As promised, this is the second article for this week. I have to say, I feel pretty good about the article I put out on Friday because the two decks I covered were the ones that did the best. Greninja also saw a surprising amount of success and Buzzwole Garbodor seems to have come back into the scene as well. This is a short piece where I talk about how I believe BuzzRoc should be updated for the new meta and what can be used to counter Buzzwole.

Six out of Eight of Top 8 were Buzzwole decks. Three of those Buzzwole decks were the exact same list, and that list is the one that won the event. In case you have not seen the list that Igor won the event with, this is his 60.

Igor’s Winning BuzzRoc

Observations on the list

Thinned Octillery and Lycanroc

Looking at this list there are many interesting attributes including very thinned out Lycanroc and Octillery lines. Personally I am not a fan of a 1-1 Octillery line when the card is so crucial in every matchup. Especially now that players will be expecting a thinner Octillery line, I am not inclined to play just the 1-1; they will hunt down the one Octillery or the one Remoraid. A thinner Lycanroc line makes sense to me because it is not much of a main attacker with Beast Ring around. Other players decided to thicken the Octillery line, but few actually played the 2-2 Lycanroc. One of the main conclusions that we can take from this event, is that a 2-2 Lycanroc is not needed anymore.

Regirock EX

Regirock EX is an inclusion that makes sense when you consider that there is more bench space available (since the Lycan and Octo lines are smaller). The purpose is to boost the one prize Buzzwole’s damage output a little more, most likely to make Swing Around hit more ideal numbers. For example, if you flip one heads with Swing around and have the Choice Band, Strong, Diance, and Regirock, that hits for 180 damage. And that is exactly what you need to OHKO a Necrozma GX. The same goes for Sledgehammer. If you have no strong, but a Choice, Regi, and Diancie, Sledgehammer hits for 180. But lets say you do have the Strong, then you can hit Lycanroc GX for 200. Regirock seems like a strong card in general for hitting the numbers needed for OHKOs. It could be viewed as a tech for Necrozma Malamar because it mostly helps with the math in that matchup.

Beast Energy & 4 Strong Energy

Most players were taking the position that you can fit in 3 Strong and 1 Beast, or just 4 Strong, but this list includes both which gives it’s pilot the maximum odds of hitting the damage adding effect. He’s not alone either. Joey Ruttiger, Caleb Gedemer, and Xander Pero all played both the Beast and 4 Strong energy, which means half of the top 8 slots were doing it. To me that means we can say with confidence that it is the correct count.

What I would change about the list now that the event is over

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