Building Top Tier Decks in Team Up Standard

Welcome back readers! I’ll make this introduction short and sweet since this article is a bit beefy, but rest assured I have packed it full of knowledge and theories for building many of the top decks for the SUM-TEU Standard Format.

Table of Contents

• Psychic Malamar
• Archetype Overview
• Deckbuilding
• PikaRom
• Archetype Overview
• Deckbuilding
• ZoroRoc
• Archetype Overview
• Deckbuilding
• Zoroark GX - Decidueye GX - Alolan Ninetales GX
• Archetype Overview
• Deckbuilding
• Passimian, Zapdos, Outro

Psychic Malamar

Archetype Overview

Psychic Malamar is an adaptive, top tier deck that looks to be a fairly safe and well-positioned archetype heading into SUM-TEU. The combination of Necrozma-GX to one shot opposing GX Pokemon and Giratina which systematically recycles itself to the board to trade with other one prize attackers make this deck hard to ignore.

Deckbuilding

1 Ultra Necrozma GX / 1 Metal Energy

This is an idea that I saw fellow player and friend Rukan Shao talking about, and I am quite fond of the theory behind it. Ultra Malamar tends to be less consistent than Psychic Malamar but gains better matchups because of Ultra Necrozma-GX’s Sky Scorching Light GX attack which puts 6 damage counters on all of your opponent’s Pokemon but can only be used if the total amount of prize cards between you and your opponent is 6 or less. This GX attack is notably good against Lost March because of their Pokemon having very low HP, against mirrors because Sky Scorching Light GX can KO two opposing Malamars if you were able to use Giratina’s Distortion Door 3 times to place counters on those Malamars, and against any decks using Jirachis since Jirachi only has 70 HP.

This inclusion is now reasonable because of Viridian Forest, a new stadium card from Team Up that allows you to discard a card to search your deck for a basic energy card. This means that with 1 Metal energy and 2 Viridian Forest you technically have 3 outs to your Metal Energy which you won’t need until end game anyway.

Onix LOT or Marshadow-GX

A fighting type tech attacker is more important now than ever with the release of the powerful Pikachu Zekrom GX, which is a new fighting weak threat. We already teched a fighting type attacker for Zoroark-GX, so we get even more value out of these techs now in theory.

Marshadow-GX has been working well for so long, you might be asking why change to Onix now? Well, Marshadow-GX is only useful in Malamar because it can copy attacks from discarded Pokemon due to its ability. Alolan Muk, which shuts off all abilities on basic Pokemon,  is likely about to be at its highest power level and highest play rate to date. This makes Marshadow-GX a somewhat risky choice for your tech against ZoroRoc which should definitely be playing Alolan Muk. Onix doesn’t need to use an ability and its a one prize attacker that will one shot Zoroark-GX and Pikachu Zekrom GX, making it a natural substitute for Marshadow-GX and seemingly an upgrade. The downside to Onix is that it needs 4 energy to use its attack that swings for 120. This means that the deck should be built a bit differently if Onix is being included.

Acro Bike or Judge Whistle

Acro Bike has been a long time inclusion in Malamar variants as it can potentially draw you a card while simultaneously discarding something that is better off in the discard pile for this specific deck, like a Psychic Energy or a Giratina. Lists that use Double Colorless Energy and/or Metal Energy for their attackers in addition to psychic energy may consider Judge Whistle as an Item based draw in place of Acro Bike since there are less targets that are beneficial to discard in a deck built like this.

Erika’s Hospitality

4 Cynthia plus 4 Lillie plus 2 Erika’s Hospitality would make 10 draw supporters which would admittedly be nice to have for early game consistency purposes and an additional type of draw for when Cynthia or Lillie are not the optimal supporter choice. But, since Psychic Malamar thins so many cards out of its deck in an average game, I have been comfortable with just 4 Cynthia and 4 Lillie.

Viridian Forest

Viridian Forest allows you to discard energy or unwanted cards to search your deck for a basic energy and put it in your hand. This replaces the energy that you discarded initially for the search (if you discarded energy) and thins your deck of one energy per use if you complete the search. The additional bonus is that you can use Viridian Forest to replace strong opposing stadiums like Wondrous Labyrinth and Thunder Mountain.

Below are 3 lists, all of which I have been testing. If one of the options or ideas I expressed above are not included in one of the lists below, that is because they did not make it through the stages of testing to be in the current drafts of these lists. List 1 has Onix as the fighting tech and a few Double Colorless Energy to help. List 2 features Marshadow GX as the tech instead and gets to play more Psychic Energy. List 3 sports Ultra Necrozma GX and a Metal Energy as an alternative attacker to have access to. 

Pikachu Zekrom Tag Team GX

Archetype Overview

PikaRom is a brand new archetype that has not had a chance to prove itself; that is until this weekend when Team Up is Legal. PikaRom is an oppressive, speedy deck that almost seems unfair in the games when it gets rolling right out the gates. Unfortunately I will not be sharing a list for this archetype as the best list for PikaRom I have come across is a friend’s list which is not mine to share. Hopefully he'll put up a result and share his deck. But, I will be going over a few main points about building a list for this exciting new archetype!

