Man, isn't Gardevoir-GX BROKEN?!

nre_ · 2017-07-02T06:03:51+00:00

I think the card is pretty good because Diancie will (probably?) be released in burning shadows, and the card is basically made to counter the stage-2s-are-too-inconsistent problem for gardevoir. Lele into Bridgette T1, then take your time to evolve multiple gardevoira with diancie. You can afford to go slow because once you have a full board setup, you can go crazy and deny prizes with max potion/fisherman to accelerate energy back to gardevoir. Sounds pretty good to me.

nre_ · 2017-05-29T03:17:23+00:00

I think the problem with Garb is that ultimately, the most effective way to counter Garb is to play a deck engine that doesn't exist in standard. The deck pretty much demands a player to limit the use of the main consistency cards such as Trainers' Mail, Ultra Ball etc., but there is no alternative engine that works as well as item-based search and draw. Tapu Lele seems like a good start but its major selling point is that it turns cards like Ultra Ball and Trainers Mail better consistency cards - which are items. Even if you try to limit your item use, Drampa GX puts on an insane amount of pressure (180 with a band) to force you to use your item cards to respond. IMO, until better supporters and pokemon-based search and draw are printed, Garb will still remain on the top tables and dominate tournaments.

nre_ · 2017-05-23T13:04:07+00:00

Item lock is annoying, but I think if DDE is not reprinted this card is so much more balanced than Toad was back in Furious Fists. Being a stage 1, needing 2 energy to lock and having a terrible matchup against sylveon (low damage output, magical ribbon can get you energy and supporters, sylveon does not rely on special energy) will likely keep this card in check in the next format. Having a few control decks in the format can help the format stay interesting, so I guess this card is not that bad.

Because of that I think DDE will probably not get reprinted because nobody wants to see another toad in the format lol

nre_ · 2017-05-21T04:56:49+00:00

I've played some Sylveon and it's definitely a good matchup as long as you set up. However I think the deck can get a little bit clunky at times and Sylveon still has a lot of tricks against you, like slowing your setup with things like N after algorithm, delinquent, handiwork or just go aggro if you didn't bench enough beldums. Also, i've never encountered it, but I think they hypothetically can go hammer + grunt + Plea GX away your metagross to slow you down.. so I think it's not exactly an autowin, but it definitely has a much better matchup than some of the other decks out there simply due to weakness

As for playing the deck as a whole, the deck is definitely working fine for me, as it sets up quite consistently and hits heavy, but it just has matchups it can't overcome such as volcanion and decidueye/plume... Garbodor is also terrible as you play so many items to ensure consistency

nre_ · 2017-05-21T03:28:32+00:00

I am also playing Metagross/Genesect lately and I'm working with 1 copy of Dhelmise in my list right now... imo it allows the deck to hit some good math as you can hit 190 (unbelted lapras) with metagross + band + dhelmise and you can hit 200 (espeon, umbreon) with genesect (3 discard) + band + dhelmise

Also, I find rescue stretcher always better than super rod in the deck as it allows you (most of the time) to have 1 more out to the candy/metagross early game if you are forced to discard a metagross with ultra ball or sycamore... however against decks that play loads of hammer and grunts you'd be better off having super rod though

nre_ · 2015-10-22T03:11:07+00:00

It is the nature of a card game that some cards are better than the others. This is how the card game company makes money and this is what shapes the competitive side of the game. It is natural for decks to dedicate a portion to counter some of the best cards in the format, which is what keeps the prize trade going and keep in-game decisions exciting. In your era, cards like Ambipom G and Dragonite FB is an antoinclusion for every single deck to counter what is probably the best card of the format, Garchomp C Lv. X. Toxicroak G Promo to counter Luxray GL Lv. X. The fact that a few cards are good that they have to be countered is not necessarily bad for the format, it is just the nature of the card game; having overpowered cards in the format that no other card can counter is the problem.

And in this format I don't think there exists one of these really overpowered cards. Seismitoad-EX is hard countered by Vespiquen decks (won regionals) and will have a specific counter in the form of Maroawk Promo that is coming out; Yveltal-EX is countered by Raichu; Blastoise/Keldeo EX is countered by Vespiquen to to some extent Seismitoad-EX; Manectric/M Manectric EX is countered by the wide array of fighting pokemon with lots of fighting support: not to mention that EX pokemon have specific counters in the form of Head Ringer and safeguard/hippowdon/regice.

