Thursday, August 15, 2019

Looking back at 2017-18 Season (Local, International & Personal)

The new rotation is underway which means everything changes yet again. Gone are staple cards like Ultra Ball, Guzma and Zoroark-GX and in comes Cherish Ball, Reset Stamp and Naganadel-GX to potentially take their place? But before moving on to the new format, I will look back at the previous format with some fun (potentially useless) stats for those who might be interested, with regards to the international scene and also our local scene in Singapore from all events (except League Cups and SPE) with stats for players and decks. For local stats, it's only for games I was at as I have no records for the ones I missed (and I missed quite a number of games during SUM-UNB format).

 For International, it'll be for Championship Points scored during big international events (League Cup, SPE, Regionals and Internationals) to show which decks did well during which quarter/format.

 I'll also put up some of my own personal stats from decks I've played during the 2018-2019 season, and some fun stats on who I did well against or badly against (deck and player). 

International Scene Stats

 SUM to CES Format

Decks
Decks/CP/Placements/Final App/Final Win
Rayquaza-GX/Vikavolt 6221 130 60 31 17
Zoroark-GX/Lycanroc-GX 5318 132 54 30 12
Buzzwole/Garbodor 4406 77 46 24 14
Necrozma-GX/Malamar 4350 83 35 20 10
Buzzwole-GX/Lycanroc-GX 3136 54 22 11 5
Ultra Necrozma-GX/Malamar 1394 35 16 9 3
Zoroark-GX/Golisopod-GX 1279 30 15 8 6
Tapu Koko/Malamar 1017 25 14 6 5
DM Necrozma-GX/Magnezone 847 20 9 8 3
Metagross-GX 828 20 9 4 1

This format was dominated early on by VikaRay before the emergence of Buzz/Garb. That itself would see ZoroRoc show up and thus the early triangle was complete with Malamar featuring consistently during the quarter.

SUM to LOT Format

Decks

Decks/CP/Placements/Final App/Final Win

Blacephalon-GX/Naganadel 6218 100 55 33 16
Zoroark-GX/Lycanroc-GX 4483 90 54 29 15
Zoroark-GX/Decidueye-GX 3413 45 25 9 3
Necrozma-GX/Malamar 2361 43 21 17 9
Granbull 2093 25 14 9 3
Lost March 1986 43 24 9 8
Buzzwole-GX/Lycanroc-GX 1459 26 14 6 5
Gardevoir-GX 1375 24 11 6 2
Zoroark-GX/Control 1355 9 2 2 2
Passimian 1321 18 10 6 3

Blacephalon-GX was released in Lost Thunder and took over almost right away and it would end up dominating most of the quarter with Zoroark keep track with both the Lycanroc variant and the Decidueye variant having it's day in the sun with the emergence of Alolan Ninetales-GX to help Stage 2 pokemon. New decks such as Granbull and Lost March would feature strongly too.

SUM to TEU Format

Decks
Decks/CP/Placements/Final App/Final Win

Zapdos/Jirachi 19076 274 121 63 30
Pikachu & Zekrom 17222 232 123 79 47
Zoroark/Lycanroc 12891 199 97 48 26
Ultra Necrozma/Malamar 7835 127 48 11 6
Blacephalon/Naganadel 4870 95 50 28 13
Regigigas/Stall 1873 26 16 10 4
Celebi & Venusaur 1086 26 13 4 2
Zoroark/Control 1044 17 9 6 4
Rayquaza/Vikavolt 729 9 5 3 1
Quagsire/Naganadel 679 16 5 3 3

Team Up brought along the emergence of not just one but two incredibly strong Lighting decks in Zapdos and Pikachu & Zekrom-GX, both of which would find themselves in the same deck at times. ZoroRoc once again found answers to the new threats in the form of Alolan Muk while Ultra Necrozma made a return to prominence.

SUM to UNB Format

Decks
Decks/CP/Placements/Final App/Final Win

Reshiram & Charizard-GX 9614 177 87 53 28
Pikachu & Zekrom-GX 6722 118 63 37 18
Zapdos/UB 5871 100 56 22 14
Zoroark-GX/Persian-GX 3385 58 28 12 5
Weezing 2916 138 24 11 5
Blacephalon UNB 1688 28 15 4 1
Ultra Necromza-GX/Malamar 1627 27 9 3 0
Zoroark-GX/Dewgong 1546 17 10 6 5
Blacephalon-GX/Naganadel 1544 30 15 8 5
Regigigas/Stall 1014 12 5 2 2


Unbroken Bonds gave up some fire power, no pun intended. Fire decks took over and it was the new deck Reshiram & Charizard that would end up as BDIF in this format, often times finding itself in the square with PikaZek, Zapdos and Zoroark who now had Persian as it's preferred partner in crime. The new Weezing deck also feature strongly in the one format it has Double Colourless Energy and Counter Energy to use. The new Blacephalon also did better than it's big brother but that will change eventually.

