2006 Decks

• Legal Sets
  • Ex Hidden Legends
  • Ex FireRed & LeafGreen
  • Ex Team Rocket Returns
  • Ex Deoxys
  • Ex Emerald
  • Ex Unseen Forces
  • Ex Delta Species
  • Ex Legend Maker
  • Ex Holon Phantoms

• First Turn Rules
  • On their first turn, the player going first may not play any Supporters, and they may not draw a card
  • The player who wins the coin flip may CHOOSE to go 1st or 2nd
  • The coin flip takes place AFTER the setup phase

The 2005-2006 Season features a wide variety of strategies. The early season, especially at the local level, was dominated by one archetype – Lugia/Blastoise/Steelix (LBS). This deck carried consistent OHKO potential in the form of Lugia ex, as well as the ability to snipe down specific threats in Steelix. LBS won or placed highly at several regional championships, and while it continued to place highly at Nationals and Worlds, other archetypes evolved to beat this deck as the season wore on.

Many archetypes started to incorporate the disruptive core of Lunatone and Solrock, which locked Colorless-type pokemon like Pidgeot (the main search engine in LBS, as well as several other archetypes) out of their Poke-Powers. LBS probably had the biggest target on its back coming into US Nationals; Raichu/Exeggutor went 1st-2nd at this event. This deck punished the opponents reliance on Poke-Powers by spreading damage around their entire field. Jason Klaczynski won his first World Championships title in this year with MewTric, a deck that focused on shutting down the opponent’s ability to use Items as early as possible, locking decks like LBS out of their Holon Transceiver engine, as well as other crucial trainers like Rare Candy.

Another interesting tidbit is that this season was the last year to feature Gym Challenges – a unique tournament where the winner was presented with an automatic invitation to the World Championships. There were a couple of cool archetypes that had strong showings at these tournaments but fly under the radar due to their lack of results at Nationals/Worlds – the most notable of these is probably Kyle Suchevich’s Meganium/Steelix, which functions somehwat similarly to LBS.

Arcanine

Pokemon	Trainers	Energy
4 Jirachi 4 Growlithe 4 Arcanine ex 2 Lunatone 1 Solrock	4 Cursed Stone 1 Holon Adventurer 2 Holon Mentor 1 Holon Scientist 4 Holon Transceiver 1 Pokemon Retriever 4 Pokemon Reversal 3 Professor Elm’s Training Method 3 Rocket’s Admin. 1 Scott 4 Swoop! Teleporter 3 TV Reporter	10 Fire Energy 4 React Energy

Decklist Credit: Top Cut Retro Decks

This deck is fairly straightforward – use the consistent pressure of Arcanine ex and Cursed Stone to pressure the opponent early, while Lunatone, Solrock, and Rocket’s Admin disrupt their ability to play the long-game strategy. This is one of two archetypes I’ve found that successfully utilized React Energy (the other being Flygon ex Legend Maker in 2007.) Arcanine’s Fire Spin attack requires Arcanine to discard 2 fire energy or 1 react energy, so you can keep up a consistent stream of 100 damage attacks. Overrun is also very useful for setting up OHKOs in the late game.

Two versions of this archetype have emerged – The one above that utilizes Jirachi to help set up. The other cuts jirachi in favor of a heavier Lunatone + Solrock line, to ensure the ability to disrupt cards like Pidgeot RG and Flareon ex.

Please note the list DOES contain 4 React Energy even though only 3 show up in the picture.

BombTar

Pokemon	Trainers	Energy
3 Magmar 3 Larvitar 2 Dark Pupitar 3 Dark Tyranitar 2 Voltorb 2 Electrode ex 1 Lunatone 1 Solrock	1 Ancient Technical Machine [Rock] 1 Holon Adventurer 2 Holon Lass DS 2 Holon Mentor 4 Holon Transceiver 4 Pow! Hand Extension 3 Professor Elm’s Training Method 1 Protective Orb 3 Rare Candy 4 Rocket’s Admin. 2 Swoop! Teleporter	4 Darkness Energy 2 Fire Energy 3 Heal Energy 2 Holon Energy FF 1 Lightning Energy 4 Scramble Energy

Decklist Credit: Top Cut Retro Decks

BombTar relies on its ability to accelerate energy early to set up large attacks with Dark Tyranitar’s Grind attack. Electrode ex accelerates energy into place while KOing itself, which activates Scramble Energy, Pow! Hand Extension, and also lowers the amount of cards your opponent draws off of your Rocket’s Admin. Magmar is used to set up your early game while dumping (no pun intended) energy into the discard pile for Electrode’s ability. Note that Electrode can attach special energy, so feel free to pour energy of any kind into the discard – although you won’t get the bonus from Heal Energy unless it is attached from hand.

