Options for Brazil: Dark Box, Malamar, Oranguru Pidgeotto, Persian Box, Gardeon, and PikaRom

Brazil Intercontinentals is this coming weekend and there is plenty to unpack with the introduction of Cosmic Eclipse to Standard. This piece covers information on several decks and how they can adapt to the new format. I start by going over information about the format in a general sense. The new Tag Engine is interesting and powerful, the impact of Pidgeotto is very real, and … Continue reading Options for Brazil: Dark Box, Malamar, Oranguru Pidgeotto, Persian Box, Gardeon, and PikaRom

Expanded guide to match ups for Blastoise, ZoroGarb, and ZoroControl

Before we get into this article, I want to make you aware that this post has a small library of my current lists. Recently I have been working hard on improving many of these lists and making the post easier to navigate. There are deck for current Standard, current Expanded, and Standard + Cosmic Eclipse. Check it out! Many of our subscribers have explained that … Continue reading Expanded guide to match ups for Blastoise, ZoroGarb, and ZoroControl

First takes on Expanded – Mewtwo variants, ZoroGarb, Archie’s Blastoise, and Turbo Dark

We all need a little guidance in the new Expanded format with multiple new sets released and about 4 months since the last major Expanded event. This article is here to give you a look at some of the decks that are predicted to be in the Top Tier. This piece is meant to give veteran Expanded players a refresher on the format and an … Continue reading First takes on Expanded – Mewtwo variants, ZoroGarb, Archie’s Blastoise, and Turbo Dark

Joker – using Blowns to find order within a chaotic format

“Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order and everything becomes chaos. I’m an agent of chaos. Oh and you know the thing about chaos, it’s fair.” – Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight, 2008) If you have been playing Pokemon since the rotation before Worlds, you should be acutely aware of the fact that the format is very luck-based. Pokemon feels like gambling. I don’t … Continue reading Joker – using Blowns to find order within a chaotic format

Green’s ReshiZard – the fire variant that gives you control

The biggest issue I have with decks like Mewtwo Box and Ability Zard are that they run almost entirely on Welder and Dedenne, leaving your match results largely up to drawing those at the right time. Discarding too many of one card or another off Dedechange, or prizing two Welder, can easily lose you games. That is exactly why I prefer Green’s; this variant of … Continue reading Green’s ReshiZard – the fire variant that gives you control

Dark Box – an approach focused on consistency

The main problem players have with Dark Box is bad variance. They can win four games in a row and feel like the deck beats everything, then lose four in a row and feel like the deck is garbage. I kept this in mind when building my list. If Dark Box can be consistent, it is without a doubt a very powerful archetype. The match … Continue reading Dark Box – an approach focused on consistency

Gameplay Analysis Episode 17 – Gardevoir Sylveon VS Dark Box

This is a best of three with Michael and I playing out this new match up. We now have paper proxies for everything in the current rotation, those proxies from the last video with the key are no longer going to be a part of these videos. This video is also 60 FPS in 1080P with good lighting. Recently I have been trying to upgrade … Continue reading Gameplay Analysis Episode 17 – Gardevoir Sylveon VS Dark Box

Gameplay Analysis Episode 16 – Giratina Malamar Spell Tags VS Dark Box

In this episode of Gameplay Analysis I cover the match up between my two top picks for Worlds! At first glace it might seem like Giratina Malamar loses to Dark Box, but the match up is actually much closer than you might expect. Two of the alternate attackers in Malamar make a big difference. The commentary has a focus on how to play Malamar correctly, … Continue reading Gameplay Analysis Episode 16 – Giratina Malamar Spell Tags VS Dark Box

New ideas & revisions to the previous ideas

Since posting An Archetype Collage I have done far more testing and coaching, leading me to condense and then expand the number of deck choices for Worlds. In the process of trying to cut out the bad lists and concepts, I ended up building new decks and exploring different variants of those decks. It’s been a while since the last article. That extra time allowed … Continue reading New ideas & revisions to the previous ideas