Trial and Error: Pokemon Worlds Testing

With 5-6 weeks of preparation for World’s 2018 format under my belt, I have built, tested, analyzed, and theorized over a dozen different decks. In this article I will be going over many different archetypes that I have at one point considered for Day 1 of Worlds, where they are ranked on my list currently, and any helpful information I have about them.

Yveltal BREAK

This is the first worlds format deck I built the day I got home from NAIC. I was very hopeful for this to be a top tier archetype because of the new Shrine of Punishment stadium. Shrine of Punishment goes really well with the pre-established Yveltal BREAK and friends spread deck. I went into testing expecting for this to beat all of the top decks. It is favored against Buzzroc, check. Favored against Rayquaza-GX, check. Favored against Zoroark Control?

Unfortunately not. Zoroark Control has what seems at times to be an unlimited amount of healing due to playing 2 Max Potions and an Acerola with 4 Puzzle of Time and Oranguru UPR to get them back. It also plays Parallel City, which is a pseudo healing option as it can remove damaged benched pokemon. Along with not being able to definitively take games against Zoroark Control, this deck has very little draw power outside of Supporters and has an abysmal matchup against Naganadel/Stakataka due to Stakataka’s ability.

If you are expecting to see more Buzz and Ray than Zoro Control, this deck is a great pick. It is currently not in my top 3, but I am usually biased towards Zoroark-GX decks because of their options and draw power.

Zoroark Lycanroc

I piloted ZoroRoc to a Top 128 finish at NAIC and played it for many other tournaments throughout the season. Since it is one of my favorite decks and it has felt strong and adaptive since it’s creation, I have been determined to make it work for World’s. My NAIC list would not work now because it relied heavily on Strong Energy and played only special energy, making it fold to Zoroark Control. I have been working on a very teched out version to attempt to make the deck have 50/50 matchups across the board.

I have included Diancie Prism, Sylveon-EX, Basic Fighting energy, Mew-EX, and Baby Buzzwole in my most recent iteration. Basic Fighting energy are better vs Zoro Control since they are harder to remove, especially if the Zoro Control is not playing Crushing Hammer and Plumeria.  Diancie Prism is almost necessary for the Buzzroc matchup, since I am only playing 1 Strong energy at the moment. Diancie Prism is usually not a pain to get out, since Buzzroc frequently plays a Brooklet Hill down in the first couple of turns. Sylveon-EX helps a lot in the Rayquaza-GX matchup, since I can already take an OHKO with Lycanroc-GX’s Dangerous Rogue and another with Baby Buzzwole or two shot with anything, Sylveon-EX is a great way to at least take 2 prizes to win. Sometimes Sylveon-EX puts in more work and takes 4 prizes. Mew-EX is obviously for Buzzwole-GX, but can also help against some fringe things like Naganadel-GX and Lucario-GX. ZoroRoc is currently just under my Top 3 for World’s as of now.

Naganadel/Stakataka

I really like this archetype, but I think it will have to wait for next season to be anything but a rogue deck. For now, Parallel City hurts too much because it both limits Naganadel-GX’s damage output and limits how many Stakataka-GX you can have on the board. I think that a Stakataka-GX/Dusk Mane Necrozma-GX variant with Max Elixirs and Beast Ring is more viable since it would give Buzzroc a hard time due to Stakataka-GX’s ability as well as have one shot potential vs Zoro Control with Dusk Mane GX. I have been putting a lot of thought into Stakataka/Dusk Mane, but with just over a week until Worlds I don’t think a new idea is going to be one of my choices.

Scizor-GX

I originally wrote Scizor-GX off for worlds, but I put some testing in that almost swayed me to consider it. With Metal Frying Pan, it is very possible to make Zoroark-GX decks have to three-shot you, or hit you twice and then you heal Scizor with Acerola. In testing, I could beat Zoro Garb and Zoro Pod, but Zoro Control looped Oranguru against me due to Scizor-GX not being able to OHKO Oranguru outside of using Cross-Cut GX with two Dhelmise benched. I am very excited to try Scizor-GX post rotation, but a deck that can’t beat Worlds Format Zoro Control is a deck I have no interest in playing.

Zoro Garb

I put two weeks of building, testing, and theorizing new lists into Zoro Garb leading up to NAIC and could not get a favorable matchup vs Buzzroc, and I am in the same predicament for Worlds. Lycanroc-GX runs through this deck and there is no sensible inclusion that can take care of it. In addition to its poor Buzzroc matchup, I have never enjoyed playing the deck and it always feels clunky to me. It is not one of my top choices, but I do think it is a good deck and is on many players’ lists of potential decks.

Rayquaza-GX

From my first day of testing with Ray variants, I knew they wouldn’t be an option of mine for worlds. Straight Rayquaza-GX is far too linear for my liking and Rayquaza/Garb is slightly clunky. I think Straight Rayquaza-GX is one of the 5 best decks going into worlds due to its speed and lack of tie potential, and good matchup vs Zoro Control.

Zoroark/Lucario

Zoroark/Lucario-GX was my top runner in early BKT-FLI testing until the Baby Buzz variant of Buzzroc became popularized. If you hit the combo, Lucario-GX can oneshot most GXs for one energy. I rebuilt Zoro Lucario to try to beat Zoro Control with type advantage and aggression, but I found myself losing to Zoro Control because of Zoro Lucario being less consistent and running out of steam after taking the first 3-4 prizes. I came to around a 50/50 matchup percentage between Zoro Control and Zoro Lucario, and that isn’t good enough for me considering I built the deck to beat Zoro Control.

Thoughts Before My Top 3

Zoroark Control is such an oppressive force over this meta because of its array of control and disruption options and the new addition of Magcargo. Magcargo adds consistency and removes RNG from trading into what you need and also allows you to tech more one-ofs into the deck because you can search them when you need them unless they are prized. Zoroark Control is the best deck in format in my opinion, so it is my first deck I test every other deck against. It is my favorite deck in the format and I have practiced with this deck the most, but I am hesitant to enter Worlds with it due to the grueling mirror match. I think that playing a consistent deck that can finish a full 2 out of 3 match is one of my main focuses on selecting my deck.

Option #3 Buzzroc

I have never entered a tournament with a Buzzwole-GX deck, but it has such a great matchup spread right now. This is my backup option if the first two don’t pan out for whatever reasons.

Option #2 Zoroark Gardevoir

Zoroark Gardevoir is my second favorite deck from the regular season of 17’18’ and I’m happy to say it has a very real chance at being a strong contender for Worlds. In testing, it has had a favorable matchup to Zoroark Control, Zoroark Garbodor, and Rayquaza. It does have a very bad matchup to Buzzroc, but good matchups vs 3 out of 4 of the top decks is not bad at all.

Option #1 Zoroark Control

I have practiced so much with this deck, and I believe that if played correctly this deck has the potential to beat any deck. It is my number one pick right now and it will take new information to sway me into playing one of my other options.

I am expecting the most played decks to be Zoro Garb and Buzzroc, followed by Rayquaza-GX variants and Zoroark Control. I expect Zoroark Control and Buzzroc to have the highest success rate. I think Buzzroc is a very safe play and I am also looking into Magcargo and Oranguru as an alternate draw support for Buzzroc as opposed to Octillery.