Singapore Regional League Vol 3 - 37th/342 - Good but not good enough

 I wasn't sure if I wanted to do this but I thought maybe I should continue on with it. I had been writing on why I would choose to play certain decks in the lead-up to the regional on here and it became a bit too much so I made a shorter version. And of course this will also be a review of the 3rd Regional League event of the season which didn't go as I hoped it would but there is nothing I can do about it.

• Deck Choices
• Choosing between top choices
• Deck List
• Singapore Regional League Vol. 3
• What's Next?

Deck Choices

I tried a bunch of decks in the lead up to the event to see which one I should go with and had some comments for them so why not share it:

Decks I was strongly considering:

1) Charizard ex/Pidgeot ex (Testing Win Rate: 52.77%)

• Comfort choice, been playing Zard/Pidgeot for the longest time
• Felt like the strongest deck and had answers to pretty much anything
• Won EUIC thanks to Tord so it's proven to be the best deck
• - Can struggle a bit to set-up so that's one worry

2) Arceus VSTAR/Giratina VSTAR (Testing Win Rate: 62.22%)

• Quite possibly the most consistent deck I tested
• Has answers to most decks even against unfavoured matchup
• A lot of decks will struggle to Judge/Iono pressure
• Won 4 of my 7 self-testing tourney, thus the high win rate and proves it can win in bo1 and bo3
• - Not having EA Sports (Energy + Arceus) in Turn 1 is a big killer and it has happened a few times

3) Lost Zone Box (Radiant Charizard) (Testing Win Rate: 80.00%)

• This deck surprised me the most, didn't think it would be good with Klara gone
• Has answers to most things! A lot of people will say Iron Hands will destroy it but Radiant Charizard + Mirage Gate should fix that
• The Lighting package gives the decks all sorts of options to surprise people and Hands can turn the prize race around
• - I just didn't test it enough sadly
• - It's still a lost zone deck so it can struggle at times, as it did during GSP #7

4) Giratina VSTAR (Lost Zone) (Testing Win Rate: 53.85%)

• Early impression from testing is that it's still good!
• A lot of decks cannot deal with Giratina swinging for 280 or the instant KO
• The new Singapore variant gave the deck a lot more options with Raikou and Hands, it impressed me when I played it for Doom's tourney and went 6-0 to win the event
• - It's still a lost zone deck, it can have one of those bad hands and you just struggle to survive
• - New Mist energy could be a problem (Sinnoh to fix it?)

5) Arceus VSTAR/Armarouge (Testing Win Rate: 66.67%)

• Maybe the best rouge deck in the game right now
• Lots of attacking options to choose from unlike ArcTina, spread with Delphox, big hit with Gouging Fire, copy attacks with Mew
• Endgame with Armarouge ex with loads of energy on it can be scary for most decks to deal with
• - Not very consistent sadly, main sources of draws are draw supporters and the 1-1 Bibarel line
• - Can struggle if the Armarouge keeps getting picked off or Arceus gets taken out quickly

6) Charizard ex/Bibarel (Testing Win Rate: 57.89%)

• Initially I thought this would be the BDIF with Poffin making it more consistent than the other builds
• Skowvet and Bibarel to help keep drawing cards is never a bad thing
• - But missing key pieces can and will happen, which is why Pidgeot did end up feeling better as the weeks went on

My choices

Decks I tested, but didn't bother with much after testing:

7) Lugia VSTAR/Archeops (Testing Win Rate: 49.02%)

• It's a very strong deck IF it sets up
• Big IF because it doesn't always happen
• Won 2 of my 7 self test tourney, yet has less wins than losses, that is quite telling of the deck's inconsistency

8) Chien-Pao ex/Baxcalibur (Testing Win Rate: 47.62%)

• Probably the best one-hit KO deck out there
• Should be more consistent thanks to Poffin, so it has easier time to set up compared to many other decks
• Still is a deck heavily reliant on Stage 2s, one missing piece is enough to bring the deck down, along with a well timed Eri/Devo

9) Lost Zone Box (Testing Win Rate: 40.00%)

• Lot more options than the other two Lost Zone decks
• Ninja makes it more consistent than Rad Zard
• Maybe it's just me but I've struggled more with this build than the other two, lots more chances to get a bad start too with all the one-off attackers

10) Gholdengo ex (Testing Win Rate: 35.71%)

• Decent deck that can knock things out very easily
• But surely Chien-Pao is just better

11) Ancient Box (Testing Win Rate: 33.33%)

• Single prize deck with potential to up trade with any deck, and lots of options to attack or even disrupt with Mane and Tusk
• But very inconsistent so far, if you struggle to set-up, you will be in trouble
• Loses to a badly timed Iono/Roxanne

12) Gardevoir ex (Testing Win Rate: 27.27%)

• Garde can still be good?
• Not as consistent as before, deck is now heavily reliant on going 2nd with TM Evo to get Kirlias up
• Also very reliant on Tools so Lost Vacuum kills the deck, often giving opponents 2 prizes in one turn

13) Raging Bolt ex/Sandy Shocks ex (Testing Win Rate: 23.07%)

• Decent deck that can knock things out very easily
• But surely Chien-Pao and Gholdengo are just better
• Horrible win rate told me all I needed to know about this deck, it was super inconsistent

Didn't test these decks, wasn't considering it at at all:

0) Roaring Moon ex/Dudunsparce

• I can build this deck, I am now testing for it for Nats, but I was just a bit too late to try it out so I couldn't consider it

0) Gouging Fire ex

• I only found out about the deck very late on for me to even consider trying it

0) Iron Hands ex/Iron Crown ex

• Pieces of the deck were going to be expensive for me to get so not considering

0) Future Box

• Same as above

0) Snorlax Control

• I can't afford to play very slow games in a bo1 Regional and no ties

0) Pidgeot ex Control

• Same as above

0) Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR/Metang

• Don't actually own Dialga and it got stupidly expensive after the Thailand result so didn't bother with it

0) Great Tusk Mill

• Didn't get to test it out and was worried at how slow the games might end up going

0) Espathra ex

• Don't own Espathras so wasn't considering it, deck didn't appeal to me whatsoever

Choosing between top choices

Charizard ex/Pidgeot ex was always my number one choice and going into the week, it still was and I locked it in on Wednesday after testing with my friend Bryan, Ray and Nicholas even thought I had just went 6-0 with Lost Tina, it still didn't feel comfortable enough for me as I would say playing Zard or even ArcTina. I even tested Arceus/Armarouge a lot at one point as a backup choice but gave up on it after some bad test games.

I was in the lucky spot that two of my all time favourite decks were really good right now, Charizard/Pidgeot decks and Arceus decks! I've been an Arceus main since it first showed up and only dropped it to play Zard when it showed up. 

ArcTina was on my radar up till the previous Friday when I went to a local event and in all 3 games, I didn't get an Arceus with Energy on board, resulting in 1 win and 2 losses. That was not a good sign for the next weekend so I jumped ship back into Zard/Pidgeot. I did feel as though ArcTina could beat anything, but since it's bo1, I can't afford a missed EA to ruin my chances. 

