Legal Sets
- Black & White Boundaries Crossed
- BW Plasma Storm
- BW Plasma Freeze
- BW Plasma Blast
- BW Legendary Treasures
- X & Y Base Set
- XY Flashfire
- XY Furious Fists
- XY Phantom Forces
- XY Primal Clash
- XY Roaring Skies
- Black & White Black Star Promos numbered BW51 – BW76 or BW79 – BW101
- X & Y Black Star Promos numbered XY01 – XY55, and XY91
First Turn Rules
- On their first turn, the player going first may not attack
- The player who wins the coinflip chooses to go 1st or 2nd (although 99.9% of the time you will choose to go first)
- The coinflip occurs before the setup phase
Other Notes
- Rare Candy is nerfed – you may not play Rare Candy on a pokemon that just came into play that turn, or on your first turn
Phantom Forces released just before the City Championships in the 2014-2015 season, and completely shook up the game. Phantom Forces was lauded by many players as the most metagame-defining set since the release of Stormfront in 2009. Not only did it introduce several new archetypes (the most prominent of which being Night March), but also introduced cards that would become staples with decks that already existed. XY sets continued to release powerful Mega Pokemon, and Phantom Forces also introduced the first Spirit Link cards, which allowed Pokemon to mega evolve without immediately ending their turn.
Roaring Skies was the spring set this year, and the release of Shaymin EX gave many decks a powerful consistency option. Unfortunately, the high amount of item cards in decks, combined with the powerful supporter draw of Professor Sycamore and N made it so that Shaymin could be used to cycle through your resources multiple times in a single match. As a result, TPCI made an unprecedented decision to ban Lysandre’s Trump Card – the first time a card would be banned from the standard format since the Slowking in the Neo era.
The banning of Lysandre’s Trump Card meant that players couldn’t endlessly cycle cards, and in one of the biggest surprises of the season, a group of Wisconsin players, including myself, shocked US Nationals and brought a deck where the entire strategy was to sit and wait for your opponent to run out of resources. Seismitoad EX would still end up being one of the most popular cards in the format, and would be played as a build-around strategy, and as a tech card in several decks at both US Nationals and Worlds. TPCi continued to build on their content creation from the previous season, and US Nationals, Worlds, and for the first time, some Regional Championships would be featured through live streams on Twitch, and many videos of the decks below can still be found on YouTube!
One last interesting point about this season – 2014-2015 also introduced a 2nd format into the tournament circuit for the first time since the WotC era – the Expanded format! The Expanded format would be a non-rotating format akin to Modern in Magic: The Gathering, and the legal sets were anything from Black/White Base Set and forward. Regional Championships at this time would use the Standard format on day 1, with Expanded format being used for Top 32 Swiss and the Top 8 bracket. While the Expanded format overall was pretty popular among players, the execution this season fell a bit short – many Expanded decks that players used were either slightly modified versions of their Standard decks, or very sub-optimally built Expanded archetypes, as most players were focused on making it through the Standard format on day 1 before they even began to think about their Expanded decks. In the following season, Regional Championships would split – some of them would be all Standard format, and some would be all Expanded format, which led to a much more developed and fun Expanded format.
All of the decklists below are for the STANDARD 2014-2015 format. If you want to read more about how this metagame evolved and developed over the year, take a look at my article here, on the 2014-2015 tournament season!
ArchieStoise
Deck Accomplishments:
1st Place World Championships
2x Top 32 World Championships
Top 16 US National Championships
| Pokemon | Trainers | Energy |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Keldeo EX 2 Blastoise 2 Shaymin EX 2 Jirachi EX 2 Exeggcute 1 Wailord EX 1 Mewtwo EX 1 Articuno (Delta Plus) | 2 Archie’s Ace in the Hole 2 Professor Juniper 1 N 1 Lysandre 4 Battle Compressor 4 Trainers’ Mail 4 Acro Bike 4 Ultra Ball 4 VS Seeker 4 Superior Energy Retrieval 2 Rough Seas 1 Muscle Band 1 Float Stone 1 Computer Search | 11 Water Energy |
Decklist Credit: Jacob Van Wagner, 1st Place Worlds
While it may be shocking to use such an item-based deck in a format so heavily centered around locking items, ArchieStoise was one of the exceptions that could make this work. ArchieStoise usually blew through so many item cards on the first turn, and then followed up with Archie’s Ace in the Hole, that one turn was really all it needed to win. After your Blastoise was already in play, Seismitoad didn’t really stand a chance as 30 damage simply wasn’t enough to deal with Keldeo and Wailord, both of which could heal themselves from the pesky HypnoToxic laser. Keldeo’s damage output especially just proved too much to deal with. Articuno was a nifty tech that allowed you to steal an extra prize card against single-prize decks like Night March, while Mewtwo offered a different attacking type that also benefitted from Blastoise’s Deluge ability.