You do also have the option to throw a bunch of energy onto Tyranitar and use Spinning Tail to spread damage around the board – this can punish slower starts from evolution decks as you won’t take a bunch of KOs early, which keeps your Scramble Energy active, and allows you to clean up multiple threats at once with Ancient TM Rock.

Dragtrode

Pokemon	Trainers	Energy
4 Sneasel ex 3 Dratini 3 Dark Dragonair 2 Dark Dragonite 2 Voltorb 2 Dark Electrode 1 Lunatone 1 Solrock 1 Rocket’s Scyther ex	4 Desert Ruins 1 Holon Adventurer 3 Holon Mentor 1 Holon Scientist 4 Holon Transceiver 1 Mr. Briney’s Compassion 4 Rocket’s Admin. 1 Rocket’s Hideout 4 Rocket’s Poké Ball 3 Steven’s Advice	4 Dark Metal Energy 4 Darkness Energy 4 R Energy 3 Rainbow Energy

Decklist Credit: Top Cut Retro Decks

While the Dragonite/Electrode combo can take a bit of work to set up, this deck more than makes up for it through the early pressure of Rocket’s Sneasel ex. Its main attack does more damage when you have more Dark pokemon in play, but it can also use Drag Off to steal early kills on basic pokemon like Pidgey. Once the setup is complete, Dark Electrode will search energy from your deck, while Dark Dragonite will bounce those energy around your entire field, in any way you want. This allows you to consistently stream attackers, and keep the pressure on the opponent once your initial Sneasel goes down.

Rocket’s Scyther ex acts as an alternate attacker depending on the matchup – it’s especially important against Queendom, which Scyther ex hits for weakness (and carries resistance to.) This deck also features the Lunatone/Solrock package – you don’t always have the bench space to use it, but it can be useful to shut down Pidgeot for a couple of turns, since this deck doesn’t need to rely on it.

Deoxys/Metagross

Pokemon	Trainers	Energy
3 Metagross 1 Metang 3 Beldum 2 Mew ex (Legend Maker) 1 Mew ex (Holon Phantoms) 1 Lunatone 1 Solrock 1 Jirachi 1 Deoxys ex (Emerald) 1 Deoxys ex (Deoxys 99) 1 Deoxys ex (Deoxys 98) 1 Deoxys ex (Deoxys 97) 2 Holon’s Electrode 1 Holon’s Magnemite	4 Bill’s Maintenance 4 Rocket’s Admin. 3 Celio’s Network 2 Holon Mentor 1 Holon Adventurer 1 Holon Scientist 4 Holon Transceiver 2 Rare Candy 2 Pokemon Retriever 1 Warp Point 1 Crystal Shard 1 Strength Charm 2 Giant Stump 1 Power Tree	11 Psychic Energy

Decklist Credit: Marcus Raj, 1st Place Australian National Championships

Deoxys EX was a very unique deck that placed 1st at Australian Nationals – it is remarkably consistent, and has a very surprising amount of options for almost any scenario that could arise. Metagross can be used to power up your Deoxys quickly, and Mew ex allows you to bypass the downside of only running 1 of each Deoxys. The various Deoxys are all good in different matchups – Psychic Shield (Emerald 99) completely shuts down decks that rely solely on ex attackers (Mewtric, or Arcanine for example). Psyburst (Emerald 98) allows you to pile on huge damage against anything that tries to load up one single attacker, most notably BombTar. Energy Burst hits slightly less hard than Psyburst does, but it attacks for only 2 energy, and it also allows you to potentially supercharge your OWN Deoxys. Fastwave (Emerald) bypasses all effects on the defending pokemon, the most common of which was Flareon ex’s Flame Screen, but it also gave you an out against random Safeguard pokemon. Holon Phantoms Mew ex has the potential to bully evolution decks in general, but it is very strong against BombTar specifically – you can de-volve their one loaded up Dark Tyranitar, and devastate their board.

