The top10 decks of the current format: Part 2!

Will Landorus EX live up to its hype
on my list?

Hi everyone!


It’s New Year’s Eve, so there is nothing better to do, but to list the remaining top5 decks of the current format. If the top10-top6 wasn’t surprising for you, I’m sure that the top5 will include some big surprises for everyone. The only thing that I think you won’t be surprised of is the number one (or who knows, maybe you are?!).

My Japan’s trip will be closing in, but I’ll hopefully be able to make at least one entry before going to Japan and then bring some really great information from Japan when I get back from the trip. I hope everyone has a great New Year – I’m sure I’ll have a blast as soon as I get this entry released!

Enjoy and remember to have good time!

5. Klinklang/EXs


Well, I guess you didn’t see this one coming. I wasn’t too keen on Klinklang in the past format thanks to Hammertime autowinning against it and, because I thought that it didn’t have that good match-ups against any players that knew what they were doing against it. However, in the current format Klinklang’s story is very different. Thanks to Landorus EX, the metagame has shifted a lot from the Darkrai/Mewtwo –dominating format and this has given Klinklang a new opening.

The main factors in Klinklang’s new found success are Landorus EX (to be exact, its weakness) and Blend Energy WMFL, which makes Keldeo EX a very strong attacker. And thanks to Blend WMFL, you can use Terrakion as well. With Keldeo EX and Terrakion, you’re able to OHKO the most difficult EXs to OHKO in the format – Landorus EX and Darkrai EX. Not only can Keldeo EX OHKO Landorus EX, but it also gives the deck a lot needed every turn Switch ,which makes the deck even more awesome.

For a moment time Hydreigon was better than Klinklang, because it could abuse one of the best EX-Pokémon in the format (Darkrai EX) and could energy accelerate via Dark Patch. However, as the metagame has become more and more hostile towards Hydreigon/Darkrai EX, it has made Hydreigon/Darkrai EX weaker while at the same time making Pokémon that work with Klinklang a lot stronger. Nowadays, Klinklang doesn’t even lose in speed against decks like Eelektrik, because it can attack e.g. T1 Hammerhead just like any other Landorus EX variant.

Nonetheless, it’s still good to face the truth. Klinklang can’t energy accelerate and Hammertime still autowins it. And while Hammertime is even more popular than it was in the past format, it stops Klinklang’s advancing on this list. 5^th Place isn’t bad, but without Hammertime, Klinklang could fight for the top spots of the tier1.

4. Quad Sigilyph


Wait what, am I serious? Yes I am and to be honest, I love the concept of this deck. It wouldn’t be this high on the list, if it weren’t a “new” deck, but as it’s fairly new for most players, it makes all the way to the 4^th spot of this list. There are many variations of Quad Sigilyph roaming around the field since the deck is so new and the definitive list hasn’t been found yet. However, this makes the deck pretty much only better than it would be if the definitive list would’ve been found at this point of the season. Whenever you’re facing this deck, you can never know what’s going happen next and which tech they pull out of their sleeve.

The concept is brilliant since the tier1 is full of decks that main attackers are almost all EXs and maybe one or two none-EX Pokémon. Even though Sigilpyh is a horrendous attackers, it becomes quite deadly when you have 4 Sigilyphs and a bunch of Trainers to throw at your opponent’s two - for example - Terrakions.

So, here’s a hint that I can’t take an advantage of since I will be going to Japan in early January: if your metagame and area’s players are still lagging behind in the metagame and aren’t familiar with this deck, play it! Not only it’s super fun to play, it’s a very competitive deck especially in the less-developed metagame. I would love to play it in the Cities in January, but can’t. I sure hope someone does!



3. Blastoise/Keldeo EX


It was a personal surprise for me that Blastoise/Keldeo EX got this high on my list. I was VERY skeptic about the deck as soon as Boundaries Crossed was released, but thanks to Landorus EX being competitive, Blastoise/Keldeo EX became one of the best decks in the format. Landorus EX is the only reason why Blastoise/Keldeo EX is so high on this list.

Blastoise/Keldeo EX is just real anti-metagame deck even though it can be considered as a metagame deck. It has no real weaknesses in the metagame and there isn’t a direct counter against Keldeo EX. Shaymin EX is the only one that can even dream of OHKOing Keldeo EX with a low energy cost. And as the deck is prepared to use their own Mewtwo EX against possible high-energy Mewtwo EX from the opponent’s side, it has no weaknesses. However, as said, Landorus EX is two free prizes for Keldeo EX and even for Blastoise! Not to mention that Squirtle’s Ability only makes Landorus EX even more of an autowin. It almost seems like the card makers wanted to do something that wins Landorus EX even when blindfolded.