Donphan
Deck Accomplishments:
Top 8 World Championships
Top 32 World Championships
2nd Place World Championships (Seniors)
Top 4 World Championships (Seniors)
Top 64 US National Championships
| Pokemon | Trainers | Energy |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Donphan 4 Phanpy 4 Hawlucha 1 Mr. Mime 1 Bunnelby (Omega Barrage) | 4 Professor Juniper 4 N 4 Korrina 2 Lysandre 1 Colress 4 Fighting Stadium 4 VS Seeker 4 Robo Substitute 2 Focus Sash 2 Muscle Band 1 Silver Bangle 1 Revive 1 Ultra Ball 1 Repeat Ball 1 Computer Search | 4 Strong Energy 4 Fighting Energy 2 Double Colorless Energy |
Decklist Credit: Simon Narode, Top 8 Worlds
Donphan saw a lot of success at the beginning of the 2015 season, and was the 2nd-winningest deck at City Championships, only trailing Yveltal EX variations. Initially the strategy was to use Donphan’s attack to pivot into the three signature dragons from the Black/White era – all of which had the “outrage” attack allowing them to soak up a hit and then swing back for significant damage. In addition to this, the 3 signature dragons just happened to be the perfect types to hit the rest of the format for weakness – Zekrom hitting Yveltal, Reshiram hitting Virizion/Genesect, and Kyurem hitting Landorus.
When Phantom Forces released, however, the dragons were abandoned in favor of Robo Substitute and Hawlucha. Hawlucha made a much easier partner for Donphan as it had free retreat and could easily put Donphan back in the active, and also didn’t require extra copies of Double Colorless to attack. Robo Substitute functioned similar to Lillie’s Poke Doll in the Sun/Moon era – you would promote it to the active spot, and your opponent would NOT take any prize cards when it was KO’d. When you combine this with a deck that plays all single-prize attackers, it could be very difficult for many decks to close out a game.
FairyBox
Deck Accomplishments:
Top 8 World Championships
1st Place Wisconsin State Championships
| Pokemon | Trainers | Energy |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Aromatisse 1 Spritzee (XY 92) 2 Spritzee (FLF 67) 3 Seismitoad EX 1 Mewtwo EX 1 Malamar EX 1 Charizard EX (FLF 12) 1 Trevenant EX 1 Jirachi EX 1 Manectric EX 1 M Manectric EX 1 Keldeo EX 1 Cobalion EX | 4 Professor Juniper 4 N 2 Colress 2 Lysandre 1 Xerosic 1 Pokemon Fan Club 1 AZ 4 Fairy Garden 3 VS Seeker 3 Max Potion 2 Ultra Ball 2 Muscle Band 1 Sacred Ash 1 Computer Search | 5 Fairy Energy 4 Rainbow Energy 3 Double Colorless Energy |
Decklist Credit: Tito Santoso, Top 8 Worlds
FairyBox functioned similar to the Aromatisse/Kangaskhan deck from the previous season. The biggest difference was FairyBox had the ability to threaten to hit weakness on pretty much all relevant types in the format by shifting Rainbow Energy around instead of just Fairy Energy. Pick the type that threatens your opponent most, and move the energy around accordingly. Make sure you move extra energy off of pokemon with high damage – that way if your opponent decides to chase down prize cards, you at least get to keep your energy in play. Also don’t be afraid to use Cobalion and Trevenant’s attacks for situationally strong plays – removing special energy can be HUGE against decks that only run 4 double colorless, and locking something in the active can also be big in this format, as many decks dropped Switch/Escape Rope in favor of Float Stone or 1 copy of AZ – or just dropped switching cards altogether since Seismitoad locked you out from playing Switch or Escape Rope.
Flareon/Archie’s
Deck Accomplishments:
Top 32 US Nationals
| Pokemon | Trainers | Energy |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Flareon 3 Leafeon 2 Eevee (PLF 90) 2 Eevee (FFI 80) 2 Empoleon 1 Ditto 1 Bunnelby 3 Shaymin EX 2 Jirachi EX 2 Exeggcute 2 Audino 1 Deoxys EX 1 Mewtwo EX 1 Seismitoad EX | 4 Professor Juniper 1 Winona 1 Lysandre 1 Teammates 1 Archie’s Ace in the Hole 4 Ultra Ball 4 Battle Compressor 4 VS Seeker 1 Silver Bangle 1 Muscle Band 1 Float Stone 1 Town Map 1 Computer Search 1 Silent Lab | 4 Double Colorless Energy 2 Water Energy 1 Grass Energy |
Decklist Credit: Jason Annichiarico, Top 32 US Nats
While Flareon saw most of its success as an expanded deck in following seasons, this version did make Top 32 at the US National Championships. The goal is to use Battle Compressor to pile as many pokemon into the discard pile as you can, while Flareon hits for big damage using its Vengeance attack. The Expanded versions of this deck in later seasons would utilize Vespiquen (Ancient Origens) as a secondary attacker, but this version didn’t have that luxury just yet. To make up for it, this deck has the Archie’s/Empoleon package, which gives you a good draw option while also providing an attacker against Landorus EX. Seismitoad EX and Mewtwo EX could also be used as situational attackers, as Flareon heavily incentivized you to max out your copies of Double Colorless Energy anyways. Leafeon also saw use here, as a Grass attacker to hit Seismitoad EX, and as a counter to decks that tried to pile tons of energy in play, like ArchieStoise.