My other option, maybe the one no-one was expecting, was the SableZard lost zone deck with the lighting stuff. It felt very strong and after looking at the win rates of all my decks, I decided to give it a trail run at the GSP #7 Invitational event (one week before Regionals) just to see if it is as good as I've been testing it, IRL and online. 

Funniest moment in self testing

I lost my first two games due to it doing lost zone things so that was probably the moment I decided on Zard/Pidgeot for my deck for the regional. I did win the next 2 rounds thanks to the element of surprise but I bubbled out of top cut at 9th, meaning I bubbled out of a chance to earn some money which always hurts, especially since this is the 2nd time in 4 GSP events that has happened. 

Deck List

Thursday was the day to submit deck lists and on Thursday morning, I had a rough idea of what I wanted my deck to be and I had just finished up my research on 7 different Zard/Pidgeot decks to see what worked for them and what didn't and the first thing I wanted to do was to find the common cards they all used because that had to be a sign that those inclusions were a must. From my research, I found that all 7 lists I had highlighted used the same 40 cards so those were my first inclusions and things I wouldn't cut: 

Pokemon

x4 Charmander (Mostly 4 OBF, some have 3-1)

x1 Charmeleon (PAF)

x3 Charizard ex (PAF)

x2 Pidgey (MEW)

x2 Pidgeot ex (OBF)

x1 Radiant Charizard (CRZ)

x1 Rotom V (CRZ)

x1 Manaphy (BRS)

Supporters

x3 Iono

x2 Boss's Orders

x1 Professor Turo's Scenario

Items

x4 Rare Candy

x4 Ultra Ball

x2 Super Rod

x1 Lost Vacuum

Tools

x1 Forest Seal Stone

Stadium

x1 Collapsed Stadium

Energy

x6 Fire Energy

That's the 40 template, which means I had 20 more spots to fill:

The first one was probably the difficult choice, which Ace Spec do I go with. I had two choices:

• Max Package: Maximum Belt + Counter Catcher (aka 2 catchers in the list)
• Prime Package: Prime Catcher + Defiance Band

Tord and my friend Joshua both went for the Prime package and I was tempted to go with that as well, but I made a last minute switch to go with Max package in the hopes that Belt can help me get some surprise KOs in the mirror and vs Chien-Pao and maybe Espathra and Gholdengo. (SPOILER ALERT: It was the wrong choice so that was my biggest regret in the list). 

For Pokemon, these were my options:

• Lumineon V (I mean why would you not play this, helps with consistency)
• Cleffa (Was meant to be a counter to Spiritomb last format, I was hoping that was my secret tech last format but friends told me stick with Rotom. It's now known thanks to Tord)
• 1-1 Bibarel (I was testing it last format too, always felt Zard Pidgeot was lacking draws and was testing it out. Again Tord revealed it in his crazy Zard list. We seem to have similar ideas somehow. It would take over the spots of 2 Nest Ball which I didn't care much for.)
• 2nd Charmeleon (This was my answer to the mirror match and potential threat of TM Devo)
• Gouging Fire ex (Helps to get big KOs on unsuspecting Tina, Lugia and Chien Pao players).
• Jirachi (I'm putting this in my deck, Singaporeans love their Lost Zone decks)

For Supporters: 

• 3-4 Arven (Helps with the set-up, 3 probably more than enough)
• 1 Roxanne (Only good late game)
• 1 Eri and if so also +1 TM Devolution (Disruption, should help vs CP, Mirror and LZ)
• 1 Thorton (Cheap way to get rid of bench sitting Vs or if you start Manaphy/Jirachi in a matchup they're not needed)
• 1 Research (drawing cards is fun)

For Items:

• 1 Pal Pad (Or Team Yell's Cheer but that takes a supporter slot) to recover Turo and Boss mainly
• 1-3 Nest Ball (Likely just 1, only really needed for Rotom or Rad Zard)
• 1-2 Counter Catcher (2 if Max Belt is being played)
• 3-4 Buddy-Buddy Poffin (The better VIP, helps to set basic mons up even after Turn 1)
• 1 Switch (likely to be used if Prime Catcher isn't being used but Turo might take that spot)

Tools:

• 1 Choice Belt (very useful is certain matchups, mostly used for Rad Zard)
• 1 TM Devo (if Eri is being used)
• 1 Panic Mask (was a idea to help vs Tina and Mirror, just didn't try it enough)

Energy: 

• 1 Mist Energy (To counter Devo plays or protect Zard from Tina and Moon instant KOs)

Card list choices

After all of that, I had the next 10 cards in:

x1 Lumineon V

x3 Arven

x3 Buddy-Buddy Poffin

x1 Counter Catcher

x1 Nest Ball

x1 Choice Belt

And after much thinking, I went with these for the remaining 10 spots to fill were these:

• x1 Maximum Belt + x1 Counter Catcher (I went against what my friend and Tord played, thought the risk was worth it, didn't pay off sadly, so it should have been Prime Catcher + Defiance Band)
• x1 Bidoof and x1 Bibarel (I wanted the draw power) over 2 more Nest Ball
• x1 Roxanne over Research
• x1 Pal Pad over Yell's Cheer
• x1 Mist Energy (meta call)
• x1 Jirachi (meta call)
• x1 Buddy-Buddy Poffin over the 2nd Nest Ball
• 2nd Charmeleon over the Cleffa, which was the hardest cut but felt the most necessary for this weekend's meta

Final list

Singapore Regional League Vol. 3

Now onto the event! I've got my Charizard/Pidgeot deck ready in my brand new Pink Diamond sleeves from Dragon Shield that was voted by the Twitter folks, and I must say, these sleeves are awesome. I might get more.

Round 1 [W] vs Axel - Hisuian Goodra VSTAR (Lost Zone) - Table 114 - 0/0

First game of the tournament. It was my opponent's first time at a big tourney so I was trying to let her know not to be nervous and just enjoy the moment and enjoy the event. Pokémon should be fun to play right!

I didn't realise they were playing Goodra until late on but they were struggling to set it up so a I took advantage. Match went almost to time so that was a bit scary but we got there! The Goodra just never got going.

Round 2 [W] vs  Keith Ting - Giratina VSTAR (Lost Zone) - Table 38 - 1/0

And we hit our first friendly fire of the tournament in just round 2! I had a feeling Keith was playing a Lost Zone deck so I went first, and I was glad to see Comfey. I had been testing against Giratina for the last 3 days with Bryan so I knew exactly how the matchup would go and luckily for me it went as I hoped.

Keith had a play where he could have taken KO with his Giratina but went with Raikou V instead, which meant by Radiant Charizard didn't need to use Choice Belt to take KO. Apart from that, close game!