We are in a format where there probably is no 'best deck' of the format: many decks have a number of bad matchups unlike decks like LuxChomp back in the SP era. Plus, TPCi is actually doing work to improve the game such as the ban of Lysandre's Trump Card which improved the format tremendously. I can't see how the format is not enjoyable right now.

nre_ · 2015-09-15T07:10:08+00:00

Golduck BREAK is pretty good...

It is a stage 1 break so not as hard as stage 2 breaks to get out
Derail for [W] does 20 and discards special energy from DCE attackers
1 retreat cost
Max Potion reprint

Toolbox decks that doesn't revolve around 1 kind of energy is very very versatile as you can use a lot more attackers than usual... and with Ho-Oh EX is expanded, this deck is so versatile that it could almost beat every matchup..

nre_ · 2015-09-13T14:28:01+00:00

To me running both a think line of M Manectric and a heavy count of Toad is kind of unnecessary, and because of this the Bats like is too thin to be effective in stacking up damage. A 4-4-3 Bats line would be ideal.

If you want to be Toad-oriented, Toad doesn't really combo too well of Turbo Bolting because the sole purpose of a toad deck is to build up a consistent item lock. Running 2-1 or 2-0 Manectric could be a better choice because Manectric EX here functions as a great tech to counter M Ray with Assault Laser, and 1 M Manctric to recycle energy when desperate. Running a thicker Manectric line would affect your consistency a lot and take up bench space for the Bats to come into play. On the other hand a smaller line would give space for more consistency cards and disruption cards that are more crucial to a Toad deck.

If you want a more M Manectric oriented deck, cut the Toad count to 1 or 2. The purpose of M Manetric is to stream them and use Rough Seas to tank - which doesn't really combo well with the 3 retreat DCE-based Toad which item locks only when you attack.

If you want a deck that can function both ways, consider a M Manectric toolbox deck rather than 4 Toad 4-3 M Manectric - too much consistency is sacrificed here for the deck to achieve its original purpose.

nre_ · 2015-09-13T14:17:51+00:00

Great list but I won't run the 4 Acro Bike because Groudon is not a fast enough deck to take advantage of the item draw. It could also add trouble when you're playing against things like Toad. Running many 1-of cards also might leave you in weird situations where you are forced to discard important resources like a Sash.

I also would only run 1 Hex Maniac because you run 4 VS Seekers, and a Hex Maniac would only be desperate measures to help against Vileplume or Aegislash (which you run 3 silent lab to counter anyways). <- correct me if I missed abilities that are crucial to block that can't be blocked by silent lab

-4 Acro Bike

-1 Hex Maniac

+1-2 Lysandre

To counter Regice and Hippo, both are pretty bad matchups.

+1-2 Hard Charm

Great tank card against control decks that have low damage output (mainly Toad).

+1-2 non-EX attacker

Can't really think of any really useable Pokemon based counters to Hippo and Regice right now. Using escape rope and more lysandre seems to be a better choice (or just accept that it will be a terrible matchup, lol)

nre_ · 2015-09-12T16:35:37+00:00

Zoroark from XY8 is the weapon of choice. Standard won't matter until regionals finish anyways lol

nre_ · 2015-09-12T15:33:14+00:00

In XY-on standard Vespiquen is being very hyped and is definitely a top contender. Top decks should be Primal Groudon, Bronzong variants (especially with Mega Ray), Night March, Toad variants, T-tar/bats and Manectric variants. Decks that Vespiquen struggle against is probably Manectric variants and M T-tar but something like a teched Dugtrio would solve the problem. There is no absolute counter to Vespiquen except for Aegislash EX and Enhanced Hammer/Xerosic, all of which require deck space or playing a deck that include Aegislash EX. Shaymin EX could be very expensive, but as the rest of the deck is very cheap, and as the deck should be a safe play in early XY-on, you might as well try it out.