Gengar/Trevenant
Deck Accomplishments:
Top 8 World Championships
2x Top 32 World Championships
Top 64 US National Championships
| Pokemon | Trainers | Energy |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Trevenant 4 Phantump 3 Gengar EX 2 Shaymin EX 1 Jirachi EX | 4 Professor Juniper 4 N 3 Wally 2 Lysandre 1 Colress 4 VS Seeker 4 Ultra Ball 3 Muscle Band 3 Float Stone 3 Trainers’ Mail 2 Silent Lab 2 Virbank City Gym 1 Computer Search | 4 Mystery Energy 2 Psychic Energy 4 Double Colorless Energy |
Decklist Credit: Sean Foisy, Top 8 Worlds
Gengar/Trevenant is similar to the Accelgor/Trevenant deck of the 2013-2014 season – you attack with Gengar and hide behind Trevenant in order to keep your opponent item locked. Mystery Energy made it very easy to make ensure your Trevenant could always retreat, and it also made it much easier to power up Trevenant as a secondary single-prize attacker, which was really nice to have against other single-prize decks like Night March. While the choice to exclude Dimension Valley seems odd, the other 2 stadiums provide a TON of value to the deck. Silent Lab prevents the use of Shaymin EX, which means your opponent might be locked out of both abilities AND items. On the other hand, Gengar’s Dark Corridor attack poisons the opponent, so the extra damage from Virbank City Gym comes in clutch as well.
Hippowdon
Deck Accomplishments:
Top 8 US Nationals
| Pokemon | Trainers | Energy |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Hippowdon 4 Hippopotas 2 Landorus EX 2 Seismitoad EX 1 Shaymin EX | 4 Professor Sycamore 3 N 2 Korrina 2 Xerosic 2 Lysandre 1 Pokemon Center Lady 1 Professor Birch’s Observations 3 Ultra Ball 3 HypnoToxic Laser 2 Hard Charm 2 Muscle Band 2 VS SEeker 2 Switch 2 Silent Lab 1 Virbank City Gym 1 Enhanced Hammer 1 Escape Rope 1 Max Potion 1 Computer Search | 4 Strong Energy 4 Fighting Energy 4 Double Colorless Energy |
Decklist Credit: Eduardo Gonzalez, Top 8 US Nats
Hippowdon’s Resistance Desert had a pretty neat niche in an ex-dominated metagame. When combined with Strong Energy and Laser, the attack was often just powerful enough to 2HKO strong EX attackers, and Resistance Desert would also prevent Hippowdon from being damaged by EX Pokemon on the following turn. Because this effect came from an attack, not from an ability like Safeguard, it was almost impossible to play around – the only way for EX pokemon to hit a Hippowdon that had just attacked would be to play Escape Rope followed by Lysandre, and the vast majority of decks had cut Escape Rope due to the prevalence of Seismitoad. This deck also features Landorus EX and Seismitoad EX – Seismitoad is extremely important against decks like Night March that would otherwise easily run through the Hippowdons. Landorus EX could help against these decks to if you got the chance to pick off a Joltik, but they were especially useful against Raichu.
Plasmaklang
Deck Accomplishments:
Top 8 US National Championships
Top 32 US National Championships
Top 64 US National Championships
| Pokemon | Trainers | Energy |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Klinklang 2 Klang 3 Klink 3 Aegislash EX 3 Bronzong 3 Bronzor 2 Heatran 2 Shaymin EX 1 Keldeo EX 1 Jirachi EX | 3 Professor Sycamore 3 N 2 Colress 2 Lysandre 1 Teammates 1 AZ 4 Ultra Ball 4 VS Seeker 2 Repeat Ball 2 Sky Field 2 Float Stone 1 Computer Search 1 Rare Candy | 7 Metal Energy 3 Double Colorless Energy |
Decklist Credit: Dylan Bryan, Top 8 US Nationals
Klinklang was one of the two popular metal decks running around the format in this season – both of them relied heavily on Aegislash EX as an attacker – it did more damage for each metal energy attached to it (synergizing perfectly with Bronzong) while also being immune to damage from pokemon that had special energy attached, which was HUGE in a format where Double Colorless Energy and Strong Energy ran rampant. Klinklang, while being a tad difficult to set up, doubled down on this protection once it was in play. Klinklang protected not just itself, but ALL of your metal pokemon from pokemon-EX, which locked many decks out of the game entirely. Heatran was a neat single prize attacker from Phantom Forces that could remove pesky stadiums like Silent Lab from play, further ensuring your Aegislash would be able to protect itself from damage. Sky Field was an interesting choice of stadium, but it allowed you to load up your bench and then take larger hands with Colress, which was huge for consistency.
