Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Top 10 Decks you can expect at Regionals!!

T

Tmanplayer21

New Member
I don't post on the Gym much, but I thought I would give a quick analysis of the top decks you can expect to see at Regionals.

1. Metanite- is hands down the top deck in the format, it can really match-up with just about any deck. It’s main issue is that every good player knows how to play against it and will have something ready for it.


2. RaiEggs- is still a nasty deck. It matches up well against most of the format and has a great balance between spreading damage and OHKO’s.


3. Flygon ex d Variants- A lot of players love Flygon ex d and why not? It has 150 hp with no weakness and a nice poke body. It can be played with many different Pokemon. Expect to see it played with Flygon d, Eeveeloutions, Nidoqueen d, Altaria ex d, and Eggs d.


4. BanDoom- has seen a little less play since the emergence of Latilock, but don’t count it out by any means. This deck will jump out at you in a hurry so be ready and don’t leave your Latilock at home.


5. MSN- has seen some play at states and it is a true contender. It struggles with some inconsistent starts so be ready to take advantage of that. Once this deck is up and running, it is tough to bring down.


6. Destiny and Stantler Variants- Destiny is probably the newest deck on this list. When playing Destiny or any other Stantler deck, just be prepared for an annoying battle. You can win, you just have to use your windstorms and counter stadiums wisely.


7. Shiftry ex Variants- These decks can come at you in many ways. Just make sure you have something ready for a Shiftry ex or else it can tear you apart. These decks are generally slow, so take advantage of that.


8. Flariados- You better be prepared for this deck because it can come at you in a hurry. They don’t call it Donkados for nothing. If you expect to see this deck played in your area, I strongly suggest adding a few more switch cards in your deck.


9. Jolteon ex/ Cacturne d- This deck may seem like a joke, but it actually spreads damage quicker than you would think. Just be aware of Jolteon ex’s first attack because once you get a few damage counters on your Pokemon they could be an easy target. I would also be ready for Absol ex in this type of deck.


10. Gardevior ex d Variants- Although Gardevior ex hasn’t seen much play yet, I would be ready for it. It’s Imprison poke power is very disruptive and can bring havoc upon any deck that relies on its powers and bodies. Hopefully most people will still be scared off by Banette ex and Flygon ex d.


Honorable Mentions: Mewtric, Sallygross, ScizorGross, Kingler d, Quagsire d, LudiCargo

If you don't like my top 10, then feel free to post your own.
 
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before this gets locked for being like a poll I invite future post to list reasons on why you made your list.

1. Flygon Ex D variants - Doesn't have a bad matchup against anything in the format with the right techs for your local metagame.

2. MSN-BC - the closest thing to LBS (IMO) in this year's format. I dare say that it's even better then LBS cause of the Holon engine. But then again I wasn't around last year early enough to play against a good LBS, much less build one.

3. Delta (aka Raieggs) - Still very good but has a near auto-loss to the Flygon Ex D variants.

4. Destiny - Believe the hype. It's a good deck. But requires a lot of skill to play.

5. Banette Ex variants - The card is still good. Bandoom with reversals/crystal shard (for the latilock) can be deadly.

6. Metanite - what has been dominating cities/states isn't going to dominate regionals, nats or worlds at least IMO. Hard matchups against the rest of the format, and with MSN-BC getting popular look for Metanite to be played less.

6. Flariados - doesn't have too many bad matchups (maybe anything Psychic that can do 40 damage, did someone say Metagross (Dx). But as we all know flips are huge.

7. Mewtric - lost Admin/pow but trainer lock on your opponent can be devastating.

8. Gardy Ex D variants - a good card but weakness hurts a lot. I'm personally still try to pull of semi-Mercury builds with it.

9. Secret Decks - SD factor is always a plus.

10. Stantler variants - the SD factor back in cities is what made the deck(s) place well. I was never a believer (and still am not). But I have to put it here simpley cause the format doesn't have much to offer.
 
Ok, my turn...

1. Destiny. Copying the latest hot thing is the bomb in Pokemon circles. Is this deck the new Mynx of the format, or a one trick pony that did its job? Time may tell but be ready for it.