Round 3 [L] vs Edmund Khoo - Giratina VSTAR (Lost Zone) - Table 32 - 2/0

Another friendly fire, another Tina player but this time I was in trouble. I had no set-up going vs Edmund and after looking through my deck, I noticed some things were missing. 

2 Iono and Bidoof being prized was quite painful against this deck so I went for KO and got punished right away when he got a KO on my Pidgeot. Nothing I can do after that. 

Round 4 [L] vs Dave Wong - Charizard ex/Pidgeot ex - Table 83 - 2/1

This game sucked. My opponent made me go first, I attach energy to Charmander, pass. He gets the perfect set-up, passes over to me. All I can do here is Rare Candy to get Zard up, bench Radiant Charizard, put 3 energies onto it, one more to Zard ex, attack, take the first prize, it was Super Rod.

Opponent straight away goes to Eri me, and my Rod is gone. I have nothing else in hand. Takes KO on my Zard after a few exchanges and I'm still left with only Rad Zard and that was it. Such an annoying way to lose the mirror when I just couldn't play or set anything up while the other side had everything.

Round 5 [W] vs Darwin Tan - Charizard ex/Pidgeot ex - Table 77 - 2/2

Complete role reversal of the last game. I went to Iono him after his Rotom draw and apparently he drew into a dead hand and I got Candy Zard to start attacking, and he just drew nothing. It happened to me so I knew the feeling. Finally I had some good luck in the mirror at a Regional!

Round 6 [W] vs Charmaine Han - Chien-Pao ex/Baxcalibur - Table 75 - 3/2

Yet another friendly fire. Charmaine is one of the few people who I would keep talking to after each round so of course imagine our sadness seeing each other at the table. Even 3 of our judges went to our tables just to say "whoops friendly fire". Yes, we know haha!

This was a bit of a tricky matchup since I know what Chien-Pao is capable of. I got a bit lucky when she missed a turn to KO my Zard and it turned the game to my favour. Was a long match too, we finished with like 2 minutes to go.

Round 7 [W] vs Norman Chan - Lost Zone Box - Table 30 - 4/2

I knew Norman so I had a feeling it was a Lost Box deck with Moon ex likely in it. Things were going ok, I took KO, he set up KO, rinse and repeat. He got the Moon KO on my Zard, I got the Charmander KO on it but the biggest issue was, I still hadn't gotten my Jirachi out of the prizes so I'm in trouble.

And then some good fortune for me, he forgot to Super Rod his 1 psychic energy back into the deck! He used Mirage Gate and then realised something was up. I thought the 2nd one was prized. That pretty much sealed the game for me as he missed the attack and gave me a 2 prize lead again with no possible way a Moon can show up. We take those!

Round 8 [W] vs Jackson Tham - Gholdengo ex - Table 33 - 5/2

Final round and I had seen Jackson playing Gholdengo the previous round. I had a good feeling about this matchup but not so when I saw my opening hand. I had to start Lumineon V and with nothing else in my hand, used Ultra Ball to get Rotom V just to draw cards. I got two Charmanders and Manaphy down the next turn but he got the Cologne + Gust onto Manaphy on my 2 Charmanders, game over surely right?

I still fought on, hoping there might be some way and it actually happened. I got one Zard up to KO his first Gholdengo with Max Belt. He then whiffs KO on my Zard, which meant I had the KO again! Some really good fortune for me in these last 3 games! I benched Radiant Charizard down and attach energy to it to have it ready for the last KO as there was one more Gholdengo on board. He then plays his last turn, and I kept looking at the clock. It went from 8 minutes down to 2 minutes, that took a long while! I was getting a little nervous that we might run out of time, I just needed one last turn. Luckily he did give me the last turn to take that last KO.

Final Result: 6/2 - 37th/342

I did get to 6-2, but bubbled out of not just Top 16 cut but also out of Top 32! Whoops. It was a huge bubble too. The highest placing 6-2 was 13th and the lowest was 45th. There's nothing you can do about resistance. But hey, going 6-2 meant I got the Boss promo!

Promo cards!

My opponents went 2-6, 6-2, 6-2, 5-3, 2-4 Drop, 3-5, 5-3 and 5-3. Losing in Rounds 3 and 4 hurts my resistance quite badly despite both of them going 6-2 or 5-3. And having someone dropping and having a low score also hurts my resistance so there was nothing I can do about it. Other than not lose twice I suppose, but when you brick both games, what can you really do about it? It's just the way it is.

Zard felt like the right call, I did everything I could but sometimes when you can't play the game, you just have to take it. Only thing I regret from the list was the Ace Spec choice, I only used Max Belt effectively in my last game. ArcTina could have been a good call but I didn't want to take the risk having not played in in a while.

Major congrats to my friend Bryan for winning the whole thing! He has been killing it this season and I’m so glad he will get to go to Worlds as a competitor this time. He also asked me to help test out the Tina-Zard matchup and a few others for 3 days it was a good testing session! Ray also joined us and he got top 16 as well so I’m happy to see my friends do well even if I can’t join them up there!

My friend Mickey made a vlog about the event, give it a watch. I might have shown up once or twice. 

What's Next?

This season has been painful but it's almost ending. Last season I had three top 32 finishes in 3 major events. This season? Not the same, not even a top 32 at any of the 3 major events so far. It's been a non-finish (I didn't get to play the first regional), 54th and 37th. I went 5-3 last time out, did better this time with 6-2 but still got the same amount of points. That feels bad.

All there's left is the Singapore Championships. Or Nationals as some of us call it. The winner AND finalists earns a spot at the World Championships in August. The other way is to finish top 4 in standings which is what I did last year. How's the situations this time around?

Yeah nah, I've only got 680 points. The one good improvement this season is that I have been scoring points regularly. Just not big finishes. I only have one top 8 finish out of those 7 finishes. I have no real hope of finishing in the top 4, I'm a thousand points behind the 4th placed fella. The only aim is simple, make it to finals. 

I've got a month left to go and yes I'm already back to self-testing and playing online and whenever I get the chance, playing locals too. As for what deck will I be playing? Safe bet is Charizard/Pidgeot, it's the best deck but that's not why I play it, it's my comfort deck. But I also have to be ready to make changes, we know there might be more Zards on the way. I hate playing the mirror because I know I my luck in it. I could go with an Arceus deck, it's what got me to Worlds anyway! Or I could surprise everyone and play something different. 

Still plenty of time to figure out the play, whatever that may be. Whatever you guys decide to do in May, just please don't play the Charizard mirror with me. The idea of having to KO Charmanders makes me really sad because it's my favourite Pokémon. Please don't make me do that. PLEASEEEEE!

Please don't hurt me!

Temporal Forces Testing (Weeks 1-2)

I wanted to share my thought on decks and ideas I'm testing in these little entry of mine and my thoughts leading up to the Singapore Regional League Volume 3, which is a week after the European Internationals. I had paid some attention to the new rotation and watched most of the Fukuoka Champions League to have an idea of what is to come and where to start off my own testing. 