Landorus/Raichu/Garbodor
Deck Accomplishments:
2x Top 32 US National Championships
| Pokemon | Trainers | Energy |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Hawlucha 2 Landorus EX 1 Lucario EX 2 Raichu 2 Pikachu 2 Garbodor 2 Trubbish 2 Shaymin EX 1 Mewtwo EX | 3 Professor Sycamore 3 N 2 Lysandre 2 Colress 4 VS Seeker 4 Ultra Ball 3 Float Stone 3 Muscle Band 3 Fighting Stadium 2 Switch 2 Max Potion 1 Computer Search 1 Sacred Ash | 4 Strong Energy 3 Double Colorless Energy 3 Fighting Energy |
Decklist Credit: Steven Bates, Top 32 US Nats
The deck that won Nationals in the previous year made another strong showing in 2015, getting 2 copies into top 32. While the 2014 version relied on Laser + Virbank to up its damage output, Furious Fists gifted Landorus with Strong Energy and Fighting Stadium, which made it much easier to take early KOs. Furious Fists also gifted Landorus with not just one, but TWO amazing secondary attackers – Hawlucha, which took 2HKOs against EX pokemon for just one energy, and Lucario EX, which functioned as a second beefy attacker that wasn’t week to Seismitoad. Lucario also provided you with a smidge of consistency, as Corckscrew Punch could refill your hand in a pinch. While the plethora of Seismitoad ultimately made life a little difficult for this deck, Landorus/Raichu has a means of working around pretty much anything the format could throw at it, and it’s a fun deck to play as it doesn’t have many matchups that are unwinnable, or unlosable.
ManBatToads
Deck Accomplishments:
Top 16 World Championships
2x Top 32 World Championships
Top 8 US National Championships
2x Top 64 US National Championships
| Pokemon | Trainers | Energy |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Crobat 3 Golbat 4 Zubat 4 Seismitoad EX 2 Manectric EX 2 Shaymin EX | 4 Professor Juniper 3 N 2 Colress 2 Lysandre 1 Xerosic 1 AZ 4 Ultra Ball 4 HypnoToxic Laser 3 VS Seeker 3 Super Scoop Up 2 Muscle Band 2 Head Ringer 2 Virbank City GYm 1 Silent Lab 1 Rock Guard | 4 Lightning Energy 4 Double Colorless Energy |
Decklist Credit: Kristy Britton, Top 8 US Nats
Manectric/Bat/Toads was a popular variation of the Seismitoad/Crobat archetype that dominated many of the tournaments this season, and it was also one of the only decks that preferred to utilize the basic Manectric EX, and not its Mega Evolution. In addition to the item lock that Seismitoad provided, Manectric EX gave you a much easier way to OHKO many EX pokemon in the format, as Assault Laser in combination with some combination of Laser, Muscle Band, Crobat, or Golbat allowed you to reach 170 damage pretty quickly. This was enough to KO most EX pokemon, but it especially helped against Yveltal EX, which could sometimes outlast Seismitoad with its fast and consistent damage output, as well as Mega Rayquaza EX, which had the potential to set up quickly and run you over. This deck doesn’t have the energy disruption that many other Seismitoad decks had in Crushing/Enhanced Hammers, so make sure you play very smart with your Head Ringers. Sometimes they will just buy you an extra turn or two, while other times they can be used to remove a threat from play.
MegaMan/Garbodor
Deck Accomplishments:
Top 4 US National Championships
| Pokemon | Trainers | Energy |
|---|---|---|
| 3 M Manectric EX 4 Manectric EX 2 Garbodor 2 Trubbish 2 Empoleon 1 Jirachi EX | 4 Professor Juniper 2 N 2 Lysandre 1 Archie’s Ace in the Hole 4 VS Seeker 4 Ultra Ball 3 Trainers’ Mail 3 Acro Bike 3 Rough Seas 3 Manectric Spirit Link 2 Battle Compressor 2 Max Potion 2 Float Stone 1 Switch 1 Computer Search | 6 Lightning Energy 3 Water Energy |
Decklist Credit: Grant Manley, Top 4 US Nats
Grant Manley was one of the best seniors in the world, placing Top 4 at worlds in the previous season. In his first year as a Master, Grant followed this up by placing top 4 at the US National Championships with a unique Mega Manectric deck. In addition to the Archie’s/Empoleon package (which appeared in a couple of Manectric variations as a means to counter Landorus), Grant added Garbodor, which completely negates all abilities on the field. Against some decks, like Mega Rayquaza or Night March, Garbodor would prevent them from spamming Shaymin EX, and constantly pushing the match forward. Against other decks, like Metal variations, they would be prevented from re-using their Energy, and they had the potential to get punished for running such low energy counts. And against other decks still, like Klinklang, their main protection abilities would be completely shut down, and Mega Manectric didn’t have to worry about being unable to damage its target. The Mega Manectric’s attack also allowed you to constantly re-use energy from your discard pile, which was massive in a format where disruptive energy removal strategies ran rampant. Manectric/Garbodor was a perfect call for the metagame, and the deep tournament run speaks to its success.
MegaMan/Genesect
Deck Accomplishments:
Top 16 World Championships
| Pokemon | Trainers | Energy |
|---|---|---|
| 3 M Manectric EX 4 Manectric EX 2 Genesect EX 1 Shaymin EX 1 Deoxys EX | 4 Professor Sycamore 3 N 1 Shadow Triad 1 Skyla 1 Lysandre 4 VS Seeker 4 Ultra Ball 3 Manectric Spirit Link 3 Trainers’ Mail 3 Acro Bike 2 Muscle Band 2 Max Potion 2 Rough Seas 2 Battle Compressor 1 Escape Rope 1 Switch 1 G Booster | 5 Lightning Energy 4 Grass Energy 2 Plasma Energy |
Decklist Credit: Daniel Altavilla, Top 16 Worlds
Mega Manectric had a ton of variations that saw success at both nats and worlds due to its ability to heal (via rough seas) and regenerate energy. Genesect was just 1 of the tech attackers that worked well with this strategy, and it provided a couple of valuable traits for Manectric. First and foremost, as a grass-type attacker, it hit several pokemon in the format for weakness. Seismitoad EX was the most notable since it was used in several decks as the main attacker or as a tech, but both Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon got nailed by this too, both of which were decks that would otherwise be difficult for Manectric to deal with. Secondly, Genesect could abuse the G-booster Ace Spec, which not only gave you an instant KO on pretty much anything in the format, but also allowed you to hit through safeguard effects, like Suicune or Klinklang. Lastly, Genesect’s Red Signal ability also allowed you to pull pokemon up from the bench with ease. Between that, 2 Lysandre, and a full 4 VS Seeker, (which could also be used to grab Shadow Triad for Plasma Energy…) it was practically impossible to hide anything safely on the bench. All of these factors together made Mega Manectric/Genesect very difficult to deal with, as you had an option for almost any scenario in the format.