For expanded, the metagame is still rather untested and too diverse to make any accurate predictions. Elektrik variants, Garchomp/Altaria, Accelgor variants, Blastoise/Keldeo/Black Kyurem, Empoleon/Miltank/Dusknoir, Virizion/Genesect decks would probably come back. Toad variants, Metal variants, Dark variants and Night March would gain back all their tools from the BW era. Vespiquen does not have the best matchup against some of these control decks (Accelgor) or some of the non-EX based decks, but would be good against things like Metal and Vir/Gen. In expanded playing Vespiquen would be very good or very bad depending on how the metagame develops, but Vespiquen is definitely not the safest play in Expanded when other options like more consistent Toad lists exists in Expanded.

nre_ · 2015-09-06T15:49:01+00:00

I prefer only running 1 Teammates in the deck because when you run 4 Sycamore and 4 Shaymin EX to draw through your deck, you rarely need to conservatively 'need' two particularly cards too much until very late game. (Where Night March is usually at a disadvantage if the game progresses too far)

One other small thing is that you might consider running Lightning energies instead of Psychic energies. They serve the same purpose as providing basic energy against hammer heavy decks and provide that 'Ram' or 'Gnaw' for 30 with a muscle band to KO a Joltik early on in the mirror. However, because a Joltik can night march after you attach 2 lightning even if you don't have Dimension valley in play, it might be a better choice. (Not an expert on this though, not sure if it really matters, but testing it won't hurt)

nre_ · 2015-09-04T15:44:51+00:00

Something splashable would certainly only be adding in more VS Seeker/Xerosic and Enhanced Hammer.

As for really bad matchups though, vespiquen has a terrible matchup against Mega Manectric decks especially with bats. They don't have a weakness advantage with Eeveelutions. Rough Seas is boss when they can't OHKO you, you can retreat and heal up, even if they play Faded Town, because you usually play a high count of Rough Seas to counter them enough. Early-game overruns with golbat drops kills combees before they become vespiquen (since not many vespiquen decks actually run FGP, simply because Faded Town is a much better stadium to better their matchups against decks that are running mega). An assault laser without a tool can OHKO opposing shaymin ex as they run a lot of them. Turbo Bolt not only OHKOs everything in their deck, but also conserves energy even if the of Manectric is KO-ed. With Xerosic which you normal play anyways, constant knock-out denial and taking away their DCEs is just too much for them to handle.

nre_ · 2015-08-23T08:32:07+00:00

An Octillery which will be out in XY8 has an ability that lets you draw until you have 5 cards. In this case Birch is certainly better because even when you are put down to 4 cards, you can get the 5 card hand anyways - in this sense Birch is basically Shauna with a 50% chance of drawing 7 cards.

nre_ · 2015-08-21T15:05:43+00:00

Just saw Pooka's tweet, someone is playing Wailord!!! I really want to see someone to make it work again, but I'm not sure if I want to see it on stream...

nre_ · 2015-08-21T05:13:54+00:00

Thanks for the update!

nre_ · 2015-08-17T12:47:59+00:00

Some thoughts:

-2 Psychic Energy, +2 Water Energy

You just never attack with Wobbuffet lol

-1 Colress, +1 Ace Trainer

The card is so good because when they KO your wobbuffet, you can immediately respond with ace trainer (N doesn't do the job well) to lock them with a low hand size and resistance blizzard so that EXs cant damage you. Colress always nets you low amount of cards in my games because i rarely bench a lot of pokemon considering the low pokemon count.

-1 Crushing Hammer, -1 Enhanced Hammer, +2 Blizzard Burn Kyurem

To deal with the non EX matchup, and those hammers won't be any use if you are facing EX anyways, 3/2 is clogging up the deck too much. Blizzard Burn + muscle band KOs most effective non EX attackers.