March 12 - Locals

This is the day where my focus on the game shifted from SV4 pre-rotation format to SV5 post-rotation format as our local league was switching all qualifying sessions for the Grandslam Invitational events (GSP) to post-rotation. We needed 14 points to qualify for the event and at that point I was still stuck at just 6 points. 

I took a Charizard ex/Pidgeot ex list I saw from ... and ran with it. I had been playing Zard/Pidgeot the moment Zard was released back in August, so you could say that's my comfort deck. I wanted to start off with something I knew and just adapt to the new changes.

R1 vs Zard/Pidgeot W

• I actually lost the match but my friend Nicholas gave me the win as he wasn't making the invitational. It just came down to set-up, I never got a Pidgeot ex up, he did and just started picking off my board. 
• Felt like the usual Zard mirrors pre-rotation. As in whoever sets up first wins and me always losing the Zard mirror for whatever reasons haha! Some things just don't change.

R2 vs Arceus/Alolan Vulpix L

• The moment I saw Lake Acuity in Rag's mulligan, I knew I was in trouble, especially with him going first. I had seen many Arc/Pix lists to know they are the main ones playing Lake Acuity, also because I was also thinking of testing it myself.
• I was trying to give up as many prizes as possible to stick his Vulpix at the best possible turn but he played around it, he just didn't KO my Rotom which hurt me as he was able to set up another attacker. I had a small shot of a comeback but he was too far ahead, boss for game for the win.

R3 vs Hisuian Goodra VSTAR/Klefki W

• This was another matchup I was dreading. Goodra is huge and Mickey is THE Goodra player in our area. 
• I got a bit lucky in this game, he had a turn he could heal his Goodra and chose not to and I got the perfect scenario to take a KO on it with Choice Belt. He couldn't come back after that.

Not the best first locals for me in the new rotation, hit the mirror and two very difficult matchups. But it's testing so we learn, we live, and we move on.

March 14 - Self Testing

Decided to do a little digging around to find decks to do my usual self-testing and went with decks featured from Celio's Network video to give me something to work with initially. Most of the lists I just copied from his video with a few I made immediate changes just to suit what I would do. 

What I would usually do is just what you think self-testing is. Set two decks aside, and play them myself just to learn how to play each matchups. I don't always play them correctly which is why I tend to keep re-playing the same lists just so I have a better idea of what I'm supposed to do.

Results:

Charizard ex/Pidgeot ex - 5 wins
Raging Bolt ex/Sandy Shock ex - 3 wins
Lugia VSTAR/Archeops - 2 wins
Arceus VSTAR/Giratina VSTAR - 2 wins
Gholdengo ex - 2 wins
Lost Zone Box - 1 win

The first games were all bo1, because I am playing in a bo1 regional after all. Then after that, I would take the top 4 decks and do a top 4 cut, but bo3 since our top cut games are also bo3. Lugia beat Charizard/Pidgeot in the first self-tourney finals, so Lugia is as good as expected. Even though Bolt-Shocks had 3 wins, I wasn't really impressed by it initially. Just ran hot honestly.

March 17 - Locals

Since Lugia won the latest self-challenge, I thought it'd be only fair to bring the exact list to local and give it a run to see how it would do in an actual tourney setting.

R1 vs Turbo Hands L

• Yeah worst possible deck to hit in round one and it was Jeremy playing it
• Miradon took out the smaller guys and Hands ex could easily KO Lugia VSTAR for the 3 prize turn. Next game!

R2 vs Arceus/Giratina W

• Well if anyone should, I should know how to play against ArcTina since I play it all the time and have played it a lot in testing so far
• Was a bit lucky to get a Lugia VSTAR ready to KO Arceus Turn 2 and that was it really.

R3 vs Charizard/Pidgeot W

• This match went closer than expected, and it came down to Cruz missing something and I had my Minccino ready to KO his Zard to turn the match over to my favour in the late game.

March 17 - Self Testing

I decided to stick with pretty much the same lists from before but with Chien Pao now replacing Gholdengo and Lost Zone Giratina replacing Lost Zone Box (the other two ended up as the bottom two, good enough reason to replace them right?)

Results:

Chien-Pao ex/Baxcalibur - 5 wins
Arceus VSTAR/Giratina VSTAR - 3 wins
Giratina VSTAR (Lost Zone) - 2 wins
Lugia VSTAR/Archeops - 2 wins
Charizard ex/Pidgeot ex - 2 wins
Raging Bolt ex/Sandy Shock ex - 0 wins

ArcTina actually beat Chien-Pao in the finals 2-1 somehow. Was my first time testing out CP Bax and yeah it's good. Really good. It's one of the few decks that I've had little trouble with the set-up, the other, surprisingly, is ArcTina itself. Every other deck I've played have had troubling starts a number of times. 

Raging Bolt with the 0 win didn't surprise me, it was as awful as I first expected it to be.

March 19 - Self Testing

Still got decks based out of Celio's video for this one. I was being a bit lazy and didn't want to change much stuff around, I just wanted to see how each deck worked. Gardevoir replaced Raging Bolt and Zard Bibarel replaced the Pidgeot version.

Results:

Giratina VSTAR (Lost Zone) - 4 wins

Lugia VSTAR/Archeops - 3 wins

Arceus VSTAR/Giratina VSTAR - 3 wins

Charizard ex/Bibarel - 2 wins

Chien-Pao ex/Baxcalibur - 2 wins

Gardevoir - 1 win

ArcTina won again! This time it beat Zard/Bibarel in finals (2-0 score). After all I said about Chien-Pao before, yup it did brick a lot this time around so maybe some things haven't really changed. One thing that did change, Gardevoir feels more awful post-rotation. The set-up takes a while to get going. It does smack Lugia which is funny.

March 19 - Locals

I had to bring ArcTina to locals! You know me, I have to try it out.

R1 vs Charizard/Pidgeot with Spidops ex W

• This was a weird Zard/Pidg list, it had Spidops in it
• I got the perfect set-up, Iron Leaves did it's thing and got the W

R2 vs Chien-Pao/Baxcalibur W

• Not my favourite matchup but if I can set-up perfectly early on, it's winnable and that's how it turned out. He was missing a few stuff and I got the KO on CP and they had a hard time trading prizes after that. 

R3 vs Charizard/Bibarael W (I actually lost but Bryan gave me the win)

• This one was painful, I had a hard time setting up and was playing catchup to Bryan the whole time, and couldn't get back into the game in time. Missing Turn 1 EA (Energy + Arceus) is a recipe for disaster.
• He was nice enough to give me the win since he wasn't playing in the invitational. I ended up finishing in first place which got me the 4 points I needed to qualify for the GSP Invitational #7. Job done!  

March 20 - Self Testing

I finally decided to change up the lists and I went to Azul GG's videos for inspiration this time and took lists he said he would play and decided to give them a try. Didn't change any of the deck selections.