MegaMan/Water
Deck Accomplishments:
2x Top 32 US National Championships
| Pokemon | Trainers | Energy |
|---|---|---|
| 3 M Manectric EX 3 Manectric EX 2 Ninetales 2 Vulpix 2 Shaymin EX 1 Mewtwo EX 1 Articuno (Delta Plus) 1 Suicune | 4 Professor Sycamore 4 N 2 Lysandre 1 Pokemon Center Lady 1 Colress 4 Ultra Ball 4 VS Seeker 3 Rough Seas 3 Manectric Spirit Link 2 Enhanced Hammer 2 Muscle Band 2 Switch 1 Computer Search 1 Professor’s Letter | 5 Lightning Energy 4 Water Energy 2 Double Colorless Energy |
Decklist Credit: Sam Chen, Top 32 US Nats
This was the most popular version of Mega Manectric that I saw at US Nationals, although the Ninetales was a pretty unique inclusion by Sam Chen. Ninetales prevents the opponent from playing Stadium cards, which helped immensely against decks like Raichu/Bats or Mega Rayquaza that relied on Sky Field in order to do large chunks of damage. Instead, Manectric would be able to lock in a Rough Seas, and cycle through heals while constantly retreating, making life miserable for anything that couldn’t threaten to take one hit KOs. Articuno and Suicune were more common techs, and both had valuable roles. Suicune shut down anything that couldn’t come up with a reliable way to hit through the Safeguard ability, and Ninetales prevented opponents from using cards like Silent Lab to navigate around this ability. Articuno grabbed you extra prizes against smaller single-prize pokemon like Joltik, while also being a non-EX itself to hit any opposing Suicune. Mewtwo EX was a solid inclusion in anything that liked to pile energy in play, and Mega Manectric was no exception. In addition to potentially supercharging one Mewtwo, this gave you an option against Lucario EX, which otherwise could run through multiple Manectric unchallenged.
Metal Links
Deck Accomplishments:
2x Top 32 World Championships
Top 4 US National Championships
Top 16 US National Championships
Top 64 US National Championships
| Pokemon | Trainers | Energy |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Bronzong 4 Bronzor 2 Aegislash EX 1 Cobalion EX 1 Dialga EX 1 Heatran 2 Seismitoad EX 1 Mewtwo EX 1 Keldeo EX 1 Shaymin EX 1 Kecleon | 4 Professor Juniper 3 N 2 Colress 2 Lysandre 4 VS Seeker 4 Ultra Ball 3 Muscle Band 2 Battle Compressor 2 Float Stone 2 Steel Shelter 1 Escape Rope 1 Max Potion 1 Computer Search | 7 Metal Energy 4 Double Colorless Energy |
Decklist Credit: Ben Moskow, Top 4 US Nats
This was the 2nd of the metal variations that performed highly at US Natioanls – it forgoes Klinklang for a wider array of attackers that could be useful in a variety of situations. It still relies on Aegislash EX most of the time, as its ability by itself was still very valuable, but depending on the situation, you could get more value out of some of the techs. Cobalion was great for running the opponent out of special energy cards, Dialga EX had an attack similar to Hippowdon, where it protected itself from EX pokemon. Seismitoad was strong in anything that ran Double Colorless Energy, as item lock was very powerful. Kecleon was a unique inclusion by Ben – it gave you a single prize attacker that was strong both in the mirror match, and against Mewtwo EX, since it would copy Mewtwo’s type and hit it for weakness. Steel Shelter was also a nifty inclusion here – it was a stadium that protected your metal pokemon from HypnoToxic Laser, and was especially useful against Garbodor decks, that would normally shut down Keldeo EX’s Rush In ability (the more common way of playing around special conditions).