2. Metanite. Once again, success breeds success. The Metanite contains a fast, consistant engine that feeds on itself. Its success is its own worst enemy, as decks are now aiming for it, as they should be.

3. Flygon Var. This is another hot deck, where the big Pokemon and its supporting cast abuse the holon's engine to get up on you, and not let you get away.

4. Metalix. Talk about a nice Meta counter. Steelix is hard to take down, and is resistant to electric as well. A delta Onix would make this neck and neck with the Metanite and Flygon for Speed.

5. Raieggs. If you can't beat them, counter them. This is quickly becoming the counter deck to the format, shutting down other decks and abusing the ultra fast holon engine. It's success is great, and will continue.

6. Bandoom. When the World Champion likes a deck, people take notice. This deck has speed, disruption, and variants of it are easy enough for a 5 year old to win $300 with!

7. Sallygross. Now that the attention is off of this deck, there will be a few fewer crystal shards played, and this deck may make a resurgence. When it goes off, it is as fast as the Flygon, and hits even harder. Crystal shard has always been its downfall.

8. Pink. Blaziken/Delcatty variants are popping up all over the place, and have done quite well. Some of the most powerful players are quietly testing this deck and its potential. It has trouble, being unable to abuse the holon engine to guarantee its speed early, but if it gets set up, it makes its opponents worried!

9. Flariados. Disruption to the extreme. This deck, for one energy, still trips up some of the big hitters in the format, and energy removal is more and more devastaing.

10. Scizorgross. The ability to abuse not only boost in here, but have multiple hitters is huge. This deck takes a lot of skill, and a lot of practice, and is slowed down again by the lack of abuse of the Holon Engine.

11. Secret Deck. Given that it is unknown, it is also out of the top 10.

Many other decks to choose from, but those would be my top 10.

Vince
 
1. Flygon.var – Speed, bench killing, no weakness, and easy tech makes Flygon one of the best decks out there. There is a reason that Flygon variants won more States than any other deck and success breeds popularity.

2. Metanite – Most consistent deck in format, easily teched, and able to dish out ridiculous damage when needed. It’s biggest downside is age and the fact that so many other decks tech against it specifically now.

3. Destiny – The latest hot thing, true, but I’m not sold yet. Folks will play it and it will not surprise me at all if it wins in various places, but I’m also expecting some bad lists out there too.

4. Delta – Since everything else runs on powers, playing a deck that shuts them off is a good play and is bound to have some success.

5. MSNBC – Another list gaining in popularity, not quite as consistent as Metanite nor as tweakable as Flygon, but MSNBC is arguably tougher and hits harder for longer too.

6. Flariados – Disruption is good and few other decks can tech in enough condition fighting to really cope with Flariados well.

7. Banette – Bandoom, SpeedBan, Bantler, etc. will all see play. Ban is the best t2 hitter in the game and can eat any other deck that gets a slow start before they know what happened.

8. Shiftry ex – There are a LOT of different decks that could fall into this category, ranging from anti-powers Shiftry ex (cg) decks to de-evolution copycat Shiftry ex (pk) builds.

9. Sally – In addition to SallyGross I expect to see some sort of Salamance ex (pk) deck do really well somewhere.

10. Random.dec – Gardevoir ex d, Mercury, Super Stantler, Aggron ex, Arcanine ex, Slaking, Delcatty/Blaze, Dragonite ex d, etc. What major event doesn’t have rogue decks?
 
Absolutions? I think people will be testing and perfecting it, and it will eventually become sort of like destiny with eeveelutions, and it will be a really good deck.
 
Having played against Destany and seeing it in action a couple of times, I can very readily say this about the deck:

Destany is only as strong as the person playing it.

I played my Flygon against dld4a's Destany this past weekend, IMO one of the better, if lesser known, players in the Chicago area. He probably would have won if he had made just a couple of moves differently. Either way, I was walled the entire game due to his incredible supply of Crystals and his ability to get them out quickly and effectively. If I'd've been playing against Jimmy, I'd've lost completely.

Dragonite ex delta will be a force. It's MewTrick with a consistent big attack. With no weakness, it's tough to take down, especially if it hits T2 like it did three times against me this past weekend. This deck is the real deal, and it should do something special for this upcoming series.
 