It’s also worth noting that even though Blastoise/Keldeo EX is a stage2 deck, it’s one of the most consistent decks out there when correctly built. In my opinion, this is one of the only decks in the whole format, which you can build “in a wrong way”. And it’s all about consistency. If you get the build consistent, you have a shot at winning any deck in the format, but if your build fails in consistency, you can lose to a theme deck.

The reason why this deck isn’t any higher on this list is pretty simple – the deck is a stage2 deck! No matter how consistent you make the deck, you’ll once in a while be donked by a Tornadus EX, be run by T2 Darkrai EX or lose to a late game N when you only need one energy to win the game. This format isn’t stage2 decks’ format and there is nothing that Blastoise/Keldeo EX can do to it. You can win a tournament with a stage2 deck, but in a long run, Basic decks will always win over 50% of the tournaments - at least in the current format.



2. Hammertime


And with Hammertime I mean any deck that combines Sableye, Hammers and Darkrai EX. I believe that the old school Hammertime, which I won Nationals with and the new school Landorus EX/Darkrai EX Hammertime are equally popular at the moment. I may be a bit biased when putting Hammertime to the top2 spot, but hey – it’s my list!

The reasoning behind putting Hammertime to the second place of the list are all the assets that Hammertime has and has always had. Thanks to Landorus EX, decks like Quad Sigilyph and Klinklang/EX have become more popular. And the more the format has anti-metagame decks, the better Hammertime gets. The reason why I decided to play Hammertime in Finnish Nationals was, because I knew someone was going to try to break the metagame and the common feature in rogue decks is the lack of energy acceleration. It has been this way forever in Pokémon TCG. The reason? Energy acceleration combos are the easiest to figure out thus being the most popular decks especially in the young format.

The format has evolved and as more and more rogue-like decks pop up, Hammertime gets stronger by each rogue deck. It’s also good to remember that Hammertime never went away! No, it has always been a viable deck as long as it has been public knowledge. There are so many Darkrai EX variants in the current format that many people sometimes forget about Hammertime, but whenever most players forget about Hammertime, wise Hammertime players can take an advantage of that and depress their opponents once again with unlimited Hammerspam. 

If I were to choose between Landorus/Darkrai Hammertime and Darkrai/techs/Hammertime, I would go with the latter. The reason for this is that if you keep the deck as a monotype deck, it becomes more consistent, which makes it stronger. It’s true that Landorus EX is very strong especially against Eelektrik and Hydreigon decks, but as they see decrease in play due Keldeo EX having decks, it’s time for Hammertime to adjust to the changing format as well. This is managed the best via going back to origin of Hammertime and getting it consistent, fast and endurable against possible Terrakions. Not to mention that when built and played perfectly, Hammertime could be the number 1 deck of this list. However, now it has to settle with the second place.






1. Landorus EX/Mewtwo EX


To be honest, this isn’t only my opinion, this is a fact. Landorus/Mewtwo has the most 1^st and 2^nd places in the City Championships and has all the qualities that a competitive deck can have (except for the energy acceleration). In my opinion, the lack of energy acceleration makes it surprising that the deck is the current BDIF. As you can see from the list, there are only 2 decks in this list that has no decent way of manipulating their energy and Landorus/Mewtwo is one of them.

In fact, Landorus/Mewtwo is so good that I made an article about it to the SixPrizes UG. Here are the reasons why Landorus/Mewtwo is – in my opinion and based on the facts – the current BDIF.

1) Landorus EX destroys single-handedly the set-up of the ex-tier1 decks – Tynamo and Deino

2) Mewtwo EX is still the hands down best card in the format

3) Just like with Darkrai/Mewtwo in the Worlds 2012 format, you get the best result by combining the two most powerful Pokémon EXs in the format

4) The deck has a lot of space and is very versatile when it comes to teching

5) It’s the most consistent deck in the format due the low amount of resources the attackers need

6) There just isn’t a straight-enough counter against this deck in the current format – Blastoise/Keldeo EX does a wonderful job due Landorus EXs resistance, but since it’s a stage2 deck, it isn’t nearly as consistent as the Basic decks of the format

Landorus EX/Mewtwo EX is the BDIF by the metagame’s will. In the perfect and equal world, it probably wouldn’t be the BDIF as its only asset would be that it’s fast. The biggest reason why Landorus EX/Mewtwo EX is so good is that it counters the most ex-tier1 decks – now tier2 decks. Landorus EX single-handedly shifted the metagame to a new direction thus making Landorus EX/Mewtwo EX the most natural pick for the number one spot.




 Conclusion

And that’s the end of the top1 best decks of the current format as seen by me! I hope you enjoyed the both parts of these entries and that they gave you new point of views towards the metagame and these decks. I would like to make these kind of entries in the future as well and I hope you can gave me some ideas what kind of top10 lists you would like to see. They are fun to make and if I put enough effort to them, I can make them entertaining and thought-provoking at the same time. So let me hear from you!

Thanks for reading!