MetalRay
Deck Accomplishments:
Top 8 US National Championships
2x Top 32 US National Championships
2x Top 64 US National Championships
| Pokemon | Trainers | Energy |
|---|---|---|
| 2 M Rayquaza EX (Delta Evolution) 2 Rayquaza EX (ROS 75) 1 Rayquaza EX (ROS 60) 3 Bronzong 3 Bronzor 3 Shaymin EX 2 Aegislash EX 1 Cobalion EX 1 Keldeo EX 1 Heatran 1 Kecleon | 3 Professor Juniper 3 Colress 2 Lysandre 1 N 1 Pokemon Fan Club 4 Sky Field 4 Ultra Ball 4 VS Seeker 2 Battle Compressor 2 Rayquaza Spirit Link 2 Float Stone 1 Sacred Ash 1 Computer Search | 6 Metal Energy 4 Double Colorless Energy |
Decklist Credit: Geoffrey Sauk, Top 8 US Nats
Even though MetalRay included a lot of the same cards as the 2 metal variations mentioned above, calling it a “metal deck” feels a bit wrong as one of the biggest reasons it was so threatening was because of Mega Rayquaza EX’s raw speed and damage output. Mega Rayquaza was a phenomenal attacker, potentially threatening 240 damage with a full bench when Sky Field was in play – enough to OHKO almost anything in the format. Where traditional Mega Ray decks struggled was against super disruptive strategies (like Seismitoad’s item lock combined with item removal), or against single prize pokemon, like Night March. Metal filled both of these holes phenomenally – Aegislash’s ability allowed you to be better protected against decks like Night March, while Bronzong’s Metal Links ability protected you against energy removal strategies. The metal “mode” of this deck also gave you a great option in matches that became longer, and more drawn-out. The ability to re-attach energy from Bronzong proved to be valueable in these matches as well, and you could slowly grind opponents out of the match if necessary.
Night March
Deck Accomplishments:
Top 4 World Championships
Top 8 World Championships
3x Top 16 World Championships
2x Top 32 World Championships
3x Top 64 US National Championships
| Pokemon | Trainers | Energy |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Joltik 4 Pumpkaboo 4 Lampent 3 Shaymin EX 2 Mew EX | 3 Professor Juniper 2 Lysandre 1 N 1 Computer Search 4 Dimension Valley 4 Battle Compressor 4 Trainers’ Mail 4 Ultra Ball 4 VS Seeker 3 Acro Bike 2 Muscle Band 1 Float Stone 1 Town Map 1 Revive 1 Escape Rope | 4 Double Colorless Energy 3 Lightning Energy |
Decklist Credit: Martin Janous, Top 8 Worlds
Night March would rise up as one of the most notorious decks in Pokemon’s History in 2016 – once Puzzle of Time was printed, it separated itself from the field as a true “tier 0” deck. In 2015, it wasn’t quite as busted, but it was still an extremely strong contender. While US Nationals centralized pretty hard around Seismitoad, Worlds ended up being a slightly more versatile metagame from what my friends told me, and in more open metagames, fast and consistent decks like Night March really shine. The goal is pretty simple – similar to Flareon, you pile up pokemon that have the Night March attack in your discard pile, which allows your attackers to deal more damage to the opponent. It was possible to take KOs as early as turn 1 if you got the right set up, and many decks struggled to keep up with Night March’s blazing-fast pace of play. In addition to its hefty damage output, the night march attackers themselves were all single-prize attackers, so if you weren’t able to pull up the Shaymin EX off the bench, you were at risk of drastically falling behind in the prize race.
Primal Groudon
Deck Accomplishments:
Top 16 World Championships
Top 32 World Championships
Top 16 US National Championships
Top 64 US National Championships
| Pokemon | Trainers | Energy |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Primal Groudon EX (Omega Barrier) 3 Groudon EX 3 Wobbuffet 1 Bunnelby 1 Landorus EX | 4 Professor Juniper 4 Korrina 2 N 2 Lysandre 2 Pokemon Center Lady 1 Colress 1 Teammates 4 Robo Substitute 3 Silent Lab 1 Fighting Stadium 4 VS Seeker 2 Hard Charm 1 Mega Turbo 1 Professor’s Letter 1 Escape Rope 1 Switch 1 Ultra Ball 1 Computer Search 1 Float Stone 1 Focus Sash | 7 Fighting Energy 4 Strong Energy |
Decklist Credit: Ross Cawthon, Top 16 Worlds
Primal Clash released just before US Nationals, and BOTH Primal Legendaries ended up getting solid placements. Primal Groudon took several turns to set up, but thanks to its Omega Barrier ancient trait, it was IMMUNE to disruptive strategies like Lysandre or Crushing Hammer. Because its HP was so high, it was practically impossible to KO Groudon with anything that didn’t hit it for weakness, and Groudon’s damage output was high enough that you could stream several KOs in a row once it was set up. Just play this deck patiently – hide behind Wobbuffet and Robo Substitute in the early game, and make sure you don’t miss any energy attachments. Korrina helps out a lot, as it can be used to find both a Groudon, and something like Mega Turbo or Professor’s Letter. Because Groudon takes so many turns to set up, this deck also chooses to completely forego the Groudon Spirit Link, and just focuses on getting other important tools like Focus Sash or Hard Charm into play, to ensure Groudon’s survival.