Overall

Decks
Decks/CP/Placements/Final App/Final Win

Zapdos 24947 374 177 85 44
Pikachu & Zekrom-GX 23944 350 186 116 65
Zoroark-GX/Lycanroc-GX 23041 465 233 107 53
Blacephalon-GX/Naganadel 12632 225 120 69 34
Ultra Necrozma-GX/Malamar 11283 197 75 24 9
Reshiram & Charizard-GX 9614 177 87 53 28
Rayquaza-GX/Vikavolt 7766 151 69 35 18
Necrozma-GX/Malamar 7200 136 59 38 19
Buzzwole/Garbodor 5535 100 63 33 18
Buzzwole-GX/Lycanroc-GX 4986 89 41 19 11

If not for it's disappearance from the meta in the final quarter, Zoroark-GX/Lycanroc-GX would have been the best deck CP wise from my records for the entire 2018-2019 season. It was always strong in the meta no matter what it came up against.

Zapdos having the highest overall just shows how good and how popular it was when it was released, along with Pikachu & Zekrom-GX. They may have only featured in two quarters but still dominated enough to take the top two spots here. Old favourites and possible top contenders in the new format, Blacephalon-GX and Ultra Necrozma-GX, featured prominently during the year.  VikaRay's positioning shows how dominant it was early on as it scored most of it's points from the first quarter while the likes of Necrozma-GX would feature strongly for almost all of the quarters.

Local Scene Stats

SUM to CES Format
Decks

  1. Rayquaza-GX/Vikavolt (22 Top 4s, 5 Wins)
  2. Zoroark-GX/Lycanroc-GX (16 Top 4s, 3 Wins)
  3. Zygarde-GX/Lycanroc-GX (14 Top 4s, 4 Wins)
  4. Buzzwole-GX/Lycanroc-GX (11 Top 4s, 0 Wins)
  5. DM Necrozma-GX/Magnezone (7 Top 4s, 3 Wins)
  6. Necrozma-GX/Malamar (6 Top 4s, 2 Wins)
  7. Passimian/Tapu Koko (6 Top 4s, 1 Win)
  8. Zoroark-GX/Control (3 Top 4s, 1 Win)
  9. Beast Box (3 Top 4s, 1 Win)
  10. Zoroark-GX/Golisopod-GX (3 Top 4s, 0 Wins)
Players (Myself -> 12 Top 4s, 5 Wins)
  1. Titally (10 Top 4s, 3 Wins)
  2. Rauf (9 Top 4s, 4 Wins)
  3. Andy (8 Top 4s, 1 Win)
  4. Anselm (5 Top 4s, 3 Wins)
  5. Eugene (5 Top 4s, 1 Win)
  6. Aidyl (5 Top 4s, 1 Win)
  7. Walter (4 Top 4s, 1 Win)
  8. Liang Jun (4 Top 4s, 1 Win)
  9. Rizduan (3 Top 4s, 1 Win)
  10. Kian Chong (3 Top 4s, 1 Win)
VikaRay would dominate the local scene as it did internationally. ZoroRoc did just as well here as it did elsewhere. BuzzGarb and Tapu Koko/Malamar did not feature much in our local scene. Zygarde/Lycanroc continued to do well in Singapore as it had been in the previous format as did DM Necrozma/Magnezone. 


SUM to LOT Fromat
Decks

  1. Blacephalon-GX/Naganadel (19 Top 4s, 2 Wins)
  2. Zoroark-GX/Decidueye-GX (18 Top 4s, 4 Wins)
  3. Zoroark-GX/Lycanroc-GX (10 Top 4s, 4 Wins)
  4. Buzzwole-GX/Lycanroc-GX (10 Top 4s, 2 Wins)
  5. Lost March (7 Top 4s, 3 Wins)
  6. Gardevoir-GX (6 Top 4s, 4 Wins)
  7. Tapu Koko/Malamar (6 Top 4s, 1 Win)
  8. Tapu Koko/Weavile (6 Top 4s, 1 Win)
  9. Passimian (6 Top 4s, 1 Win)
  10. Granbull (6 Top 4s, 0 Wins)
Players (Myself -> 16 Top 4s, 3 Wins)
  1. Eujun (9 Top 4s, 2 Wins)
  2. Klive (7 Top 4s, 2 Wins)
  3. Vincent (6 Top 4s, 2 Wins)
  4. Eugene (6 Top 4s, 1 Win)
  5. Anselm (6 Top 4s, 1 Win)
  6. Luke (6 Top 4s, 0 Wins)
  7. Bertrand (5 Top 4s, 2 Wins)
  8. Che Yu (5 Top 4s, 1 Win)
  9. Liang Jun (5 Top 4s, 1 Win)
  10. Christopher (5 Top 4s, 0 Wins)
What did not change comparing results internationally and locally for this format is that Blacephalon, ZoroRoc and ZoroDeciTales. Granbull had a better showing here than it did elsewhere as was Lost March. Spread decks also ended up doing well here when compared to results overseas. One deck that did well overseas that didn't feature much in Singapore during this time was Psychic/Malamar.