Results:

Charizard ex/Bibarel - 5 wins

Giratina VSTAR (Lost Zone) - 3 wins

Chien-Pao ex/Baxcalibur - 3 wins

Arceus VSTAR/Giratina VSTAR - 2 wins

Gardevoir - 2 wins

Lugia VSTAR/Archeops - 0 wins

First things first, Lugia with 0 wins? As strong as the deck is, I can't say I'm surprised this can happen because Lugia is that type of a deck. If you can set-up, you're in a good spot and in many of my games in this testing session, I couldn't set up at all. As good as it probably is, this is one reason why I don't think I would go for Lugia for the regionals.

Who won? For the third time in a row, it's ArcTina! This time it beat Lost Tina 2-1 in the finals. This deck keeps finding ways to survive and win from what I've seen so far.

Having done two sessions playing Zard/Pidg and then Zard/Bib, I wasn't sure which one I liked better honestly. Zard Pidg got me 7 wins in total (pre cut) but Zard Bib also got me 7 wins in total (pre cut). Zard Pidg felt stronger as you could find whatever you neeed thanks to Pidgeot but also felt a bit more fragile because of the lack of drawing power which for me is the key selling point of Zard Bib. I'm still undecided which way I would go if I decided to play Zard again for the Regional.

March 26 - Locals

Took a bit of a short break from the format to focus on pre-rotation stuff with the two Town Leagues I got to play over the weekend. Decided to have some fun and play Arceus/Armarouge for locals. I had just started testing it in locals and in online events and it was impressing me with how good it felt so I wanted to give it a try.

R1 vs Giratina VSTAR (Lost Zone) L

• Just the usual case of not getting EA Sports in Turn 1 (Energy + Arceus) and it set me way back
• Mew ex did give me a few cheeky KOs and it felt really good in the deck with how it worked

R2 vs Turbo Iron Hands W

• My opponent just could not set-up and by the time he had anything going, I had my Armarouge ex ready to hit for 280! That's when it brought back great memories, it felt as if I was playing Centiskorch VMAX again. I mean the attack is pretty much the same, just doesn't feel the same though. 

R3 vs Giratina VSTAR (Lost Zone) W

• Much more even game this time around. I got the win but I gave Ray the win when I heard he needed one more point to get into the GSP Invitational event
• Armarouge ex and Delphox V put in work in this matchup

March 27 - Self Testing

My biggest self testing yet. I went from 6 decks to 8 decks! That was a first for me, but also meant more games to be played. I ended up using my brother's Charizard/Bibarel deck so I could test both versions and also added Ancient Box for the first time. All the lists I took were from the first few big online events that featured TEF cards.

Results:

Lugia VSTAR/Archeops - 6 wins

Chien-Pao ex/Baxcalibur - 5 wins

Arceus VSTAR/Armarouge  - 5 wins

Charizard ex/Pidgeot ex - 5 wins

Charizard ex/Bibarel - 3 wins

Giratina VSTAR (Lost Zone) - 3 wins

Gardevoir ex - 1 win

Ancient Box - 0 wins

Lugia wins again, it beat Arceus/Armarouge in finals and quite convincingly sadly. Made me wonder if Arc/Arm was actually good or I was just getting lucky with how my games went. CP Bax and Zard/Pidg also getting 5 wins did confirm my suspicion that those two might be the two best decks in the format currently, along with Lost Zone Box which I hadn't tested yet.

I've also done a number of online tournaments in this new format when the set was officially released on the 22nd and here's just a run-down of how my events have been so far:

Arceus VSTAR/Giratina VSTAR: (Total record 8/8/1)

• TOURNAMENT OF DOOM! Temporal Forces Legal
• 3/2/1 - 45th/154
• Matchups:
• Snorlax Control T
• Lost Box W
• Ancient Box L
• Zard/Bibarel W
• Blastoise ex/Palkia W
• Espathra L
• Ditto Forces #2! 100 Codes!
• 0/2/0 - 165th/175
• Matchups:
• Lugia L
• Torterra L
• PokeDeck #47
• 3/2/0 - 12th/33
• Matchups:
• Turbo Gholdengo L
• Lost Box W
• Zard/Pidgeot W
• Espathra W
• Ancient Box L
• Pokémon Battle Park (Mar 29)
• 2/2/0 - 114th/221
• Matchups:
• Bye W
• SableZard LZ Paradox L
• Snorlax/Pidgeot Control W
• Lugia L

Arceus VSTAR/Armarouge: (Total record: 6/5/0)

• Cinnabar Island Tournament #32
• 0/2/0 - 148th/171
• Matchups:
• Lost Box L
• Lugia L
• Sparkling Pokémon TCG Live #23
• 4/2/0 - 4th/24
• Matchups:
• Lost Box W
• Incineroar L
• CP Bax W
• Snorlax Control W
• Lost Box W
• Incineroar LWL
• Late Night 179
• 2/1/0 - 144th/268
• Matchups:
• Arceus/Bibarel W
• Gardevoir W
• Zard/Pidgeot L

Charizard ex/Pidgeot ex: (Total record: 9/9/0)

• Redacted Forces #1
• 0/2/0 - 141st/171
• Matchups:
• Lugia L
• Zard/Pidgeot L
• EUIC Prep Series #1
• 4/2/0 - 19th/95
• Matchups:
• Espathra L
• Bye W
• Turbo Moon W
• Raging Bolt W
• Ancient Box W
• Lugia L
• Sunny's Weekly #148
• 2/2/0 - 45th/115
• Matchups:
• Zard/Pidgeot W
• Pidgeot ex Control W
• Ancient Box L
• Gholdengo/Kirlia L
• Peladão da Baixada #104
• 3/3/0 - 14th/53
• Matchups:
• Lugia W
• Zard/Bibarel W
• Raging Bolt L
• Zard/Pidgeot W
• Zard/Bibarel L
• Lost Box L

Yeah not had the best of luck online so far, almost every event has been an x-2 drop. Still plenty to test and hopefully I'll have a better idea of what I want to play come Singapore Regional Vol. 3 and also the GSP Invitational #7, it'll be in the new rotation so I have to find something quick. Thanks for reading!

Kash Top 20 List: Decks from BST to PAR and how rotation will affect them

Well it's the new year which means the new 2024 Rotation will be coming soon. Japan has their rotation set in January but the rest of us will have to wait until April when the first set of the year is released. So while we still have 3 or so months of this format, why not look towards the future to see which decks will be heavily affected by the new rotation and which decks won't be affected.

Sets that will be rotating (E sets) are: Battle Styles (BST), Chilling Reign (CRE), Evolving Skies (EVS), Celebrations (CEL) and Fusion Strike (FST).

Prices on the list are as of January 2nd 2024. Currency is USD.