Primal Kyogre
Deck Accomplishments:
2x Top 16 US National Championships
| Pokemon | Trainers | Energy |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Primal Kyogre EX (Alpha Growth) 3 Kyogre EX 2 Keldeo EX 1 Kyurem 1 Absol 1 Shaymin EX 1 Suicune | 4 Professor Juniper 3 N 2 Colress 1 Lysandre 1 Pokemon Center Lady 4 VS Seeker 4 Rough Seas 3 Dive Ball 3 Float Stone 2 Ultra Ball 2 Kyogre Spirit Link 2 Professor’s Letter 2 Energy Retrieval 2 Hard Charm 1 Computer Search | 10 Water Energy 2 Double Colorless Energy |
Decklist Credit: Omar Reyhan, Top 16 US Nats
Primal Kyogre wasn’t quite as difficult to set up as Primal Groudon was thanks to its Alpha Growth ancient trait. Growth allowed you to equip 2 energy to Kyogre instead of just one, allowing you to power it up in just 2 turns. In addition to powering up more quickly, Primal Kyogre’s attack bounces 2 energy to your bench, which allows you to make use of a few cute tech attackers. Suicune, as always, helps against EX-heavy decks, and is also a solid body to throw in the active spot while you power up a Kyogre on the bench. Kyurem could potentially set up KOs on benched pokemon, especially when used in combination with Absol ROS. Keldeo EX was mostly just used to play around HypnoToxic Laser, but you could very easily bump 2 Water Energy to the Keldeo, and start swinging for very big damage later in the match. An interesting inclusion by Omar here was the Double Colorless Energy – everything in the deck aside from the Suicune takes only one colorless energy. These can also be used to retreat your Kyogre in a pinch – Growth doesn’t specify basic energy, so you could slap 3 (or even 4!) energy onto your active Kyogre in a single turn, retreat it, and then bounce energy back to it while healing with Rough Seas.
Raichu/Bats
Deck Accomplishments:
Top 16 World Championships
2x Top 32 World Championships
Top 32 US National Championships
| Pokemon | Trainers | Energy |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Crobat 3 Golbat 4 Zubat 4 Raichu 4 Pikachu 4 Shaymin EX 1 Bronzong 1 Bronzor 1 Jirachi EX 1 Mr. Mime | 3 N 3 Professor Sycamore 2 Colress 2 Lysandre 1 AZ 4 Sky Field 4 Ultra Ball 3 Silver Bangle 2 VS Seeker 2 Sacred Ash 1 Repeat Ball 1 Computer Search | 4 Double Colorless Energy 3 Metal Energy |
Decklist Credit: Michikazu Tsuda, Top 16 Worlds
Raichu/Bats was a very explosive deck that could rack up damage very quickly – with Sky Field in play, Raichu by itself was threatening 190 damage with Silver Bangle equipped, but Golbat and Crobat could hurdle you over even higher HP numbers against Mega Evolutions when necessary. Golbat and Crobat also helped a ton when going against lower-HP single prize decks, like Night March. Similar to other decks, Raichu could sometimes struggle against control decks and run out of resources, so Bronzong was added here as a means of re-using your energy. This also gives you a way of hitting through Aegislash EX’s ability, as you could keep putting your metal energy back into play! While Raichu is a very threatening attacker, don’t be afraid to use Crobat in certain matchups – against Donphan for example, it can be very valuable both as a resistance to fighting, and by targeting down Donphans that are trying to hide on the bench.
Seismitoad/Garbodor
Deck Accomplishments:
Top 32 World Championships
1st Place US National Championships
Top 16 US National Championships
Top 32 US National Championships
2x Top 64 US National Championships
| Pokemon | Trainers | Energy |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Seismitoad EX 2 Garbodor 2 Trubbish 2 Shaymin EX | 4 Professor Sycamore 4 N 2 Lysandre 1 Colress 1 Team Flare Grunt 1 Xerosic 1 AZ 1 Shadow Triad 4 HypnoToxic Laser 4 Crushing Hammer 4 Ultra Ball 2 Head Ringer 1 Enhanced Hammer 1 Computer Search 3 Float Stone 3 Muscle Band 3 VS Seeker 3 Virbank City Gym | 4 Double Colorless Energy 3 Water Energy |
Decklist Credit: Jason Klaczynski, 1st Place US Nats
After many years of trying, the 3-time world champion finally won the last tournament series that had eluded him his entire career: the US National Championships. Similar to many of the decks Jason had success with in the past, Seismitoad Garbodor focuses on disrupting the opponent by locking both items and abilities, while also abusing energy removal cards to keep the opponent behind on attachments. Because Jason didn’t run excess evolutions or tech attackers, the deck set up very quickly and very consistently, ensuring that his opponents would be locked by turn 2 practically every game. Many decks could deal with 1 Seismitoad relatively easily, but getting through 4 of them with consistent damage output from HypnoToxic Laser was at times impossible. The Shadow Triad was a particularly nasty tech card here, as it allowed you to re-use HypnoToxic Laser, and repeatedly poison the opponent even when they had ways to get around your poison. VS Seeker could then be used to re-use Shadow Triad, so you coudl potentially drop 8 HypnoToxic Lasers in a single match.
