Hello Cut or Tap readers, my name is Hunter Butler and I have played competitive Pokémon for 12 years! Some of my accomplishments as a master include top 8 at Portland Regionals 2017, 37^th at LAIC 2017, top 16 at Worlds 2018, and top 16 at Greensboro Regionals. For my first article here at Cut or Tap I would like to talk about a deck myself and Phin worked on going into Greensboro Regionals, modifications we made to the list, my recent league cup winning list, and a spicy rogue pick for those who like hot starts.

Greensboro Archie’s Blastoise list

You might recognize this list as it is the exact sixty cards posted in this article from a month ago

Summary of List

The list above is what I took to top 16 at Greensboro Regionals. Archie’s Blastoise was my top pick going into Greensboro because of the raw consistency and match up spread. Having positive match ups against Pikarom, Zorogarb, and fighting variants make the deck an easy choice. Wailord’s GX attack also cleans up a variety of match ups like Night March, Hitmon/Wob, and random one prize decks. However, I did not want to encounter Trevenant, Drampa Garb, or Vespiquen due to the oppressive ability lock, item lock, grass weakness, and sheer power of Trashalance. Some noticeable differences between our list and DDG’s second place list are our draw engine and some attacker preferences. I’ll break down the specific choices and the reasoning behind card inclusions.

2 Wailord Magikarp GX

Most Archie’s lists have decided one Wailord GX is enough, and that teching other attackers such as Eevee & Snorlax GX, Kingdra GX, Articuno, or Palkia GX is a better idea. I fully believe that 2 Wailord GX is the correct number for many reasons. First, the 10.4% chance of prizing your one Wailord in match ups you desperately need the GX attack (Zoroark, Night March,Hitmon/wob). Second, you want to be able to pull off the GX attack turn two to be effective against evolution decks or decks with heavy Shaymin EX engines such as mirror, Rayquaza GX, and Zorogarb. Effectively pulling off a towering splash turn two usually will win you the game with a commanding board state position. This is something Blastoise does better than any deck; it sets up a giant attacker with unlimited energy while clearing the bench of required set up Pokemon or low hit point basics.

3 Shaymin EX

The third Shaymin was a spot I argued with Phinn for almost a week about. I thought this was better used as an attacker slot or tech item slot, but I was more wrong than ever. The three Shaymin in this list allows you to dig through your deck effortlessly to reach that turn two Towering Splash. In round two at Greensboro I even managed to Archie turn one, use all three Shaymin, and Towering Splash for game on turn one against a Rayquaza GX deck. A deck like Archie’s only faulters if your five card hand after Archie’s is unable to go further into your deck. With 4 Ultra Ball, Computer Search, three Order Pad, and 3 Shaymin, you have several outs to continue thinning your deck, so you can grab those much needed water energy.

Onix

My first tech attacker spot was dedicated for the likes of Zorogarb and Pikarom. Being a one prize attacker that can take three prizes against a Pikachu Zekrom GX and two prizes on a Zoroark GX is way too perfect of a tool to miss out on. It also can trade well with a Trashalance Garbodor hitting that nice 120 number. Lastly, Onix provides a nice way to two-shot opposing Wailord GX. If you swing into the whale first for 120, then you can power up your own whale to Super Splash for 180 to overcome that daunting 300 HP.

Keldeo EX

A once staple inclusion in all Blastoise decks creeps back into this list for one main reason: Trevenant. With Wally banned, Trevenant is forced to allow us one turn of items which means we have one turn to get out Blastoise and put Keldeo onto our bench. Counter Catcher N will no longer be the problem for the Blastoise player. We can Rush In and continue to one-shot Trevenants easily with the low investment of five energy. Another cool option Keldeo provides is an attacker after going second and producing Archie. This deck struggles with opening the correct Pokemon, but Keldeo can Rush In and take a quick KO or start a two-shot for just three energy.

N over Tate&Liza

Having the ability to come back in the game with a card like N should be included in most decks; for that purpose alone, I like N. I do however like TNL better for a reliable shuffle draw supporter and a better way to reach Archie’s if I’ve missed it turn one. Although, that would mean I’m preferring a card in a losing situation which is not ideal. For now, the N was a good choice, but I’m not sold on it yet.

1 Viridian & 1 Silent Lab

The Stadium spots for this deck are very important. Silent Lab is specifically used to turn off two basic abilities: Mr. Mime’s Bench Barrier and Wobbuffet’s Bide Barricade. Using silent Lab while Mr. Mime is on the bench allows us to Towering Splash against Zoroark to knock out multiple Trubbish and Zorua. Canceling Bide Barricade with Silent Lab allows us to use Deluge and continue to handle threats instead of being completely shut down. Viridian Forest is a great addition to the deck as well, allowing us to search for energy and discard an extra card to get closer to Archie.

3 Order Pad over 4

I want to start by saying I hate this card. With that being said, flipping one heads is enough to catapult you into an Archie’s or fetch a VS Seeker for game, or even for getting you a Field Blower to shut off Garbotoxin. The card is too good not to play as much as I flip tails. That brings me to my reasoning behind three instead of the standard four. You only ever need one heads, meaning one out of three is plenty. This is why you can free the fourth Order Pad deck spot for a tech card or extra attacker.

League Cup Winning list

Explanation of Changes

After seeing the DDG list I wanted to try some of those techs for a Cup to gauge how useful certain cards were. The debate between N and Tate could be refuted, I could see Marshadow being more efficient than the third Shaymin, while Volcanion Prism Star/Kingdra may be strong for mirror and DrampaGarb.

Marshadow over Shaymin EX

The idea of being able to Let Loose your opponent and achieving an Archie for Blastoise seemed too good to be true. In testing and the Cup, the Marshadow blew opponents out of the game turn one and has a built-in function of changing your opening hand to better suit an Archie.

Kingdra GX

Kingdra GX is packed with a very good attack which allows you to one shot opposing wailord GX, and a neat GX attack for one energy that can be used against Night March to clear some Joltik. Another appeal to playing Kingdra is for the DrampaGarb matchup. If you can Archie with low items into a kingdra, you can load a couple manual attachments to start to deal with Garbodors and GXs like Drampa or Tapu Lele. Then with a couple prizes taken you can Archie out the Blastoise to power up Wailord GX, finishing the game. I firmly believe kingdra earns a spot because of the ability to one-shot Wailord GX in mirror.

Volcanion Prism Star

Volcanion is a great attacker for non-EX match ups and helps with setting up Garbodors to be knocked out by Towering Splash GX. It’s also convenient that Volcanion’s ability (Jet Geyser) can rid your hand of unwanted water energies, getting you closer to completing an Archie. The built in Escape Rope-like effect is also useful when your opponent is hiding weak set up Pokemon on the bench or a powered up attacker.

Professors Letter over 11^th Water

With the cutting of Viridian Forest, I wanted an out to water energy through Order Pad. In a deck like Blastoise you always get full value out of Professor’s Letter.

Escape Rope

Archie’s lacked a switch card besides Guzma, and with the amount of four-retreat-cost Pokemon, an Escape Rope seemed like a cool choice. Primarily, this is an out to dealing with Wobbuffet via Order pad so that I can continue to use Deluge while pushing a pesky wobb to the bench.

Tate&Liza

As expected, Tate was lackluster to say the least. It did fix a couple opening hands to complete the Archie’s the next turn, but I would have much rather had the option of N or Acerola. Do Not Play Tate&Liza.

Red Hot Rogue: Flareon GX

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