1. Metanite

It beats format IF played correctly and built correctly. If you don't have an up to date metanite list, don't bother playing it, it will lose :(

2. Flygon ex d
150 hp no weakness BEAST w/sand damage.
Anyone remember when Rulemaster said if there was a card with sand damage and an attack that did at least 70 damage, he would play it even if it had fecal matter on it? XD

3. Destiny
Face it. It will be played. Doesn't mean it will win, you need to have a pro behind the deck for it to work.

4. MSN-BC
This will see play JUST because it can abuse steelix. Steelix ex makes so many decks, maybe people should try aggrolix.

5. Raieggs
One of the most consistant decks in the format, but the problem with it is that everyone knows about it and are constantly teching against it.

6. Sallygross
Very strong deck in the format atm right now. OHKO's steelix and metagross, isn't ohko'd by banny/raichu.

7. Flaridos
Like it or hate it, it is a good deck. If you say it is JUST based on flips, play the deck and see that it is not.

8. Bannete
It will be played just because it is fast and powerful :D

9 SD
Suprise factor is a powerful weapon.

10 Random decks/Mercury
People will just play them.
 
1. Metanite
Let's face it. It won the most cities AND the most states. It's going to be played again in high numbers. As Moza said, the list you played at cities won't necessarily work this time around. Tech it right, practice, and you might just have yourself a winner.

2. Flygon ex d variants
Four of these won a state, and it's been popular anyway. Although I think Flytech is better, this will see lots and lots of play.

2. Raieggs
Still a beast. Can beat almost everything in the format with the correct build and player, and it's cheap (other than Transciever), so it'll be played in great quantity.

3. MSNBC
This has seen loads more play recently, and with good reason. It's a very good deck. I do think, however, the top decks like Metanite and Flygon can tech for it pretty easily, so it's a risky play. Still, the numbers will be up there.

4. Banette
So many decks play latilock now that I'm not sure how effective Bandoom is, but it and other variations will see some play. It's a consistant, safe deck to play, and there aren't very many dark decks at all.

5. Flariados
It's out there. It has the least state wins on this list so far but it has good matchups across the board. I haven't played this deck a lot, though, so what do I know.

6. Destiny/Stantler Varients
I don't think as many people are going to pick up Destiny as you would expect. It's a tough deck to play, let alone tweak for your metagame, and I have a feeling most people will feel more comfortable with something else. I do think, however, that Stantler can be played with so many other decks that it deserves this spot.

7. Flytech (for lack of a better name)
Lesser known than the other, it's the version that focuses on Flygon d more than the ex. This is what Kyle Sabelhaus won his three states with. It plays Mew* and Ray ex as techs, along with Holon Energy GL for Flariados. One of the best decks right now, but it won't see a lot of play simply because it isn't that well known and not many people have the list.

8. Shiftry
It got two states wins, and from walking around and checking things out, I saw a lot more being played. I wouldn't be suprised to see a few of these at Regionals.

9. Other Known Decks
This is where I'd put stuff like TTar, Arcanine, Megalix, etc. All good decks, but I just don't see the numbers.

10. I don't know.
Read above. I suppose this slot could be Secret.dec, but there are many "secret decks" that don't work. If there are any that do, this is where they'll be.
 
1.Bandoom- YES!!!! My favorite deck. Fastest deck as far as setup and massive disruption with reversals/ER2 battle frontier,beach. Massive damage. MASSIVE MASSIVE MASSIVE. Only problem with this deck is you get alot of mulligans and they have low HP.

2.Metanite- The most consistent deck thats out there and does probibly the most damage. Only weakness to this deck is this deck has too many counters but yet has alot 50-50 matchups. Such as CC,battle frontier,crystal shard. Bandoom somewhat,Raieggs somewhat,flariados. Many many more.....

3.Raieggs- Consistent deck and the retreat cost of them are pretty low. Its nice that you can spread out damage pretty quickly and prevent them from using any pokemon powers or bodies from CC. Watch out for windstorms. Only weakness this deck has is it has low HP,making it an easy prey from heavy hitters.