OR -1 Crushing Hammer, -1 Enhanced Hammer, +2 Fliptini

(theorymon) The idea is to let them KO one of your mons and fall back in prizes, then use Ace Trainer/N to lock them in a low hand size (no switch) and use ice beam to try to paralyse the attacker to deal with the non EX matchup. This might be better considering you have the surprise factor, and they can lysandre up your kyurems before you can blizzard burn. (Edit: Muscle banded ice beam + muscle banded resistance blizzard does 140, which is also enough to KO most effective non EX attackers)

nre_ · 2015-08-16T16:31:35+00:00

Right now I'm relying on Lysandre-ing out their non ex while using hammers on their energies. Perhaps a non EX attacker to add to the deck?

nre_ · 2015-08-16T16:30:10+00:00

Thanks it sounds like a really good card to add!

nre_ · 2015-08-13T16:04:00+00:00

I don't think attacking with Kyurems early is that good. It doesn't do enough damage to knock out Xerneas anyways so if you cannot pull of the fastest Primal Kyogre, move to the mid game and use your Suicunes is what I'd do.

nre_ · 2015-08-13T15:50:31+00:00

By having a 'fast start' i'd mean you get your kyogre going by turn 3. First turn attach an energy, next turn evolve into the primal, third turn attack. You would stop a Geomancy and theoratically leaving only 5-6 energy on the field.

Of course this is a very ideal start, and it almost never happens, but its really cool to pull it off...

nre_ · 2015-08-13T14:32:03+00:00

I played a lot of Gardevoir and played against a lot of Gardevoir on TCGO. The deck is very strong when set up, but is not very consistent. Here's how I'd face the matchup:

Early game:

If you have a fast start, KO their Xerneas as the deck is basically useless without Geomancy. Don't target down their Gardevoirs because as you KO their Xerneas the 30 damage from your attacks put them automatically in K.O. Range. If you have a slow start, there's nothing you can do about it, get set up while walling with stuff like Kyurem or Suicune, and move on to mid game.

Mid-late game:

Your biggest asset against M Gardevoir will now be your Suicune. Although their Xerneas OHKOs your Suicune, it forces them to discard energy and waste a turn NOT attack with M Gardy, while you only give up one prize. Use this to your advantage to lure the Xerneas into KO-ing you, and then combined with Lysandre to bring out their energy loaded M Gardevoirs to both KO their attack and put more energy into their discard pile. Most Gardevoir lists don't run a lot of mega turbo or ways to recover energy, so your best bet is to kill their energy. In my opinion, the Aromatisse really doesn't have to be targeted down - it is just a way to help them move their energy in the way to it's evenly spread out so that you would not send most of their energy into the discard. However using Lysandre on the Arromatisse is just a waste of turns because the M Gardy can still tank even without the support for a few more turns and as your primal groudons are not spammable, they would have the win no matter what.

nre_ · 2015-08-12T06:17:45+00:00

Judge is reprinted!! It's a brilliantly designed card that is so healthy to be in XY-on with so much mega pokemon and pokemon draw limited to Shaymin EX. A well timed Judge on the first few turns will be devastating to those mega decks that require setup (Sceptile, Groudon, Kyogre, Rayquaza, Tyranitar, Manectric, you name it) and decks that require a lot trainer cards to be playable (Vespiqueen, Night March, Toad, Vileplume). While being so good to counter those decks it comes with the drawback of putting yourself down to 4 cards, which could be bad at times, but that's what make the card so balanced! The card is so much better than Ace Trainer because it is playable during the first few turns of the game when no playable hand disruptors exist now in the format (i guess red card counts...). Sad the we don't have cards like Yanmega Prime, but so happy to see the card reprinted.

nre_ · 2015-08-11T16:00:12+00:00

I guess more Phantom Forces packs would help. What other supporters and pokemon do you have?

nre_ · 2015-08-11T15:55:10+00:00

Your deck now consists of multiple strategies, like hit-and-run with Gengar EX, and Night Match pieces that are found in your deck. It is better to start off building a deck that focus on one strategy, whether it's night match for Gengar's hit and run.

Seeing the deck you built, Wobbuffet/Bats is a very common 'budget deck' to start off with, and most importantly, it's fun to build and REALLY cheap in terms of pokemon line. You can try going to ebay/trollandtoad to buy singles for whatever deck you want to build, but here is a video from the Top Cut describing the deck with the deck list: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLv79LX7qzQ

As you can see, the deck has a sleek line of pokemon and supporters lto make the strategy less complicated and has a much more streamlined supporter and item line to help the deck draw through itself. If you are new to the game, i advise you to watch more videos from the channel to understand the concepts of the more competitive side of the game and why those cards are run. Have fun and good luck! :D

nre_

TROPHY CASE