It’s worth noting that this decklist is not the exact one used by Marcus in his Australian Nationals win – that decklist can be found here. He opted for Pidgeot as a search engine – it’s a little harder to set up consistently, but it allows you to grab crucial 1-of cards in niche scenarios. He’s also got some notes for changes that he might make to the decklist – one notable one is a possible omission of Crystal Shard. I kept it in as a means of hitting through Dark Tyranitar’s obnoxious -30 resistance, but Marcus noted it could just be a 2nd Strength Charm instead. For my list I wanted to try a version that omitted Pidgeot, allowing me to run a Lunatone/Solrock combo to shut down my opponent’s Pidgeot, as well as the Holon engine. I’m not sure which one is better, but it’s definitely worth testing the original list too!

Dustox

Pokemon	Trainers	Energy
4 Dustox ex 3 Cascoon 4 Wurmple 3 Muk 3 Grimer 2 Holon’s Electrode	3 Professor Elm’s Training Method 3 Rocket’s Admin. 2 Steven’s Advice 2 Copycat 1 Scott 4 Rare Candy 4 Pokemon Reversal 2 Great Ball 2 Crystal Shard 3 Cursed Stone 2 Battle Frontier	13 Grass Energy

Decklist Credit: Devin Ricks and Jeff Wiza

Dustox ex was a deck my friend used to qualify for worlds while he was in Juniors. The above list is an attempt to optimize his list a bit, and is still a work in progress. The idea here is pretty simple: Both basic pokemon have “Ascension” as an attack, which allows them to immediately search out the pokemon they evolve into. This means you can either immediately lock Poke-Powers (with Muk) or start pressuring with Dustox ex. Dustox hits pretty hard, and also can’t be touched by opposing ex pokemon, so it should be the main attacker in a lot of matchups.

Pokemon Reversal and Muk should both help decently in the LBS matchup – Poisoned pokemon can’t use poke-powers, and Muk also prevents the opponent from retreating. You can potentially pull up Pidgeot and trap it active, and shut down their main setup engine permanently, or you can shut down the Blastoise’s ability to put a bunch of energy into play. Crystal Shard was a nifty tech my friend used – 2006 has a surprisingly high amount of pokemon that are either weak to Colorless (Dark Dragonite, Delta Dragonite) or resistant to Grass (Delta Dragonite again, Steelix ex, Delta Metagross), and Crystal Shard will allow you to take a surprise KO on these pokemon.

Evan Cole also developed a Dustox list that opts for Houndoom instead of Muk, to shut down the opponent’s use of Item cards (Dustox does not need a large bench at all), as well as Energy Removal 2 instead of Pokemon Reversal, to keep the opponent behind on attachments. Some techs I would like to test in some games include Sudowoodo UF and Swoop Teleporter, the latter of which Evan also includes in his list.

Eeveelutions

Pokemon	Trainers	Energy
4 Eevee 2 Umbreon ex 2 Espeon ex 2 Flareon ex 1 Jolteon ex 1 Vaporeon ex 3 Pidgeot 2 Pidgeotto 3 Pidgey 2 Holon’s Electrode	3 Rocket’s Admin. 2 Bill’s Maintenance 2 Professor Elm’s Training Method 2 Celio’s Network 1 Copycat 1 Steven’s Advice 4 Surprise! Time Machine 3 Rare Candy 2 Strength Charm 1 Pokemon Retriever 1 Ancient Technical Machine [Rock] 2 Full Flame 2 Giant Stump	4 Water Energy 3 Fire Energy 3 Holon Energy WP 2 Holon Energy FF

Decklist Credit: Jimmy Ballard, 2nd Place Worlds

The Eeveelution EX pokemon saw play in SEVERAL different archetypes during the 05-06 and 06-07 seasons due to each of their very unique and powerful Poke-Powers. This deck separates itself from all of those different archetypes by running a much heavier line of the eeveelution pokemon, and doesn’t pair them with an obvious 2nd attacker such as Ariados, instead relying on Pidgeot and the Eeveelutions themselves to take all of the KOs.

When playing this deck, keep in mind a few things. First, Pidgeot attacks much more often than you would expect. Second, You cannot use Surprise! Time Machine, and then re-evolve the eevee on the same turn. You can, however, evolve, and then immediately use the Time Machine afterwards (a very common technique to avoid damage from Cursed Stone and/or Desert Ruins.) Playing this deck is difficult, and at times, requires the player to think multiple turns ahead in order to pull the correct card off of Quick Search. Your gameplan will likely vary from matchup to matchup, so don’t be afraid to try new things that don’t seem very intuitive.