There are some top decks that I won't cover for the obvious reasons:

• Both Mew VMAX variants since Mew VMAX is finally rotating
• Inteleon VMAX and Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX are both rotating
• Zoroark from Evolving Skies is sadly rotating as well, making it's Phantom Transformation deck...well...disappear for good
• The Single Strike version of Lugia VSTAR will cease to exist
• Houndoom rotating means rogue decks like Gengar VMAX are also gone
• Shadow Rider Calyrex is rotating, sorry Horse Girl Hannah!
• Arceus VSTAR decks will take a hit with Duraludon VMAX, Umbreon VMAX and Flying Pikachu VMAX all rotating
• Kyogre rotating means the Lost Box Kyogre variant is gone for good!

#20 - Hisuian Zoroark VSTAR

Juststeelix - 2nd - Redacted Paradox #2

Cards Rotating: (3)

x1 Escape Rope (BST)

x1 Justified Gloves (CRE)

x1 Cleansing Gloves (BST)

Deck Price: $24.86

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 5%

The first deck on this list somehow has the best stats of any decks of the two things I'm working on here! The deck is the cheapest deck on the list and the second least affected deck by rotation. And if we get rid of the Gloves, it really only loses Escape Rope! The deck is still not one you'd usually see people playing but could be a fun project for some to try.

#19 Garchomp ex

Benjamin Merrit - 4th - AustraliaTCG OCIS Round 12

Cards Rotating: (11)

x2 Mew (CEL)

x1 Sobble (CRE)

x1 Inteleon (CRE)

x4 Battle VIP Pass (FST)

x1 Escape Rope (BST)

x2 Path to the Peak (CRE)

Deck Price: $45.58

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 18.33%

Garchomp is surely too good to stop being overlooked eventually. It's got two great attacks and one of it's recent new partners seems to be Slither Wing. It will lose some stuff to rotation, namely Path to the Peak and Battle VIP Pass (not the first time you'll hear this btw). There are a few new attackers coming in the first set of the year that uses Fighting Energy so Garchomp ex might find a new partner soon.

#18 Hisuian Goodra VSTAR (Lost Zone)

Robin Waters - 8th - Late Night 157

Cards Rotating: (8)

x1 Raihan (EVS)

x4 Battle VIP Pass (FST)

x3 Escape Rope (BST)

Deck Price: $38.94

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 13.33%

Hisuian Goodra can still be a threat in the meta. It was that way at the start of 2023, it was looking that way near the end of 2023 but hasn't shown up much since the release of Paradox Rift. It's one of the cheapest decks to build on the list, but the deck will have to deal with the loss of VIP Pass and Escape Rope come April and there aren't many like-for-like replacements. 

Rope can be switched for the new Primer Catcher A-Spec but there can only be 1 of it so 2 more spot for a switch/gust will be needed, be it Switch, Iron Bundle or whatever new is coming next.

#17 Tsareena ex

AbeLincoln - 7th - Cinnabar Island Tournament #15

Cards Rotating: (5)

*Rufflet can be easily swapped for a non-rotating Rufflet from SIT

x4 Battle VIP Pass (FST)

x1 Escape Rope (BST)

Deck Price: $39.23

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 8.33%

Another fun rogue deck for this list. It's cheap, it doesn't really lose much in rotation, the cards it loses are pretty much the same stuff every other deck on this are likely to lose anyway. This deck does have a lot of moving pieces so it can be quite hard to pull it's strategy off, but when you do, you can stop your opponent from ever attacking you.

#16 Gholdengo ex

Haruki Miwa - 1st - Kyoto Champions League

Cards Rotating: (10)

1-1 Milotic (EVS) + Feebas

4 Battle VIP Pass (FST)

4 Cross Switcher (FST)

Deck Price: $45.31

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 16.67%

Gholdengo ex finally got it's first big result in the last major event of the year in Kyoto. Another fun budget deck that losses Battle VIP Pass and Cross Switcher. The 1-1 Milotic can easily be replaced for anything else, be it a 1-1 Scizor line or add another line of Palkias to the deck. 

I do think the deck has some potential, I have played it a lot lately and I can't wait to see if it will be able to strive in 2024. Make it Rain is too good of an attack to be ignored and if the meta does shift to more big basic decks going around, that's just more good news for our funny gold man to hit funny big numbers.

#15 Arceus VSTAR/Giratina VSTAR

Douglas Maiola - 25th - Sao Paulo Internationals

Cards Rotating: (6)

x1 Avery (CRE)

x1 Raihan (EVS)

x1 Escape Rope (BST)

x3 Path to the Peak (CRE)

Deck Price: $62.04

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 10%

You know how much I love this deck. But I do think it's days are numbered because of Path to the Peak being rotated soon. The Path + Judge plan will cease to exist come April. So even if the deck only loses 10% of it's current list, losing Path might be a bit too much. Sure there are stuff like Pokemon League HQ, Lost City, Gapejaw Bog or Calamitous Wasteland to go with the disruption aspect but they don't serve the same purpose as Path.

#14 Klawf/Hisuian Electrode VMAX

Jack Underwood - 17th - Brisbane Regional

Cards Rotating: (6)

x4 Spicy Seasoned Curry (ASR) - It was released as a promo card during the E block in Japan

x2 Escape Rope (BST)

Deck Price: $49.65

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 10%

This one will not be good news to Klawf believers but even though Curry was released in the F block everywhere else, it was released in the E block as a promo card in Japan so Curry will be rotated soon, making it having one of the shortest life span for a non-Japanese card. 

Apart from that, the deck doesn't lose much, just Escape Rope. And it does have the upcoming Walking Wake ex coming soon that goes with this deck's gimmick.

#13 Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR

Joseph Nawal - 3rd - San Antonio Regional

Cards Rotating: (19)

x2 Ice Rider Calyrex V (CRE)

x1 Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX (CRE)

x1 Suicune V (EVS)

x1 Mew (CEL)

x4 Melony (CRE)

x4 Cross Switcher (FST)

x4 Battle VIP Pass (FST)

x2 Escape Rope (BST)

Deck Price: $48.90

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 31.67%

Going into 2023, Palkia was partnered with the Shady Dealing Inteleon engine and it survived that. Palkia suffers the most of any deck on this list from rotation, is it one too many rotations for it to survive? Ice Rider is gone, Mew is gone, Cross Switcher is gone, VIP is gone, Rope is gone. 

Even with all of that, I still think there is a way for Palkia to be relevant, whether on it's own or as a tech attacker in another deck. The biggest loss for this build however is Melony. It's hard enough to get two Water energies consistently on multiple Palkias, imagine not having the option to use Melony for it. The deck has survived one rotation but with Melony gone and Raihan also gone, it might be a one lost too much for Palkia to going into the next rotation.

#12 Roaring Moon ex

Luigi Vezzoni - 9th - Stuttgart Regional

Cards Rotating: (5)

x1 Galarian Moltres V (CRE)

x4 Battle VIP Pass (FST)

Deck Price: $74.92

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 8.33%

The numbers don't lie here. It's just VIP Pass and Moltres that is rotating. Every deck does lose VIP Pass so that's a problem everyone else have to deal with. 