SUM to TEU Format
Decks

  1. Zapdos (24 Top 4s, 5 Wins)
  2. Pikachu & Zekrom-GX (15 Top 4s, 4 Wins)
  3. Charizard TEU (13 Top 4s, 4 Wins)
  4. Zoroark-GX/Lycanroc-GX (9 Top 4s, 3 Wins)
  5. Regigigas/Stall (8 Top 4s, 2 Wins)
  6. Alolan Exeggutor (7 Top 4s, 0 Wins)
  7. Ultra Necrozma-GX/Malamar (6 Top 4s, 0 Wins)
  8. Blacephalon-GX/Naganadel (5 Top 4s, 1 Win)
  9. Giratina/Malamar (4 Top 4s, 3 Wins)
  10. Ampharos-GX (4 Top 4s, 1 Win)
Players (Myself-> 17 Top 4s, 6 Wins)
  1. Liang Jun (8 Top 4s, 1 Win)
  2. Jun Hao (7 Top 4s, 4 Wins)
  3. Qi Wen (7 Top 4s, 3 Wins)
  4. Che Yu (6 Top 4s, 1 Win)
  5. Aidyl (6 Top 4s, 0 Wins)
  6. Bertrand (5 Top 4s, 2 Wins)
  7. Anselm (5 Top 4s, 2 Wins)
  8. Rauf (5 Top 4s, 0 Wins)
  9. Eugene (4 Top 4s, 1 Wins)
  10. Marcus (3 Top 4s, 2 Wins)
Lighting struck Singapore as it would almost everywhere else with Zapdos and PikaZek being the two best decks during this time. The one big difference from results here compared to internationally was the new Charizard featuring strongly in the entire quarter (I might be partially blamed for that as I would play Charizard for the most part of this format). Alolan Exeggutor and Ampharos-GX were another two decks that did well in the local scene.

SUM to UNB Format
Deck
  1. Reshiram & Charizard-GX (12 Top 4s, 2 Wins)
  2. Pikachu & Zekrom-GX (7 Top 4s, 2 Wins)
  3. Blacephalon UNB (6 Top 4s, 3 Wins)
  4. Zapdos/Ultra Beasts (6 Top 4s, 1 Win)
  5. Zoroark-GX/Dewgong (5 Top 4s, 2 Wins)
  6. Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX (5 Top 4s, 1 Win)
  7. Quagsire/Naganadel (4 Top 4s, 2 Wins)
  8. Blacephalon-GX/Naganadel (4 Top 4s, 1 Win)
  9. Zoroark-GX/Persian-GX (4 Top 4s, 1 Win)
  10. Zapdos/Jolteon-GX (3 Top 4s, 1 Win)
Players (Myself -> 10 Top 4s, 2 Wins)
  1. Luke (6 Top 4s, 2 Wins)
  2. Eugene (5 Top 4s, 2 Wins)
  3. Billy (4 Top 4s, 1 Win)
  4. Jun Shien (4 Top 4s, 1 Win)
  5. Wei Kit (3 Top 4s, 1 Win)
  6. Gordon (3 Top 4s, 0 Wins)
  7. Kwok Hoe (3 Top 4s, 0 Wins)
  8. Jun Kai (3 Top 4s, 0 Wins)
  9. Rizduan (2 Top 4s, 1 Win)
  10. Keith (2 Top 4s, 1 Win)
So for this one, the results I have won't reflect what happened internationally as I didn't play much of this format due to firstly my exams in May, family matters I had to attend to in June and falling ill in July. ReshiZard was still top dog from the games I played with the new Blacephalon and Gardevoir & Sylveon featuring strongly early on. The lack of Weezing and Zoroark/Persian on here is due to it featuring strongly later on, during the time I took a break from the game.