Flariados

Pokemon	Trainers	Energy
4 Eevee 1 Umbreon ex 3 Flareon ex 1 Vaporeon ex 4 Spinarak 4 Ariados	3 Battle Frontier 1 Copycat 1 Full Flame 2 Giant Stump 1 Holon Adventurer 2 Holon Mentor 1 Holon Scientist 4 Holon Transceiver 3 Mary’s Request 4 Professor Elm’s Training Method 2 Scott 4 Super Scoop Up	3 Fire Energy 8 Grass Energy 4 Multi Energy

Decklist Credit: Top Cut Retro Decks

Flariados, after LBS, was one of the strongest decks in early 2006, and performed very well at regional and state championships. The idea is to use Flareon’s poke-power to inflict two special conditions, while Ariados’s very cheap Reactive Poison attack deals 70 damage, plus potential burn. Because both pokemon are stage 1s, it’s very easy to start aggresively plowing through the opponent’s field while they are still trying to set up. The deck also has a lot of splace for consistency cards like Mary’s Request, as well as Super Scoop Ups to potentially reuse one of the Eeveelution’s Poke-Powers.

Ariados can also mess with the opponent’s ability to set up with Spider Trap, switching pokemon around, and putting them to sleep (which also shuts down Poke-Powers in this era!) Flareon ex can also double as an attacker in some matchups. It hits Steelix ex really hard, and the ability to reduce damage can make it a pain to KO, and potentially buy you an extra turn.

Kingdra/Pidgeot

Pokemon	Trainers	Energy
2 Kingdra 2 Kingdra 2 Seadra 4 Horsea 3 Pidgeot 1 Pidgeotto 2 Pidgey 1 Pidgey 4 Holon’s Castform 1 Mew ex	2 Holon Mentor 1 Holon Scientist 1 Holon Adventurer 1 Holon Researcher 4 Holon Transceiver 3 Celio’s Network 2 Rocket’s Admin. 2 Steven’s Advice 1 Mr. Briney’s Compassion 4 Rare Candy 1 Warp Point 1 Switch 1 Ancient Technical Machine [Rock] 1 Pokemon Retriever	4 Holon Energy WP 1 Holon Energy GL 3 Double Rainbow Energy 2 Metal Energy 3 Water Energy

Decklist Credit: Michael Kendle, Top 16 US Nationals

The deck flew completely under the radar, and was a rogue deck taken into US Nationals 2016. The creator noted the ability to shut down Poke-Powers was strong in many matchups, but it unfortunately had a very difficult time against Flariados.

The idea here is to utilize the cheap attack on the delta species Kingdra to quickly 2HKO ex pokemon, while the Rocket Returns Kingdra protects it from being immediately KO’d by Pokemon like Jolteon ex. Pidgeot shuts off all Poke-powers as long as a holon’s energy is attached to it, and unlike other methods (Solrock/Lunatone, Space Center, etc.) it is very difficult to actually play around. Note that Holon’s Castform does NOT count as a “holon energy” for Pidgeot’s ability.

LudiCargo

Pokemon	Trainers	Energy
4 Plusle 4 Lotad 2 Lombre 4 Ludicolo 3 Slugma 3 Magcargo 1 Aipom	1 Ancient Technical Machine [Rock] 4 Battle Frontier 4 Celio’s Network 1 Copycat 1 Mr. Briney’s Compassion 1 Pokemon Retriever 1 Pow! Hand Extension 3 Rare Candy 3 Rocket’s Admin. 1 Solid Rage 2 Steven’s Advice 1 Strength Charm 1 Warp Point	3 Double Rainbow Energy 1 Heal Energy 1 Holon Energy WP 4 Multi Energy 2 Scramble Energy 4 Water Energy

Decklist Credit: John Kettler, Top 32 Worlds

LudiCargo was one of the more dominant archetypes in the 2004-2005 season, but it still saw a lot of positive tournament results in this season as well. At first glance, the combination of Ludicolo and Magcargo would appear to be inferior to Pidgeot RG, but there’s 2 key benefits to these two – for one, Ludicolo functions as a hard-hitting attacker while Pidgeot caps at only 40 damage. The second – you aren’t limited to only using 1 of these abilities per turn, potentially allowing you to grab multiple cards in a row out of your deck, depending on the scenario. Just be sure to Search + Draw each card individually, as using Magcargo’s Poke-Power twice in a row will shuffle the 1st one back in.