4.Destiny- I only have seen the deck a couple times when i went to rockford but i hear it has alot of disruptions and it does have alot of suprises. Its nice that you dont have to evolve your pokemon and you can just attack them head on. Kinda similar to mynx only your being aggressive and not defensive. Only weakness is they are ex cards and some cards can counter ex pokemon like wobbuffet. Raieggs tear it apart.

5.Flariados- Ugh that spider gives me the creeps *shrieks*. Crazy disruption and gives out alot of special conditions. Now that skarmory ex is in the field it makes flariados a formable force. Its nice to give out a T2 70 between the evolutionary flames and the reactive poison. Only weakness the deck has is it relys on coin flipping.

6.MSN- Its much like LBS but a little slower. It does massive damage with steelix ex's mudslide and nidoqueens vengeance. Sometimes theres scizor ex if you dont like discarding your energies. Only problem is this deck takes time to setup and if metagross is not on the field then you will have some problems giving out damage.

7.Dustox EX- I could see probibly like 5-10 people playing this deck against decks like destiny especially and bandoom. Ugh..... This deck does often get a real fast set up but problem is it loses to metanite so thats going to be hard to win a tournament.

8.Flygod- Its kinda like rocklock since you can spread damage quick with flygon ex. Its pretty consistent but again this deck does take time to set up. It loses alot of ground when your only pokemon with energies is KOED.

9.Arcadoom- This deck can drive any deck crazy with arcanines over run and this deck gives out alot of disruption between the reversals and houndooms lonesome. Only weakness is Latios EX D owns this deck and this deck loses alot of ground so in other words you will have a hard time building up your bench.

10.Mewtric- Fast setups with electrikes recharge and a T2 disruption with no trainer card limitation on your opponent. This deck often loses to bandoom since mew ex is weak to psychic and banette CG can take care of those pesky dogs. Its ashame that it lose POW and Admin. But this deck can often beat popular decks like metanite and raieggs for instance but loses to alot of other decks as well.
 
Flygon- was good in the beginning and is now, but however it really hasn’t changed and the sad thing is that it really cant. Its power comes from flygon being a constant threat at any point of the game. I have been trying to improve the list but as of yet its time in the lime light may be shorter than expected, but the saving grace may be that the Metagame is shifting to smaller and smaller decks. This makes flygon stronger and stronger with every new small deck that is played.

Metanite- an uber consistant deck however this seems to be its down fall when it comes to it making a come back, don’t get me wrong it can be good. But when you are fixing the deck to your Metagame why does it always come up that I don’t want to take out that extra metagross, or in this case almost anything or I will get a slower deck. This wouldn’t be a problem but as it stands with the Metagame any punch held back is a loss for this deck. It is almost always a slugfest for this deck and its starting to loose its swagger. its gettting harder to one step ahead against everything now.


msn- this deck is capable of becoming faster than metanite, and in my opinion is the least explored deck for its capabilities. It can take on a lot more techs than flygon. It’s only down fall is yeah its dry spells, However if it gets off of the ground look for protection.

Flaridos- still a contender if the Metagame stays big, clunky or dependent on bench sitters. As of so far it can do well but with a majority of the bench sitters being either metagross or resistant its becoming less effective. It is getting out played more and more now. It can do well but not if Metagame continues with the same trend of becoming psychic, losing bench sitters and/or just becoming too big to worry about a little bit of status damage. I just don’t see this deck being able to keep throwing your soldiers in like delta can. Overall it greatest strength has been the fact that people believe it to be the underdog and it turns around to smash your deck.

Delta- it is one of those decks you learn to hate and love if you play it. However it has been losing its love. There are a lot of decks capable of going toe to toe with it now and not to mention most decks have something in their deck that clears the path of at least three prizes when played right. It just cant afford to try to win by throwing guys at a problem every time one occurs. I mean it was bearable when opponents used to only make one last comeback but now it is just how the entire match goes. It just doesn’t have the tripping power it once had and is overshadowed by flaridos in this regard. It may move up ranking if the Metagame continues its trend of more Pokemon with bodies and powers and foes getting smaller.