Losing Moltres V does mean the deck lose one way to power up Roaring Moon ex and now it just has Sada and Dark Patch as it's main energy acceleration going forward, which could still be enough. Plus there will be more tools to help with the Ancient gimmick so this deck will likely get better eventually.

#11 Chien-Pao ex/Baxcalibur

Jared Grimes - 89th - San Antonio Regional

Cards Rotating: (4)

x4 Battle VIP Pass (FST)

Deck Price: $57.55

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 6.67%

Like Roaring Moon ex before, Chien-Pao/Bax is one of the decks that loses the least from rotation. It's just Battle VIP Pass that is gone. It has been struggling in this format so could rotation give the deck an added boost? 

My biggest worry for the deck is that losing VIP Pass means it might have a harder time to set up Frigibax and Bidoof and the deck is already struggling to do that at times right now! Imagine not having that option. That has been my biggest gripe with CP Bax and with TM Devo now a thing, that makes things even more scarier. 

#10 Entei V/Iron Valiant ex

Noah Sawyer - 2nd - Sao Paulo Internationals

Cards Rotating: (9)

x1 Medicham V (EVS)

x4 Battle VIP Pass (FST)

x4 Escape Rope (BST)

Deck Price: $85.46

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 15%

One of the newer decks in the meta and because of that, it's no surprise that it's one of the most expensive decks. It would be the most expensive if not for the two Charizard ex decks on this list. But there are two big losses in rotation for the deck. Losing Escape Rope means it can't take advantage of Iron Valiant's Techyon Bits as much as it used to. 

Losing Medicham V might be the bigger loss though as it a huge part for the deck's strategy right now. You want to spread damage around with Iron Valiant to the point where Medicham can pick something off and give you an extra turn, who doesn't like that?

#9 Snorlax Control

Łukasz Mazurkiewicz - 1st - Gdańsk Regional

Cards Rotating: (6)

x1 Crabominable V (FST)

x1 Avery (CRE)

x1 Sidney (FST)

x1 Peonia (CRE)

x1 Battle VIP Pass (FST)

x1 Echoing Horn (BST)

Deck Price: $34.82

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 10%

Yup Control will still be around for 2024 so be prepared. It will lose the ability to mill with Crabominable (that could be chaged to Che-Yu ex), and loses some key supporters but in all honesty, it won't actually lose any of it's important stuff which is a scary sign for the whole meta. 

The two main losses I suppose are Peonia and Echoing Horn. The deck suffer from bad prizing and since you don't take prizes, not having the option to take cards from prizes from a effect such as Peonia could be dangerous. Losing Echoing Horn just means the rest of us can easily discard Pokemon now without worrying about them being dragged onto the bench later on.

#8 Lugia VSTAR/Archeops

Alec Geissler - 22nd - San Antonio Regional

Cards Rotating: (2)

x1 Dunsparce (FST)

x1 Professor Burnet (Promo - Released under E block)

Deck Price: $59.57

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 3.33%

Yes, this is the deck that loses the least from rotation. Just Dunsparce and Burnet. Burnet however is a big one, it was the easiest way to discard. In all fairness, the first few Lugia lists didn't include it and still did well, so maybe it's not needed after all. 

Lugia hasn't seen much play lately with the increase in play of Miraidon. Losing Dunsparce does mean it's going to get even worse against the lighting crew. If you can avoid those and any decks featuring a Raikou V or an Iron Hands ex, the deck should still be able to thrive.

#7 Lost Zone Box (Turbo)

David Jon Del Rosario - 2nd - Philippines Regional League

Cards Rotating: (10)

x1 Dragonite V (Promo - Released under E block)

x4 Battle VIP Pass (FST)

x4 Escape Rope (BST)

x1 Echoing Horn (BST)

Deck Price: $70.80

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 16.67%

I could have picked the new wave of "Turbo" Lost box that used Roaring Moon ex and Iron Hands ex but I wanted to showcase the good ol' actual Turbo Lost Box for this one. For those wondering, Tord's list that got 5th loses pretty much the same stuff, VIP & Rope along with Kyogre and Energy Recycler. 

This one however does lose one major part that helps with it's Turbo strategy, that being Dragonite V itself. Lost Box decks does have the tendency to adapt to new changes so I do expect a new version of Turbo Lost Box to show up eventually, perhaps the rest will switch to the new wave of Turbo Lost box I mentioned earlier. And in fairness, that has been the way to play the deck recently. Maybe it's not a big loss after all.

#6 Lost Zone Box (Radiant Charizard)

Christian Fontenot - 1st - Stuttgart Regional

Cards Rotating: (14)

x2 Raihan (EVS)

x2 Klara (CRE)

x4 Battle VIP Pass (FST)

x4 Escape Rope (BST)

x2 Fog Crystal (CRE)

Deck Price: $36.05

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 23.33%

It's a different story for SableZard. It's cheaper yes but it loses more stuff. Raihan? Gone. Klara? Gone. Fog Crystal? Gone. For me, losing Raihan and Klara is quite a painful one for the deck to deal with, but an answer could be to use more Super Rods and Mirage Gates to solve the issue the deck loses from losing those two supporters. In fact, I can see a world where Tulip just outright replaces Klara to fix that role, but you only do get back Sableye, Comfey and Psychic Energy, which might just be what you want anyway.

The deck should still be fine to be fair, you have answers for evolving decks with the likes of Cramorant and Sableye picking stuff off and they can help set up numbers for Radiant Charizard to take down the bigger ex-s or Vs. Sure it doesn't look good with many important stuff rotating but I think the deck will still be alright. Lost Box decks can easily adapt so I expect it to do so.

#5 Miraidon ex

Juho Kallama - 1st - Sao Paulo Internationals

Cards Rotating: (8)

x2 Mareep (EVS)

x2 Flaaffy (EVS)

x2 Escape Rope (BST)

x2 Path to the Peak (CRE)

Deck Price: $75.14

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 13.33%

Miraidon seems to be the preferred engine for people wanting to make full use of Iron Hands ex which means it's one of the more expensive decks on this list. The deck will have to deal with the loss of Flaaffy to rotation. 

While it still does have Electric Generator, Flaaffy has always been the consistent energy accelerator for the likes of Iron Hands ex, Miraidon ex, Raikou V, Raichu V and Mew ex. The version with Path will cease to exist so the deck will likely go back to using Beach Court. 

#4 Giratina VSTAR (Lost Zone)

Alberto Conti - 3rd - Stuttgart Regional

Cards Rotating: (8)

x4 Battle VIP Pass (FST)

x4 Path to the Peak (CRE)

Deck Price: $70.78

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 13.33%

And one of the more costlier deck on this list and the deck only loses two cards two rotation. Battle VIP Pass and Path. Path is the bigger hit as it's the main part of it's strategy. You want to put your opponent down to as little cards as possible with either Roxanne or Iono and then hit Path to make it difficult for them to get out of it. 

