Flareon x 1 (Ancient Origins)
Tapu Lele-GX x 2
Oricorio x 1
Trainers - (29)
N x 4
Sycamore x 2
Hex Maniac x 2
Lysandre x 2
Brigette x 1
Pokemon Center Lady x 1
Rescue Stretcher x 1
Field Blower x 2
VS Seeker x 4
Ultra Ball x 4
Float Stone x 3
Choice Band x 3
Energy - (12)
Psychic x 8
DCE x 4
Trubbish x 4 (The one from breakpoint)
Garboder x 3 (Guardians Rising)
Garboder x 1 (Breakpoint)
Eevee x 4
Espeon-GX x 3
Flareon x 1 (Ancient Origins)
Tapu Lele-GX x 2
Oricorio x 1
Trainers - (29)
N x 4
Sycamore x 2
Hex Maniac x 2
Lysandre x 2
Brigette x 1
Pokemon Center Lady x 1
Rescue Stretcher x 1
Field Blower x 2
VS Seeker x 4
Ultra Ball x 4
Float Stone x 3
Choice Band x 3
Energy - (12)
Psychic x 8
DCE x 4
So first off I want to talk about the deck, and why I made some of the choices I did. It's relatively close to your "run of the mill" Espeon/Garb deck, but there are some spicy techs which I'm sure you guys see. First of all the Pokemon Center Lady "one of" is such a good card to have for the mirror. If your opponent Psybeam's a Garboder or Espeon, you can Center lady to not only remove all the damage (Unless the Espeon had Choice Band) as well as the confusion. This is crucial because it allows you to retaliate freely without worrying about a coin flip. An interesting play I found in the mirror, if they don't run this tech, is to Psybeam a Garboder, have it flip tails, and then Divide-GX to finish off the 30 remaining HP and snipe a 70 HP unevolved Trubbish sitting on the bench. But this can't be done if you have access to the Center Lady.
Besides Center Lady, which needed a full explanation, Oricorio is obviously just to improve your bees matchup, and double hex is for severly crippling your opponent if you can't get your Garboder out, or just guarantee abilities are off. Brigette is better than fan club in this deck because you get much more value out of getting double Eevee or Trubbish and one of whatever isn't the 2 you just picked, than a fan club for 2 when you might not even need the Lele at the moment.
The final thing I want to explain is why I have both Flareon and Garbotoxin within 100 miles of each other. Obviously one trumps the other, but there is only one matchup where you need both so in any other situation you just ultra ball or sycamore the Pokemon you don't need away. But if you face Metagross, you need both out, and frankly at the same time. But that isn't possible, so here's how I usually play it. Getting Garbotoxin online is most important because Metagross is not able to function with manual attachment of energy only. Flareon is a punishment you can give if they field blower off your Garboder. Obviously if one is prized then it makes it even more easy to choose. But the Metagross matchup is actually pretty easy with both these Pokemon ready to serve at your bench.
Tips on playing the deck + how to handle the mirror -
So your "optimal" start is to have an Espeon active with 1 Eevee and 2 Trubbish on the bench on your first turn, and if you're going second you obviously want to Psybeam them. Psybeam is a criminally underrated attack in my opinion, because with a choice band you can hit for 60 and force confusion which puts your opponent in an awkward spot. In fact, if I know I'm taking a 2 shot with Psychic, and if the math works out so that I can do this, I'll always Psybeam them first even if I can psychic instead. The only time I would just Psychic is if I know they can retreat freely next turn or if the math wouldn't give me a 2 shot with Psybeam + Psychic. Another general play tip is that Espeon is your main attacker early game, while Garboder is just for if they slip up and play too many items. Garboder is your favorable attacker so you really want them to play items.
The mirror match is a very weird game of Pokemon. It's so different in play-style that it almost doesn't seem like you're playing the Pokemon TCG. You need to make every effort possible so that no items ever see the light of day while you're playing. This is by far the most conservative you ever need to be in a game. Don't even place tools down unless they are totally necessary to either get a knockout, or get a Pokemon out of active to get a knockout or do damage. But never place items down just because they're available. Too many tools invites a field blower to come out. Speaking of field blower, only play it yourself if your opponent has 2 or more tools that won't be taken off after getting a KO. (i.e. if you're knocking out the active that turn and it has a tool, don't count that tool because it'll be removed anyway.) Also, I almost never recommend that you play it if playing it increases your item count to 4 or higher. The point of this conservative play is to make sure a Garboder is never able to one shot your Espeon. If your opponent inadvertently gets 4-5 or more items in the discard pile, you can start getting great prize trades from your Garboder taking out Espeons. Finally, be very aware of the prize trade and how things will play out turns in advance. The mirror is very close in prizes so you need to pay attention to how the match is going and where it will be soon. That's all I can really say about the mirror, but you guys will have to verse it yourself to find out how crazy it gets. Like for example, in one of my matches against the mirror I only played 2 items by the end of the game. I also never lost to the mirror, and honestly my most confident matchup is the mirror because not too many people know how to play it.
Final notes and whether this is viable or not post-rotation -
So overall I really like the deck, and I strongly believe that it's one of the best decks around. The only problem that I had with this deck was that if your opponent took a very early lead, it was hard for the deck to make a comeback unless coin flips were ridiculously in your favor. I also don't think there are any real "auto-losses", but Drampa/Garb, Zoroark/Drampa, and Greninja are all decks that can be a struggle, especially Greninja. Greninja is the closest thing you'll find to an auto-loss from what I've tested and seen. When the infamous rotation occurs after worlds, this deck doesn't lose too many key players which is nice. The only Pokemon you lose is Flareon, and the only trainers you lose are Hex, VS Seeker, and Lysandre. But Hex is the only thing that really has a big impact on the deck (Because we're getting Guzma soon and every deck is losing VS Seeker so it just means we'll have to bump up supporter counts overall.) That all being said, I think the deck will still be very viable going into the 2017-2018 season as long as Burning Shadows doesn't tilt the meta like guardians rising did. (Which I doubt it will) So finally I just want to sincerely thank anyone that has read up to this point, I put a lot of thought into this little article so I appreciate it if people can read and learn from this. Also, feel free to ask me any questions you have about the deck or how certain matchups go because I probably have an answer. Thanks again guys, and have a great day!