LudiCargo/Weezing

Pokemon	Trainers	Energy
4 Koffing 3 Weezing DX 51 1 Weezing DS 33 2 Lotad 2 Lombre 2 Ludicolo 3 Slugma 2 Magcargo 1 Magcargo 1 Aipom	3 Battle Frontier 3 Celio’s Network 1 Crystal Shard 2 Desert Ruins 3 Lanette’s Net Search 1 Mr. Briney’s Compassion 1 Pokemon Retriever 2 Pow! Hand Extension 1 Rare Candy 1 Rocket’s Admin. 2 Steven’s Advice 1 Strength Charm 3 TV Reporter	3 Double Rainbow Energy 3 Holon Energy WP 3 Rainbow Energy 3 Scramble Energy 3 Water Energy

Decklist Credit: Top Cut Retro Decks

This spin-off of LudiCargo functions similarly to the previous list, but Weezing in combination with Desert Ruins can be very useful in certain scenarios, allowing you to easily take 2 Prize Cards while only giving up 1. Magcargo UF also functions as an alternate attacker with both Fire and fighting typing to hit various pokemon (like Rocket’s Sneasel ex or Steelix EX) for weakness.

Interesting interaction – against Rocket’s Scyther ex, Magcargo UF will hit for both weakness AND resistance with the dual typing – Weakness is applied FIRST, then Resistance.

Lugia/Blastoise/Steelix (LBS)

Pokemon	Trainers	Energy
2 Blastoise ex 1 Wartortle 2 Squirtle 2 Pidgeot 1 Pidgeotto 2 Pidgey   1 Steelix ex 1 Onix 1 Porygon2 1 Porygon 2 Jirachi 1 Jirachi 1 Mew ex 1 Celebi ex 1 Latias Star 1 Lugia ex 3 Holon’s Magneton 1 Holon’s Magnemite	3 Holon Mentor 1 Holon Scientist 4 Holon Transceiver 2 Professor Elm’s Training Method 2 Rocket’s Admin. 1 Steven’s Advice 1 Celio’s Network 3 Rare Candy 2 Pokemon Retriever 1 Swoop! Teleporter 1 Pow! Hand Extenstion 2 Giant Stump 2 Power Tree	8 Water Energy

Decklist Credit: Unknown

LBS was one of the most dominant archetypes in the 2006 format, especially in the younger divisions. In the masters division, LBS was still strong, but it had one of the biggest targets on its back throughout the year. Several decks teched cards specifically to try and shut down this deck, which made it a bit harder to consistently set up. Jirachi and Pidgeot aid the setup of Blastoise ex, which allows Lugia ex, Latias Star, and Steelix ex to be powered up in one turn and start taking KOs (energy rain -> holon’s magneton -> energy rain). 

There are a lot of different tech cards that can try to shut this deck down, so make sure you save the proper counters for the right time. Giant Stump helps against the Lunatone/Solrock combination, as does Pow! Hand Extension. 4 Stadiums on the other hand, allows you to always have a counter to an opponent’s Battle Frontier. Celebi ex also lets you grab any one of your valuable tech cards back out of your discard pile.

I am unsure of where this exact decklist came from, but more modern lists today have included 1-1 Magcargo DX with an Aipom UF, and heavier lines of Holon’s Castform, to grab them with Holon Mentor.

Medicham/Houndoom

Pokemon	Trainers	Energy
4 Jirachi 4 Meditite 4 Medicham ex 2 Houndour 2 Houndoom	4 Energy Removal 2 2 Island Cave 1 Magnetic Storm 4 Mary’s Request 1 Pokemon Retriever 4 Pokemon Reversal 3 Rocket’s Admin. 1 Scott 3 Steven’s Advice 4 Swoop! Teleporter 3 Wally’s Training	7 Fighting Energy 4 Metal Energy 3 Fire Energy

Decklist Credit: Top Cut Retro Decks

Medicham ex’s ability to shut off Poke-Powers from non-ex pokemon really hindered some decks’ main gameplans (notably LudiCargo and Pidgeot RG). Houndoom fits in pretty naturally here since Medicham doesn’t need to have a big bench all the time, so you can lock opponents out of Trainer (Item) and Stadium cards as well. The choice of 4 metal energy is interesting here, but it does allow Jirachi to attack and provide some very valuable chip damage into some pokemon.