And as of right now, there is no clear replacement for Path. Is this deck still good without Path? Time will tell. There are other Stadiums that can play a disruption role, be it League HQ or Temple of Sinnoh or Calamitous Wasteland but they don't quite off the same thing as Path as I mentioned for the other Giratina deck on this list.

#3 Gardevoir ex

Bryan de Vries - 15th - Stuttgart Regional

Cards Rotating: (15)

x1 Kirlia (CRE)

x2 Gardevoir (CRE)

x1 Mew (CEL)

x2 Avery (CRE)

x4 Battle VIP Pass (FST)

x3 Level Ball (BST)

x2 Fog Crystal (CRE)

Deck Price: $42.36

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 25%

One of the more cheaper options for decks that is considered a top tier deck. There is one huge problem for Gardevoir ex if you saw the number before this paragraph and it's that this deck loses A LOT from rotation, the 2nd most affected on this list after Palkia. The biggest loss is Shining Arcana Gardevoir, the deck's main attacker and part of the draw engine too. Sure there are other Gardevoirs or even Buddy Catch Gallade but they can't hit for big numbers like Arcana Gardevoir does.

If that wasn't enough, Mirage Step Kirlia being rotated means the deck will have to go back to the old strategy of getting out as many Ralts in Turn 1 as possible and evolve all of them into Kirlias Turn 2. Losing Level Ball AND Fog Crystal mean the deck loses a lot of its search options as well, and all that without mentioning VIP Pass. Mew rotating is also another issue but with VIP gone, perhaps it's not that big and the deck could instead choose to have a disruptor in the active now. Perhaps Klefki or even the upcoming Flutter Mane?

#2 Charizard ex/Bibarel

Thomas Jones - 6th - Gdańsk Regional

Cards Rotating: (5)

x4 Battle VIP Pass (FST)

x1 Escape Rope (BST)

Deck Price: $86.99

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 8.33%

Charizard ex decks are the most expensive decks in this list. It's the Charizard effect I suppose. The Bibarel version does lose lesser card to rotation than it's Pidgeot counterpart. It's loses just VIP Pass and Rope, and pretty much every deck on this list but a handful lose will lose either VIP Pass or Rope. 

I'd like to think the deck could be a viable choice going into the new rotation with how little it loses and Charizard ex is still one of the best attacker in the game and if more decks are playing TM Devolution, why not this version? The main selling point for this deck was that deals with Path deck better than Pidgeot but with that gone, what does it have over Pidgeot other than having a better time dealing with TM Devo?

#1 Charizard ex/Pidgeot ex

Azul Garcia Griego - 1st - San Antonio Regional

Cards Rotating: (8)

x1 Mew (CEL)

x4 Battle VIP Pass (FST)

x2 Level Ball (BST)

x1 Justified Gloves (CRE)

Deck Price: $93.89

Cards affected by rotation in deck: 13.33%

The deck that won the last major TPCi event, some say the best deck in the game going into 2024. And it is the most expensive deck on this list, does back up it's claim as the best I suppose. The deck actually doesn't lose much from rotation either. Justified Gloves can be swapped for another tool, likely to be Defiance Band, Level Ball will likely be switched to Nest Ball which leaves us with Battle VIP Pass and Mew. 

There are still some search option cards to soften the blow of losing VIP Pass. Mew however, there is nothing that can be an exact replacement for it. Still, I expect Zard/Pidgeot to be one of the best deck, pre-rotation and post-rotation. It has to surely, for the sake of Charmander please!

Now for a re-cap of the decks that cost the least to most and the decks that are the least affected by rotation:

Least expensive decks

1. Hisuian Zoroark VSTAR - $24.86
2. Snorlax Control - $34.82
3. Lost Zone Box (Radiant Charizard) - $36.05
4. Hisuian Goodra VSTAR (Lost Zone) - $38.94
5. Tsareena ex - $39.23
6. Gardevoir ex - $42.36
7. Gholdengo ex - $45.31
8. Garchomp ex - $45.58
9. Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR - $48.90
10. Klawf/Hisuian Electrode V - $49.65
11. Chien-Pao ex/Baxcalibur - $57.55
12. Lugia VSTAR/Archeops - $59.57
13. Arceus VSTAR/Giratina VSTAR - $62.04
14. Giratina VSTAR (Lost Zone) - $70.78
15. Turbo Lost Zone Box - $70.80
16. Roaring Moon ex - $74.92
17. Miraidon ex - $75.14
18. Entei V/Iron Valiant ex - $85.46
19. Charizard ex/Bibarel - $86.99
20. Charizard ex/Pidgeot ex - $93.89

Yup Charizard ex decks being the most expensive doesn't surprise me, neither do decks that have attackers from Paradox Rift, aka the three decks after Charizard ex. A good cheap alternate for anyone wanting to pick up a deck right now would probably be Gardevoir, Sable Zard or Gholdengo ex. 

The first two are something I'd recommend just for the time being as you will see later. If you have the money, Charizard ex has to be the best choice. Want a deck very safe from rotation, Lugia isn't the most expensive deck around, which is not the same story last year.

Decks least affected by rotation

1. Lugia VSTAR/Archeops - 3.33%
2. Hisuian Zoroark VSTAR - 5%
3. Chien-Pao ex/Baxcalibur - 6.67%
4. Charizard ex/Bibarel - 8.33%
5. Roaring Moon ex - 8.33%
6. Tsareena ex - 8.33%
7. Snorlax Control - 10%
8. Klawf/Hisuian Electrode V - 10%
9. Arceus VSTAR/Giratina VSTAR - 10%
10. Charizard ex/Pidgeot ex - 13.33%
11. Giratina VSTAR (Lost Zone) - 13.33%
12. Miraidon ex - 13.33%
13. Hisuian Goodra VSTAR (Lost Zone) - 13.33%
14. Entei V/Iron Valiant ex - 15%
15. Turbo Lost Zone Box - 16.67%
16. Gholdengo ex - 16.67%
17. Garchomp ex - 18.33%
18. Lost Zone Box (Radiant Charizard) - 23.33%
19. Gardevoir ex - 25%
20. Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR - 31.67%

Well I did say almost every deck will have to deal with losing Battle VIP Pass but the first two decks don't, that being Lugia and Zoroark. Of the top decks, Charizard ex, Roaring Moon ex and Control decks seem to fair better than most for the upcoming rotation. You could even include Klawf but the one loss of Curry might be a bit too big. Same for ArcTina losing Path.

On the flip side, Palkia, Gardevoir and SableZard will lose out more in the upcoming rotation. Of the 3, I think SableZard has plenty of alternatives to fix the missing pieces. The other two on the other hand, don't have that luxury. Palkia loses Ice Rider, it's main answer for Miraidon, a deck it has weakness to. Gardevoir loses it's main attacker, one of it's best ways to setup the perfect board state, and two of it's search optios. They won't dissaper once rotation hits, Gardevoir ex and Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR are two of the best cards in the format right now, they will find a way to survive. They just need to have a new look for the new year.

Thanks for reading!