Deckbuilding

3 Pikachu Zekrom Tag Team GX

In my eyes, Pikachu Zekrom is an archetype that focuses solely on… Pikachu Zekrom. In many situations your ideal turn 1 or turn 2 is to use Full Blitz and put 3 energy onto a benched Pikachu Zekrom. 3 copies of the card in your deck helps with consistently doing this and finding the first Pikachu Zekrom to get things going.

No Raikou SHL

In the case of PikaRom, it is actually very bad to lead with a single prize Pokemon like Raikou. Since Pikachu Zekrom awards 3 prize cards when knocked out, an opponent could knock out a Raikou and Pikarom and then be left with 2 prize cards to take. Since your board will almost always have a Zeraora-GX, in this scenario your opponent would be able to target down this 190 HP Pokemon to win the game instead of your 240 HP Pikarom. Without a Raikou in the mix, your opponent will likely set out to KO two Pikachu Zekroms, which is a challenge without fighting type Pokemon to help them out.

The goal of this deck is to attack with Pikachu Zekrom’s Full Blitz attack as soon as possible, and often in translation this means soon after attacking with Tag Bolt GX as soon as possible. Raikou is counterproductive in this sense as well, because you could just attach energy to a Pikarom instead of setting a Raikou active to accelerate one energy and deal 30 damage.

2 Weakness Policy

PikaRom is the shiny new deck on everyone’s radar, so safeguarding yourself with a couple of Weakness Policy is probably a good idea. Buzzwole FLI is being talked about as an easy tech against PikaRom, and Weakness Policy is an easy tech back against Buzzwole.

Max Potion or Acerola

As our deck is built around a 240 HP powerhouse, a couple of healing cards really prove worth having around in my testing. I favor Max Potion since it doesn’t use your supporter for the turn like Acerola does, but either of these are a step in the right direction.

Zoroark GX and Lycanroc GX

Archetype Overview

ZoroRoc is still alive and well through yet another new set release. It gained a new card here and there, but it’s fundamentally still the same deck that focuses on consistent aggression with moderate damage output.

Deckbuilding

Alolan Grimer / Ditto Prism / Alolan Muk

As I covered a few weeks ago, there should be an upsurge of Alolan Muk and Alolan Grimer inclusion in Zororoc lists. This is due to a surplus of valuable abilities on basic Pokemon such as Jirachi, Tapu Koko Prism, Marshadow-GX, Marshadow SHL, and Giratina. ZoroRoc lists previously were built with Alolan Muk and only a Ditto Prism for it to evolve from. WIth the addition of Alolan Grimer, setting up Alolan Muk is more reliable and it is now possible to reestablish an Alolan Muk.

Lillie / Nest Ball /Pokemon Communication /Ultra Ball

Replacing the Professor Elm’s Lectures with Lillies, ZoroRoc now has the Strategy of a turn 1 Lillie coupled with multiple ways to search out Pokemon. This Turn 1 with Lillie can help you get an energy attachment and more plays for the following turn. Also note that Alolan Grimer is not searchable by Professor Elm’s Lecture.

Weavile UPR / Unit Energy

While I am a huge fan of Weavile, I like to keep my ZoroRoc list streamlined. One of the biggest reasons to play this deck is its consistency that allows you to actually play the game most of the time. While I completely respect the inclusion of Weavile, I prefer to rely on the consistent aggression that Zoroark-GX and Lycanroc-GX are so great at providing.

Nanu

Nanu provides you with a very unique option of replacing an unwanted Pokemon on your bench like Tapu Lele-GX or Marshadow with a Pokemon you want on your bench, in this case Zorua or Alolan Grimer. Of course, this utility supporter means you cannot play something like Kukui or Guzma that turn, but there are oftentimes situations with Zoroark-GX decks where you have 10+ cards in your hand and every additional option is a chance to progress the game in your favor.  

Zoroark GX - Decidueye GX - Alolan Ninetales GX

Archetype Overview

ZDT originally gained traction leading up to Roanoke Regionals in November. The deck struggles with setting up from time to time, but is very efficient once it gets two Decidueye-GX into play. ZDT naturally has favorable Malamar matchups making it a dark horse going into this tournament.

Deckbuilding

Yveltal-GX

Yveltal-GX’s GX attack instantly knocks out the defending Pokemon if it has exactly 4 damage counters on it. Since two feather arrows are exactly 4 damage counters, we can use this combination to take an instant KO on huge Pokemon like Gardevoir-GX, Solgaleo-GX, and most importantly Tag Team Pokemon.

Larvitar LOT

Yveltal-GX is likely not strong enough to single handedly win the PikaRom matchup, so Larvitar is here to help with its Second Strike attack which is also very good vs Zoroark-GX decks.

Passimian, Zapdos, Outro

I have already covered two of my favorite decks, Passimian Koko and Zapdos Jolteon, in great lengths. Please refer to this article for a complete breakdown of Zapdos Jolteon, this video for my deck profile on Passimian Koko, and this video for additional information on Psychic Malamar, Zapdos Jolteon, and Passimian Koko. I am eager to watch OCIC and see what decks dominate the new SUM-TEU Standard Format as I prepare meta scores and matchup spreads for Collinsville Regionals. Thank you for reading, and good luck wherever you compete this weekend!