Similar to Banette ex variants in 2007, there were a couple of unique Medicham variants that saw success throughout the season. Eeveelutions were favored for their unique abilities that did not get shut down by Medicham. Espeon ex was exceptionally useful, because Medicham could spread damage around your opponent’s board, allowing Espeon to take a surprise KO. Bannette ex saw a lot of hype going into worlds, but only Michael Pramawat saw any sort of success at the event, making Top 32. Other versions opted for only Bannette itself, with extra disruptive trainers.

MegaLix

Pokemon	Trainers	Energy
2 Jirachi 1 Jirachi 2 Holon’s Castform 2 Chikorita 1 Bayleef 2 Meganium ex 2 Pidgey 1 Pidgeotto 2 Pidgeot 1 Holon’s Magnemite 2 Holon’s Magneton 1 Corphish 1 Crawdaunt ex 1 Onix 1 Steelix ex 1 Latios Star 1 Sudowoodo 1 Celebi ex 1 Mew ex	1 Giant Stump = 3 Holon Mentor 1 Holon Scientist 3 Holon Transceiver 2 Pokemon Retriever 1 Pow! Hand Extension 2 Power Tree 3 Professor Elm’s Training Method 3 Rare Candy 2 Rocket’s Admin. 2 Steven’s Advice 2 Switch 1 Warp Point	8 Grass Energy

Decklist Credit: Top Cut Retro Decks

Kyle Suchevich brought this deck to the Manitowoc, Wisconsin Gym Challenge, and netted himself an invitation to the World Championships by winning the event. Meganium’s ability allows this deck to function somewhat similar to LBS, where you can attach a grass followed by a castform to quickly power up Steelix ex and Latios Star. However, Meganium’s ability removes a damage counter rather than placing one, so Steelix has the potential to actually tank extra hits. Meganium ex itself also functions as a stronger attacker than Blastoise does – it hits Nidoqueen RG for weakness, and carries resistance to Ludicolo DX.

Crawdaunt ex is a nifty tech here, as it limits your opponent’s bench to 4 by bouncing 1 pokemon back to their hand if their bench is full – potentially allowing you to choose a pokemon they’ve already committed heavy resources to. Sudowoodo is also a nifty attacker – against LBS it’s a very easy answer to Steelix ex, as well as Lugia ex, but it also hits other pokemon in the format for weakness, such as Jolteon ex or Metagross.

MetaNite

Pokemon	Trainers	Energy
3 Metagross 1 Metagross 3 Metang 4 Beldum 3 Dragonite 1 Dragonair 3 Dratini 2 Jirachi	4 Celio’s Network 2 Copycat 2 Steven’s Advice 1 Rocket’s Admin. 4 Rare Candy 4 Pokemon Reversal 2 Pokemon Retrieval 1 Warp Point 1 Switch 4 Holon Ruins	4 Metal Energy 10 Lightning Energy 1 Psychic Energy

Decklist Credit: Yuta Komatsuda, Top 4 Worlds

Metagross/Dragonite was an extremely popular archetype in the 05-06 season, and saw a bit of rejuvenation in the 2007 season as well. The list’s goal is to use Metagross’s Crush and Burn attack, which does more damage the more energy you discard. Dragonite then takes the energy out of your discard pile, and re-attaches them to your benched pokemon, allowing you to repeatedly throw down high-damage attacks and take KOs. This list was piloted to Top 4 of the World Championships, and uses Holon Ruins, Holon’s Castform, and Metagross as a strong card draw engine, while Beldum’s ability as well as Celio’s Network allow you to search for specific pokemon to further your board state.

Generally speaking, if you can choose which evolved pokemon to get set up, you want to get one of the delta Metagrosses out first, as its ability allows you to dig through your deck and find specific cards you need to further your set up.

MewTric

Pokemon	Trainers	Energy
3 Manectric ex 4 Electrike 4 Mew ex 2 Holon’s Magneton 1 Girafarig 1 Roselia 1 Regirock ex 1 Deoxys ex	4 TV Reporter 4 Rocket’s Admin. 4 Professor Elm’s Training Method 3 Scott 1 Mary’s Request 4 Dual Ball 2 Pow! Hand Extension 2 Switch 3 Battle Frontier 1 Cursed Stone	4 Multi Energy 11 Lightning Energy

Decklist Credit: Jason Klaczynski, 1st Place Worlds

MewTric is a lock deck that relies heavily on Manectric ex’s Disconnect attack to lock the opponent’s use of Trainers (Items), as well as Stadiums. The Stadium lock is brutal as it prevents decks with Pidgeot from playing around Battle Frontier, as well as Poke-Power heavy decks from playing around Cursed Stone. Mew ex is a strong partner with Manectric, as its Versatile ability allows you to copy Manectric’s Disconnect attack, and keep the item lock going without putting Manectric at risk. As a Psychic-type, Mew also hits a lot of the Fighting-type pokemon that would normally be threatening to Manectric (such as Machamp or Exeggutor).

