These four decks I expect will do well in BRs.
Tyram
Stage 1s
ZPS
Trainer Lock
1) Tyram- It was the deck to beat in worlds, and it will likely be the deck to beat again for BRs. The deck is the easiest, consistent, and perhaps the cheapest deck in the format. All you need to do is swarm up Typhlosions and lay down a Reshiram and you'll be hitting massive damage every turn. Even with Catcher's release, the deck doesn't really change a bit. Typhlosion has high HP and a solid retreat, so if the opponent wants to disrupt the deck somehow, they have to KO the Typhlosions when they are Cyndaquils or Quilavas. I think this deck will once again do well in Battle Roads, as it hasn't really changed one bit.
2) Stage 1s- With EP's release, the deck gets a lot of fun cards. Catcher is the big one. Now, Donphan and Yanmega can take better advantage of disruption, as both are fast and hard-hitting attackers. Stage 1s also gets Max Potion. Now, Donphan becomes harder to take down, and Yanmega can now heal with ease. The deck can now also use Tornadus, which helps in the mirror in that it prevents stalemates. Indeed, I won't be surprised with Stage 1s manages to win a lot of BRs.
3) ZPS- Now that the deck has Tornadus, it finally has an answer to Donphan. Tornadus is the number #1 Donphan counter out there in that it is a basic, resists fighting, and it 2HKOs Donphan. Catcher is another card that ZPS gets. With Pokemon Catcher, it can now be way more disruptive early in the game since the deck is a speed deck that tries to win it all early in the game. With these two cards, ZPS is finally a good deck, and I do expect it to win a couple of BRs.
4) Trainer Lock- When I mean trainer lock, I'm talking about Gothitelle and Vileplume. When either of the two are combined with Reuniclus, they became an unstoppable force. Ross's deck just proves it, and it is one of the forms of trainer lock that will most likely win a lot of BRs. It has so many good Pokemon that it can easily take care of any metagame threat. Ross's deck is one of the decks that uses Vileplume, which has the advantage to trainer lock from the bench, but it prevents you from using trainers as well. This is where Gothitelle comes in. It is the opposite in terms of Vileplume. It needs to be active in order to trainer lock, and only your opponent can't use trainers. With Gothitelle, you can use trainers, which is the main plus of it. The only major problem is that it is a slow attacker, so it doesn't have a strong early game. However, with Twins and Reuniclus, it allows the deck to have a very good late game, being able to tank in that there is almost no way to OHKO Gothitelle besides an opposing Gothitelle or a Magnezone with 3 energies out. Surely, I can expect both Vileplume (mainly Ross's deck though) and Gothitelle variants to also win a lot of BRs.
These 4 decks, I believe, have the strongest chance in doing well this upcoming Battle Roads. Tier 2 decks, however, like Megazone and Magneboar, also have a good chance of winning several Battle Roads.
Whatever it may be, this upcoming BRs season is sure to be interesting.:smile:
