#shaymin slg

[ptcgdecklist]

Zoroark GX / Counter Energy - Chip Richey (US) - Top 32 - Charlotte Regionals - March 2018 - Standard

[undauntedtcg]

Deck Profile: ZoroToad

Starting off with a fun one... for the person playing solitaire.

At heart, I am a die-hard Zoroark player and I have played just about every Zoroark deck that has ever been a part of any meta since the card became legal. This deck, in simple terms, is just mean. That’s never stopped me before, but there, that’s my disclaimer. A more important disclaimer however, deck profiles are looong. List, card explanations and strategy below.

The List!

Pokémon - 19 4 Zorua DEX 70 4 Zoroark-GX SLG 53 2 Seismitoad-EX FFI 20 1 Oranguru UPR 114 1 Girafarig LOT 94 1 Articuno-GX CES 31 1 Exeggcute PLF 4 1 Tirtouga PLB 27 1 Articuno-GX CES 31 1 Shaymin-EX ROS 77 3 Tapu Lele-GX GRI 60

Trainer Cards - 35 2 Brigette 2 Colress 1 N 1 Professor Juniper 1 Pokemon Fan Club 1 Lt. Surge's Strategy 1 Guzma 1 Acerola 1 Faba 1 Team Flare Grunt 1 Plumeria 1 Team Skull Grunt 1 Team Rocket's Handiwork

4 Ultra Ball 4 VS Seeker 2 Cherish Ball 2 Counter Catcher 2 Field Blower 1 Rescue Stretcher 1 Reset Stamp 1 Float Stone 1 Dowsing Machine

2 Silent Lab

Energy - 6

4 Double Colorless Energy 2 Water Energy

A 4-4 Zoroark line, I think, is fairly self explanatory. If you can’t draw cards, you’ll lose. Draw all of them instead. Also sometimes an attacking option, but this deck rarely takes prize cards.

Seismitoad EX is our early game attacker, if you can call it an attacker. The item lock by itself isn’t really enough to keep our opponent at bay, but adding energy denial makes it so difficult for them to play the game, which is pretty much our goal. I’ve found that, since the Lusamine ban, you will need to begin using resource management eventually in order to close out the game, but toad is your best attacker until you’re out of VS Seekers.

Resource management is the lifeblood of this deck. This deck' s late game plan is to cycle through VS seekers and other disruption tools until the opponent is completely out of resources.

Girafarig’s use cases are so much bigger in expanded, especially with Mew & Mewtwo GX using attacks from discarded Pokemon. But the primary use of this card is lost zoning supporters to render VS Seeker a dead card and energies in the event that the opponent has methods of energy retrieval. 

Tirtouga is a card that first saw play in Jimmy Pendarvis’s list from Portland Regionals last year. It prevents deck out forever, save the opponent playing N or Team Rocket’s Handiwork and it’s an  easy discard for trade, ultra ball, Plumeria, ect.

Articuno GX is usually the nail in the coffin against most decks. A well-timed Cold Crush GX on a fully powered up attacker should buy you enough time to take full control of the opponent’s board. Reshizard and Pikarom are the two most common victims.

The trainer’s in this deck are pretty standard, so I won’t spend too much time on them, but I will cover some new additions and interesting inclusions.

Fan club replaces what would normally be my third Brigette in this deck. It can grab Seismitoad EX, Tapu Lele GX, or Shaymin EX early on which helps getting Quaking Punch going from turn 2 easier.

A new addition to the expanded format, Lt. Surge fits perfectly in this deck. Ever wanted to play a draw supporter and Guzma in the same turn? Surge has you covered. Also allows us to play Plumeria/Flare Grunt in combination with Team Skull Grunt which is completely insane.

This card is literally an evosoda that’s also an out to a supporter in this deck. Unfortunately, it can’t grab Seismitoad EX, but that’s the only bad thing about the card. Play Cherish Ball.

The last new addition to the deck is Reset Stamp! It’s just a one sided N that allows you to pull off a lot of cool combos. This, along with surge and counter catcher allows you to effectively play 4 supporter effects in a turn.

So, with all the cards out of the way, let’s talk strategy. If you want clarification on any cards I didn’t cover, just ask! I’m more than happy to answer questions.

This deck has a ton of options, but it’s actually quite simple. In the early game use Seismitoad and your disruption cards to harass the opponent and slow the game to a halt, then transition into resource management and deck them out with Team Rocket’s Handiwork.

That being said, this deck is, at times, a headache to play. Unless you’re extremely comfortable with it, I wouldn’t take this to a regional-level event. The games take forever and it’s far from easy to play. On the same token, don’t take this to best of one events. It won’t work, you’ll always either tie or lose and that’s not a successful strategy for making top cut. But, if you’re as sadistic as I am, go ahead! Ruin some poor, unsuspecting normal person’s day. 

This is the first in a large number of deck profiles you can expect to see leading up the Richmond Regional Championships in November, but I won’t be all expanded content. I’m attending a standard league cup this weekend (Sept. 14th) and you all can expect a full report on that, be it a tale of glorious victory or a masterclass in failure.

Happy Trading!

(Scans from https://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-tcg/pokemon-cards/)