Girafarig and Roselia are both used to put the opponent in uncomfortable situations with special conditions, potentially forcing them to waste resources to get out. Regirock ex is a valuable tech attacker against Dark Tyranitar decks (especially Rock Lock) while Deoxys ex gives you a way to hit through any effects that might be protecting the opponent from ex pokemon.

Mew Lock (Mynx)

Pokemon	Trainers	Energy
4 Mew ex 4 Holon’s Castform 4 Holon’s Voltorb 4 Holon’s Magnemite 3 Wynaut 3 Wobbuffet 2 Jynx 2 Minun 1 Stantler 1 Unown I 1 Unown E 1 Roselia	4 Battle Frontier 1 Holon Adventurer 4 Holon Mentor 1 Holon Scientist 4 Holon Transceiver 4 Pokemon Retriever 4 Pow! Hand Extension 4 Rocket’s Admin. 4 Swoop! Teleporter	literally none lol

Decklist Credit: Top Cut Retro Decks

Mew Lock was by far the hardest control deck in the 2006 metagame. It suffered from a predicament unique to itself – many players recognized this deck’s potential to lock the opponent out of the game completely, but it struggled against the clock. In this era, swiss rounds were best of 1 with only 30 minutes on the clock, and this deck definitely struggled to complete games in that amount of time. There were no ties at this time, so if games went to time, the player with the lowest number of remaining prize cards won. Since this deck took so long to set up the lock, it was very often the loser in these scenarios. However, if you could make it past swiss and get to the 2/3 matches, where there was much more time on the clock, the deck got a better chance to shine.

The idea of playing only the Holon’s pokemon as energy cards is unique to this deck, but very smart. It allows you to always be able to search them out with Holon’s Mentor, and against decks that have the potential to remove energy with cards like Energy Removal 2, you will always be able to grab them back again with Pokemon Retriever.

Queendom

Pokemon	Trainers	Energy
4 Nidoqueen 3 Nidorina 4 Nidoran-F 3 Pidgeot 1 Pidgeot 2 Pidgeotto 3 Pidgey 1 Houndoom 1 Houndour 1 Holon’s Electrode	4 Celio’s Network 3 Copycat 2 Steven’s Advice 2 Rocket’s Admin. 2 Holon mentor 1 Scott 1 Holon Scientist 2 Space Center 1 Holon Transceiver	4 Double Rainbow Energy 4 Holon Energy GL 2 Heal Energy 1 Warp Energy 4 Grass Energy

Decklist Credit: Jeremy Maron, Top 4 Worlds

Nidoqueen RG is a phenomenal attacker in this format as Fighting typing gives it type advantage against quite a few common pokemon in this format (Dark Tyranitar, Manectric ex to name a few). Nidoqueen does more damage the more evolved pokemon that you have in play, so setting up several evolution lines is crucial in this deck’s ability to function. Once you are completely set up, Pidgeot HP can lock the opponent out of poke-powers, making it difficult for your opponent to keep up (this also locks your own pokemon, so be sure you can function without quick search before you do this).

Houndoom is a nifty tech attacker here, as it hits pokemon that Nidoqueen is weak to (like Ariados) as well as several other common pokemon (Metagross delta species, Steelix ex) for super effective damage. It can also lock the opponent’s use of Item and Stadium cards if you have fewer bench pokemon, but that doesn’t happen often given how full Nidoqueen wants your field to be.

