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
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
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| 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
0) Snorlax Control
- I can't afford to play very slow games in a bo1 Regional and no ties
0) Pidgeot ex Control
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.
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| 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)
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| 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
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| 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!
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| 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!
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| Please don't hurt me! |
