Taking Sylveon GX to a Pokemon League Cup

The Summer Season of League Cups has begun! This past weekend had two local tournaments, one in Watervliet and one at Flipside Clifton Park. I attended both, and played the same Sylveon list in both events.

Watervliet

The decks for this event were very similar to what was expected. Zoroark/Vespiquen was one of the most popular choices, but beyond that decks were scattered.

Top 8:

• David Clarke – Metagross
• Dale Russell – Drampa/Garbodor
• Joshua Vazquez – Gallade
• Nick Race – Vespiquen/Zoroark
• Nick Chimento – Vikavolt/Tapu Bulu
• Korben Cherkas-Clark – Mega Ray/Garb
• Saviere Stevens – Mega Ray
• Brad Morgan – Rainbow Road

Metagross had a strong showing here, due to its reliability and sustainability. Being hard to kill, Metagross survive hits from most attackers, especially the Stage 1s. Even though it struggles against Flareon, overall Metagross did well against the meta.

Clifton Park

Only three players made Top Cut both days, and between the two tournaments there was a wide variety of decks.

Top 8:

• Chris Siakala – Drampa/Garbodor
• Nick Race – Vespiquen/Zoaroark
• Nick Chimento – Garbodor/Espeon
• Saviere Stevens – Mega Ray
• Alexander Pineda – Mega Ray
• Matt Kent – Alolan Ninetales
• John Gavin Jr – Volcanion
• Robert Yesse – Primal Groudon

Drampa/Garbodor managed to make it to Top Cut in both events even though players built their decks to beat it. This is a testament to the deck’s strength, and likely means it isn’t going anywhere, at least until next set.

The other deck that did consistently well was Mega Rayquaza. Although it has been weak for a long time, the Sky King has returned. With high HP and high damage, it can reliably do well against a large portion of the meta.

Sylveon’s Performance

I ended 3-2 each day, both unfortunately missing Top Cut. However, the deck played well. Both of my losses on the first day were due to bad luck. The first was the failure to find a Fairy Energy, and the second was a true donk by Latios EX. This is a weakness of the deck, but once it gets going Sylveon becomes very hard to stop.

The second day had a very different pair of losses. The first was because I had a pair of Sylveons prized, which created an unwinnable scenario. The second was a true auto-loss against Primal Groudon. None of the scenarios I have listed are common, and therefore seem to not be critical when considering viability.

Vs. Zoroark/Vespiquen

Sylveon has a great matchup against this, and its popularity is good for the deck. Vespiquen is almost useless, considering that will hit for a max of 60, with that number being late game. Zoroark also hits for a tiny number, due to the low bench and resistance. The only attacker left is Zoroark BREAK, and Sylveon’s attacks are not strong. The most powerful attack to copy does 110, and after resistance only 90. Without any damage amplifiers, Zoroark BREAK 3-hits a Sylveon. This means that it relies on Choice Band or Kukui, both cards which can be denied with Delinquents. Frequent energy removal and Delinquent make it hard for Zoroark/Vespiquen to kill Sylveon, and Max Potions can negate their efforts.

Vs. Drampa/Garbodor

The matchup is usually over before it even begins, due to the high impact of the coin flip. If Garbodor wins the flip, then they go first, play a Hex Maniac, and prevent Sylveon from ever playing the game. If Sylveon goes first, then the turn one evolution removes the usefulness of a Hex. Sylveon also has an easy time keeping items out of the discard pile, with a large quantity of Supporters to choose from and easy searching. Garbodor also has a high retreat cost, so once the Float Stones are gone one can get stuck active.

Vs. Vikavolt/Tapu Bulu and Metagross

These two play out in the same fashion. Both of them have very powerful energy acceleration, so powerful that energy removal simply can’t outdo it. Unless they get Delinquented to zero cards on turn one, it simply is unwinnable for Sylveon.

Vs. The Meta

Sylveon has a niche place in the meta. It struggles against decks with heavy energy acceleration, but can beat the stage one decks. Aside from decks that can keep up energy, there are no true auto losses, with most matchups even favoring Sylveon. In my experience with the deck, a large number of games can be won if Sylveon makes it past turn one and two.