Boom- variants- It is still trying to find that key to break the last lock that will allow it to become the set up destroyer it always wanted to be. Its as its name implys it can be a threat in an instant. The only problem is that it is running out of time.

Sallygross- one of the only decks that can go toe to toe with anything and has great match ups against the other metagross variants and to boot it doesn’t need ex cards to win. As I see it this can become the deck to beat everything like it. I don’t see metanite being able to play holon legacy, which is just one of the things it can use. As another benefit it has more delta basics than msn deck. its only downfall is that it is usually one turn behind most decks consistantly.

Destiny- as it is meant to be the grim reaper of everything currently. It has a lot of potential to become its intended purpose. However it has horrible match ups against two of the top decks in delta and flygon decks. Not to mention anything that is metagamed up against a flaridos stands a little better of a chance. Its biggest downfall is that it cant do what delta can by the fact the entire deck needs to win with an ex at some point. Although a powerful foe I don’t see it being able to handle anything that gets set up. It’s the only deck that doesn’t rely on energy acceleration. It strengths seem to be a mixed blessing. At any rate look out for it.

Blaziken- could be a threat again, he has a lot of friends to choose from this season. Lugia ex, latias star, arcanine ex, sallys, typlosions, ray ex, slaking, jolteon ex, absol ex and almost anything you want. The only problem is that the deck would be extremely clunky in comparison to the delta decks playing the castform engine. This need for more copies of cards to up the decks capabilities is its downfall. However this deck has a lot of capabilities to become a very disruptive deck.

Gard variants- are seeing resurgence with boom loosing its grip. It is powerful contender just the only problem is that everything they can play well almost always tend to have the same weakness and thus becomes very easy to tech against. If you have battle frontier, cessation crystal and/or holon legacy and a good psychic tech you have them in the ropes. I would be wary of them because no body seems to really be preparing for them at all. Their said weaknesses really are not being exploited. Everyone seems to point at flygon and hope it deals with this deck. At any rate I see this deck making an actual showing for the first time in its life. Especially being it seems to be one of the few decks that has gotten more from the last two sets than any other deck and that it will get a tremendous boost from DP.



As it stands any other deck has become obscure or is simply too red face paint to mention beyond this.
 
How is this supposed to help anyone prepare for regs? One should only worry about which decks are popular in their own area. Secret decks are enough of a headache, pick something solid.
 
for one i am going to play in another regionals than where i currently live. maybe this can be more oriented to helping people for regionals, but what do you suggest, Articjedi or anyone who wants to jump in. for one this could help by i put my opinion of their ranking, although i completely understand how this is almost always biased, in this case i can say that i am not. i dont play any of the decks i posted and i dont intend to. either way i compared the decks to each other as decks before the actual matchups. i am not sure why anyone else put theirs.
 
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I suggest trying to figure out your local metagame and selecting a deck with appropriate measures to counter said metagame. Posting your thoughts on an international metagame doesn't figure into regionals.
 
Articjedi said:
I suggest trying to figure out your local metagame and selecting a deck with appropriate measures to counter said metagame. Posting your thoughts on an international metagame doesn't figure into regionals.
Click to expand...

This is my first season at regionals so bare with me. But my logic tells me there aren't anymore metagames. Regionals attracts more people then Cities and States did. Meaning there will be a large variety of the decks played that are mentioned in this post.
 
not really, you should expect about the same amount of people as a states. There are a lot of people who travel between states simply for the purpose of getting that $300 travel award. You may get a few more people here and there, but the players you actually have to worry about, probably made the same trip to states already.
 
1. GrumpigStall
He won a lot in Europe defeating all the MSN, Metanite, Boom, Flygon d, Flariados, Raieggs, Latideck he found.
What a pity it will not be used at Worlds....
 
chriscobi634 said:
2. MSN-BC - the closest thing to LBS (IMO) in this year's format. I dare say that it's even better then LBS cause of the Holon engine. But then again I wasn't around last year early enough to play against a good LBS, much less build one.
Click to expand...

What?? :confused: Um, the holon engine was around last year, and if you ask most players who played BLS they would tell you that BLS is much much more consistent that MSN.

Drew
 
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