OVERALL
Decks
  1. Zoroark-GX/Lycanroc-GX (35 Top 4s, 10 Wins)
  2. Blacephalon-GX/Naganadel (28 Top 4s, 4 Wins)
  3. Rayquaza-GX/Vikavolt (27 Top 4s, 7 Wins)
  4. Zapdos/Jolteon-GX (27 Top 4s, 6 Wins)
  5. Pikachu & Zekrom-GX (22 Top 4s, 6 Wins)
  6. Buzzwole-GX/Lycanroc-GX (21 Top 4s, 2 Wins)
  7. Zoroark-GX/Decidueye-GX (20 Top 4s, 4 Wins)
  8. Passimian (17 Top 4s, 4 Wins)
  9. Zygarde-GX/Lycanroc (17 Top 4s, 4 Wins)
  10. Ultra Necrozma-GX/Malamar (14 Top 4s, 1 Win)
Players (Myself -> 55 Top 4s, 16 Wins)
  1. Rauf (22 Top 4s, 6 Wins)
  2. Eugene (20 Top 4s, 5 Wins)
  3. Titally (19 Top 4s, 6 Wins)
  4. Liang Jun (18 Top 4s, 4 Wins)
  5. Anselm (17 Top 4s, 7 Wins)
  6. Luke (16 Top 4s, 2 Wins)
  7. Jun Hao (15 Top 4s, 6 Wins)
  8. Aidyl (14 Top 4s, 2 Wins)
  9. Bertrand (13 Top 4s, 6 Wins)
  10. Che Yu (13 Top 4s, 2 Wins)

ZoroRoc was an easy favourite for many players here as VikaRay, Blacephalon and BuzzRoc were before the lighting decks showed up. Passimian and Zygarde were two local favourite that featured on the list for the overall stats and Charizard just missed out despite scoring most of it results in only the 3rd quarter. And of course Rauf was the top player in Singapore, as he has been for the most part of last year as well when it comes to the local games.

Personal Stats



Some notes:
Deck Types would be Energy (energy acceleration style decks), One Hit (decks that aim to take big hits), Draw Power (consistent decks like Zoroarks), and Spread (need I say more). I never once played a Tank style deck (Green's ReshiZard or CeleSaur) or any of those Stall/Mill/Lock type decks, you'll never see me play those.

Copy -> Deck list were inspired by other players
Own -> My own creation/version of popular decks

So the very first deck I built for the last rotation ended up being my best deck of the entire 2018-2019 season in terms of wins. If you notice, my three most winningest decks are all decks that were never considered meta decks during their existence. Zygarde was my go to deck early on and served me well, giving me my first ever CPs when I finished 7th at a League Challenge.

Charizard was a deck that just appeals to me in so many ways. It's an evolution deck, check. It's an energy accleration deck, double check. It's Charizard of all people, one of my all time favourite pokemon since I first got into it back in the good ol days, triple check! Even though it wasn't very good, I made it my mission to make it good and I think I did just that. 3 event wins, 13 top 4 finishes, and all of that were done mostly in just one quarter. The winning rate would have been a lot better had I not tried a few games with it in the UNB format and ended up with a record of 3 wins and 6 losses. I did take it with me to a Pro Circuit Invitational and made top cut with it!

Ultra Necrozma is one of those decks I'll always fall back to. Like Charizard, I was determined to make it work the moment I saw it. And it did for a while but as my record shows, more losses than wins. And the same is happening in the new rotation sadly.

Due to my time away from the game, I never did get to play more games with ReshiZard which is a shame as I really did enjoy it. I mean it gave me my biggest accomplishment in the game so far, top 8 at the Singapore SPE and also a top 4 finish at the most recent League Challenge. Those were done with the Jirachi/Arcanine version which sadly doesn't quite translate well into the new format with Choice Band gone.

Also a special mention for Zoroark/Deciduye/Ninetales. I'm not too keen on playing Zoroark decks but one that made Decidueye good? I was in! And I had my best win rate with that deck, also getting a top 4 finish with it at an Invitational event.

Just to point out, even though it may seem like I try to play many different kind of decks, there were some popular decks that I never played. BuzzRoc, Blacephalon-GX and Rayquaza-GX to name the more popular ones which is weird considering the latter two are energy acceleration/one hit style decks, which are decks I tend to like more.

Hopefully I'll have more intereting stats to show in the future but I might not be playing much for the next season as I'm stuck to another year of University. I had planned to hopefully play in my first Regional and International next year but those hopes might have to be on hold for the time being. Thanks for reading!


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