RaiEggs

Pokemon	Trainers	Energy
4 Holon’s Castform 4 Pikachu 4 Raichu 4 Exeggcute 4 Exeggutor 3 Holon’s Magnemite	3 Battle Frontier 3 Cursed Stone 1 Holon Adventurer 3 Holon Mentor 2 Holon Researcher 1 Holon Scientist 4 Holon transceiver 3 Pokemon Retriever 3 Rocket’s Admin. 1 Scott 3 Swoop! Teleporter	3 Double Rainbow Energy 4 Metal Energy 3 Scramble Energy

Decklist Credit: Top Cut Retro Decks

The “Secret Deck” before 2006 nationals, Raichu/Exeggutor did not fail to perform. Exeggutor hits a lot of common threats for weakness (Sneasel ex, Dark Tyranitar, Manectric ex) while Raichu and Cursed Stone can spread damage around to decks that are heavily reliant on poke-powers (LBS, MegaLix, MetaNite). Raichu’s Metallic Thunder also gives you a hard-hitting option once some damage has been built up. Holon’s Castform’s Delta Draw should be used to set up early, while the attacking pokemon you set up afterwards should depend on the matchup.

Rock Lock (Chucklock)

Pokemon	Trainers	Energy
3 Jirachi 1 Jirachi 3 Larvitar 2 Dark Pupitar 1 Dark Tyranitar 2 Dark Tyranitar 2 Mareep 1 Dark Flaaffy 2 Dark Ampharos 2 Pidgey 1 Pidgeotto 2 Pidgeot 2 Holon’s Magnemite	3 Ancient Technical Machine [Rock] 4 Celio’s Network 3 Desert Ruins 2 Holon Mentor 1 Holon Scientist 2 Holon Transceiver 1 Mr. Briney’s Compassion 1 Protective Orb 4 Rare Candy 1 Rocket’s Admin. 1 Rocket’s Tricky Gym 2 Steven’s Advice 2 Swoop! Teleporter	4 Darkness Energy 2 Double Rainbow Energy 2 Heal Energy 1 Scramble Energy

Decklist Credit: Top Cut Retro Decks (I’m assuming Alex Brosseau based on the name “Chucklock”)

Rock Lock was a different take on what Dark Tyranitar could do – this list focused on locking your opponent out of the game through spread damage and Ancient Technical Machine Rock. Dark Tyranitar’s Poke-Body places a damage counter on each of your opponent’s basic pokemon in between turns. Ancient Technical Machine Rock de-evolves your opponent’s entire field, allowing you to keep them at the lowest level of evolution. In addition to this, Dark Ampharos places 2 damage counters on your opponent’s pokemon any time they evolve, so the damage builds up fairly quickly, and it’s difficult for your opponent to stay in the game because they get punished for re-evolving.

The Poke-body Dark Tyranitar cleans up very effectively late-game by hitting a consistent 70+ damage, but the other Tyranitar works as well, either by spreading damage around with Spinning Tail, or by sweeping through with Grind. Be aware that Ancient TM Rock is NOT a Pokemon Tool card – you can attach both TM Rock and Protective Orb at the same time. Ancient TM Rock also gets discarded after use, so be sure to use them wisely.

Suns and Moons

Pokemon	Trainers	Energy
3 Lunatone DX 36 1 Lunatone LM 20 3 Solrock DX 47 1 Solrock LM 25 1 Girafarig LM 16	3 Holon Mentor 1 Holon Scientist 1 Holon Adventurer 1 Holon Farmer 4 Holon Transceiver 3 Mary’s Request 2 Steven’s Advice 2 Rocket’s Admin. 3 Desert Ruins 3 Cursed Stone 4 Energy Removal 2 3 Pokemon Reversal 3 Great Ball 2 Energy Root 1 Warp Point 1 Pokemon Retriever	6 Fighting Energy 1 Psychic Energy 3 Holon Energy FF 4 Multi Energy

Decklist Credit: Miska Saari, 1st Place Worlds Seniors

Suns and Moons is a unique deck built with the idea of countering the most common threats in the metagame – As highlighted in multiple decks above, several common pokemon in the format were weak to fighting (Steelix ex, Umbreon ex, Rocket’s Sneasel ex, Dark Tyranitar, Manectric ex), while Legend Maker Lunatone and Solrock also form a controlling core that shuts off Pidgeot RG, and Porygon2 DS’s Poke-Powers. Holon Energy FF can also be used to hit through resistance on common pokemon like Pidgeot. 

Because the deck is focused around all basic pokemon, there is a lot of extra room for trainer cards. This deck packs 6 different stadiums to help get additional damage onto Pokemon that have Poke-powers, while Pokemon Reversal gives you a chance to bring up and potentially KO an important consistency card. There’s also Energy Removal 2, to stall the opponent’s set up, and Energy Root, which combined with Solrock, turns Lunatone into a 100 HP single-prize basic pokemon.