Toad/Bats
Deck Accomplishments:
2nd Place World Championships
Top 4 World Championships
Top 16 US National Championships
3x Top 32 US National Championships
3x Top 64 US National Championships
| Pokemon | Trainers | Energy |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Crobat 4 Golbat 4 Zubat 3 Seismitoad EX 2 Mewtwo EX 2 Shaymin EX | 4 Professor Juniper 3 N 2 Xerosic 1 Lysandre 1 Colress 1 AZ 4 VS Seeker 4 Ultra Ball 4 Super Scoop Up 4 HypnoToxic Laser 3 Virbank City Gym 3 Muscle Band 1 Computer Search | 4 Double Colorless Energy 3 Water Energy |
Decklist Credit: Mees Brenninkmeijer, 2nd Place Worlds
Seismitoad/Crobat was an extremely popular way to play Seismitoad throughout the season. Quaking Punch’s one downfall was that the 30 damage was pretty small by itself. HypnoToxic Laser did help mitigate this a bit, but many decks had ways to get out of poison, such as Keldeo EX + Float Stone, AZ, or Steel Shelter. Crobat alleviated this somewhat, as the extra damage from Golbat and Crobat’s abilities proved to be valuable, and Crobat could occasionally take a hit or two as well in the event that you missed an energy attachment. The entire Crobat evolution line also has free retreat, which makes it VERY likely that you are able to start attacking with Seismitoad EX as early as possible.
Mees’s list is pretty straightforward and consistent, the only real tech attackers being Mewtwo EX which could be very strong attackers in a variety of matchups. Igor Costa placed 3rd at the World Championships this year with a very similar list – he opted for a smaller Crobat line, and played some other tech cards like Pokemon Center Lady.
Wailord
Deck Accomplishments:
2nd Place US National Championships
9th Place US National Championships
Top 64 US National Championships
| Pokemon | Trainers | Energy |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Wailord EX 3 Suicune | 4 AZ 4 Pokemon Fan Club 4 Cassius 4 Team Flare Grunt 3 Skyla 3 N 2 Lysandre 2 Hugh 1 Xerosic 1 Shauna 4 Max Potion 4 VS Seeker 4 Rough Seas 4 Hard Charm 3 Enhanced Hammer 2 Silent Lab 1 Trick Shovel 1 Startling Megaphone 1 Sacred Ash 1 Dowsing Machine | none lol |
Decklist Credit: Brandon Zettel, Austin Zettel, Cody Walinski, Enrique Avila, Michael Lux, Alec Apps, Sean Worcester
While Enrique Avila gets most of the fame for his infamous 2nd-place run at US Nationals, the original concept for Wailord Stall came from Brandon Zettel, the older brother of Austin Zettel, a player local to my area that you’ll see mentioned a couple of times on this website. Brandon noted that with Wailord’s outrageously high 250 HP, it was basically impossible for anything other than G-Booster to KO it. After he challenged his brother Austin to a match and absolutely destroyed his Raichu/Bats list, we were off. Many weeks of testing resulted in the list above.
Wailord was a unique control deck in that it doesn’t really mill the opponent – you simply wait for the opponent to run out of cards. Hugh sets you up for success here, as it prevents the opponent from just draw/passing the whole game. Both players will be forced to discard down to 5 cards in hand, so you can use this to prevent opponents from stockpiling cards in their hand, and then shuffling them back in with N. While the high HP from wailord itself proved invaluable, Suicune was necessary in a variety of matchups too. Most decks had ways to play around a single safeguard pokemon, but getting through 6 was practically impossible.
Your best route to victory depended on the matchup – sometimes you could simply sit behind wailord and use Flare Grunt to force out all your opponent’s energy. Other times you would have to repeatedly push up Suicunees while your opponents depleted their own resources. Against Bronzong decks, you had to allow them to place their energy into play, and then Lysandre the targets with the least energy on them. It’s a long process, but eventually, you will whittle the opponent down to 0 cards in deck. (Unless they have a Bunnelby, then you just lose).
Yveltal/Garbodor
Deck Accomplishments:
Top 64 US Nationals
| Pokemon | Trainers | Energy |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Yveltal EX 3 Yveltal 2 Garbodor 2 Trubbish 1 Seismitoad EX 1 Darkrai EX 1 Shaymin EX | 4 Professor Juniper 3 N 2 Lysandre 1 Skyla 4 HypnoToxic Laser 3 Virbank City Gym 3 Ultra Ball 3 Crushing Hammer 3 VS Seeker 3 Muscle Band 2 Float Stone 2 Trainers’ Mail 1 Enhanced Hammer 1 Computer Search | 8 Darkness Energy 4 Double Colorless Energy |
Decklist Credit: Matt “Pa” Marusik, Top 64 US Nats
Many people assumed that the rotation of Dark Patch meant that Darkrai and Yveltal decks SURELY had to be dead. They were incorrect. yveltal EX continued to dominate the early part of the 2014-2015 season, and won more City Championships than any other archetype. By the end of the season, Yveltal was FINALLY on its way out of the format, as the format was just too fast and too aggressive, or too disruptive for Yveltal to consistently keep up, but it would continue to be a defining force of the Expanded metagame for the next 2 years.
Matt Marrusik was the lone Yveltal that qualified for day 2 of US Nationals, and the above decklist is about as good as you can get at combating the metagame. 3 Baby Yveltal plus a Seismitoad EX gives you a fighting chance against Night March, and it also allows you to get your energy back into play against all the energy disruption in Seismitoad decks. Yveltal EX is still a phenomenal attacker, and will be your go-to against pretty much anything EX-based that isn’t Mega Manectric. Garbodor plus energy hate gives you a fighting chance against Mega Rayquaza and Metal variants, so make sure to get your Garbodor online as quickly as possible if you want a chance in those matchups!
PTCG Retro Library 