This is a short post on options for Denver other than Zapdos. If you want to read about Zapdos you can find match up descriptions and other info here. For my exact updated list you can go here. The first deck is of course Zoroark, which has been my first choice for a while. I don’t think people even believe I will play anything else … Continue reading Other options for Denver

As it became more obvious that players are trying to counter Zoroark, it started to become evident than I needed a second option for Denver. I knew that playing PikaRom and Blacephalon was out of the question for me, which meant the only options outside of Zoroark were Zapdos, Ultra Necrozma, or a rogue. Ultra Necrozma match results have been very draw-dependent rather than skill-dependent, … Continue reading The Cut or Tap Zapdos variant

Hey everyone! I have fallen in love with the Zapdos Jirachi archetype and I want to breakdown down the individual cards that can be included in the deck, the matchups against popular archetypes, and my two lists. The deck functions similar to a Zoroark Golisopod or Zoroark Lycanroc deck, but with one prize attackers. Zapdos focuses on being extremely consistent and putting out a steady … Continue reading A Thunderous Assault on the Meta

One of the main shortcomings of the site has been the fact that I don’t cover match ups in much detail. I want to change that over the course of the next month or so. The next few articles will be covering specific decks and all of their match ups against the popular archetypes in the standard format. This piece is about the match ups … Continue reading Guide to ZoroRocWeavile match ups

I was both thrilled and annoyed about seeing that Night March won Toronto Regionals. On one hand, I was vindicated in my picks for the event since I had posted a Night March Order Pad list saying it was likely the best play, but that reason is pretty superficial. The much more hindering side of Night March’s success is that I had been working hard … Continue reading Expanded options for Greensboro Regionals (ZoroGarb, BuzzShrine, Archie’s Wails)

After seeing the list that Alex Cole managed place well at St. Louis with, ZoroGarb became of interest again. As many of you know the deck has been my favorite archetype over the last two years, so the prospect of being able to play it in Standard again is enticing. I also won a Team Up case tournament with ZoroRocWeavile using a list that I … Continue reading Standard: ZoroRocWeavile, BuzzMuk, and ZoroGarb

Oceania Internationals has concluded and Zapdos won the tournament, which is completely unsurprising considering eight of the best players in the game played it. I underrated Zapdos at first. The deck was mediocre in testing because I was using, and playing against, the Japanese lists which ran far worse. Now that Zapdos is the king that needs to be slain, I am excited to talk … Continue reading ZoroRoc and Malamar variants, plus Darkrai Zoroark and Alolan Muk Garbodor updates

I am very surprised by how people are building Malamar right now. The build that I have seems very normal and to the point in my eyes, but I am starting to see that it is actually unorthodox. For the Team Up format I am also working on a similar list that continues to focus on Giratina rather than Ultra Necrozma. Ultra Necrozma does have … Continue reading Giratina Malamar Pre & Post Team Up

ZoroRoc has become my favorite deck once again, mostly because it is the only thing I can find that actually beats Malamar. If you are not already aware, Malamar is somewhat decidedly the best deck right now. Playing ZoroRoc again has made me realized how much stronger it will be when Team Up is legal. This piece goes over my list before Team Up and … Continue reading ZoroRoc for Pre-Team Up and Post-Team Up

Team Up is offering several new archetype concepts and as I’m sure many of you know, I love to jump on them as soon as possible. People have been hyping decks like Zapdos, Malmar Snorlax & Mimikyu, and Tool Drop, but I figured I would put together decks that I haven’t heard anybody else talking about. Some of the decks are more obvious combinations like … Continue reading Standard Team Up Ideas: Darkrai, Alolan Muk Garbodor, Blacephalon Ninetales, Alolan Grimer Nihilego, and ZoroRoc

Dallas Regionals is coming up this weekend and I’m scrambling to test as many games as I can. Other than putting this article out, the only activities in my life will be sleeping, eating, and playing Pokemon. My top two picks for the event are currently ZoroGarb and Blastoise Wailord. I also found myself really enjoying that Buzz Box deck that I talked a little … Continue reading Standard Buzz Box, Expanded Blastoise Wailord, and Expanded ZoroGarb updates

Standard had completely fallen out of my mind for a while until about two weeks ago. I attended a Standard challenge for a breath of fresh air. The deck I was most interested in before I started preparing for Anaheim Regionals was ZoroRoc, so I figured I would pick the deck back up. It worked out very well and I’m actually excited to get back … Continue reading Standard League Cup/Challenge Decks: ZoroRoc, Buzz Box, Blacephalon, and Malamar

Although my ZoroGarb list did not make top 8 in masters, I did win the 128 man cup in day two with it and two of the Seniors I coach made top 8 with it. Those accolades mean something, but I am disappointed that I couldn’t take it further in the main event; I lost my win-and-in. Since the event, there are two changes I … Continue reading League Cup First Place ZoroGarb/ Analyzing Top 8 ZoroGarb Lists

This article covers six decks that I have worked on in preparation for Anaheim. The format for this piece is mostly short descriptions with each piece describing list details. If you’re looking for in-depth match up descriptions, this is not the article for you. I felt it was more important to give people good lists for several options since there are a ton of different … Continue reading Final Lists for Anaheim: ZoroPlume, Cofagrigus, Blastoise, ZoroGarb, Groudon, and BuzzRoc

About two weeks ago I realized that Whitney can be used in Expanded in combination with Unown (Hand). You can compressor three copies, then play the fourth and draw seven cards with no down side. On the next turn, you can do the same by playing a VS Seeker. The reason why this is significant is not because drawing seven is actually an extremely good … Continue reading Unown Hand Concept

Expanded is in a strange place right now because the format has turned very denial/control oriented. So much so, that cards like Seismitoad and Lusamine actually have a legitimate place in decks. Lost Thunder takes the control/denial paradigm to a new level by adding cards such as Girafarig, Faba, and Morty. Faba in particular changes a lot because several decks were relying exclusively on Double … Continue reading Expanded Ideas: Cofagrigus Giratina, Zoro/Control Variants and Raikou Eels

This piece is mostly a follow up to the last article I posted. All that needs to change in those lists are a few cards to fit the new meta and I see all of them as solid plays again. Again this piece covers ZoroRoc, Giratina Malamar, and Blacephalon, however I have also included a list for ZoroControl that I prefer to the current one. … Continue reading Countering ZoroControl and countering the counters

I was planning on putting out a part three of Improving on Japan Lists for Blacephalon, but have decided to combine that with this post. The title pretty much explains what this article includes, so I’m just going to get into it. ZoroRoc Continue reading Final lists for Brazil: ZoroRoc, Giratina Malamar, and Blacephalon Naganadel

Despite the negative press ZoroRoc has been getting lately, I think it’s actually an amazing option for Brazil. The deck has to be build in a far different way to work with the additions from Lost Thunder and to meet new demands from Blacephalon; the list I have come up with does so. Players are overlooking some great combos that recently presented themselves to this … Continue reading Improving on Japanese Lists Part 2 (ZoroRoc)

Many of us have built or at least payed attention to the list that did well at the Champion’s League Tokyo event. It is our first look at how to build new archetypes such as Blacephalon Naganadel, Giratina Malamar, and Granbull. As I started testing out these lists, I realized there were some flaws that I should not have been surprised to run into. Japanese … Continue reading Improving on Japanese Lists Part 1 (Giratina Malamar)