Gardevoir ex — My Top Choice

Hello to all PokeBeach readers! Here is Gabriel Semedo again, and this time, I want to talk about Gardevoir ex. I always try to avoid meta decks when choosing a deck for Regionals, but if I don't have satisfactory or better results with a rogue deck, then I prefer to choose a consistent metagame deck capable of doing well in as many matchups as possible. In this scenario, I see Gardevoir ex and Dragapult ex / Dusknoir as the best choices, and between these two there are positive and negative points that can make you prefer one over the other.

Gardevoir's biggest problem currently is N's Zoroark ex, which is a very bad matchup because the deck can Knock Out two single-Prize Pokémon with N's Darmanitan, or Knock Out Gardevoir ex with N's Reshiram by taking advantage of its Weakness. The more popular N's ​​Zoroark is, the worse it is for Gardevoir. Gholdengo ex is another Tier 1 matchup, and decks with Charizard ex generally also give Gardevoir a hard time. In the case of Dragapult / Dusknoir, the deck manages to have an even more balanced metagame than Gardevoir, bringing several matchups closer to 50-50.

The matchup against N's Zoroark is slightly unfavorable for Dragapult / Dusknoir, around 40-60, but it's much better than the 30-70 or less that Gardevoir has. Regarding Dragapult / Dusknoir's bad matchups, there is almost no completely unfavorable one, but there are several slightly unfavorable ones that are around 40-60 and 50-50, such as Gardevoir, Gholdengo, Tera Box, and Joltik Box. For me, Dragapult / Dusknoir's biggest problem in terms of matchups is straight Dragapult, which is an unfavorable matchup and is, unfortunately, a very popular deck. In short, straight Dragapult wins the matchups that a Dragapult / Dusknoir deck wins more easily, and usually loses the matchups that Dragapult / Dusknoir loses more easily, but straight Dragapult has an edge in the head-to-head against Dragapult / Dusknoir. It's also in general more consistent, something that comforts pro players because a consistent deck allows them to perform better without being betrayed by bad draws.

Dragapult / Dusknoir faces several problems in the metagame, and the biggest problem is the existence of a more streamlined version of itself. Gardevoir, on the other hand, has a big problem with N's Zoroark. Other than that, though, the metagame for Gardevoir is much more favorable, which has made me choose Gardevoir as my top pick for Santiago Regionals.

In today's article, I will briefly comment on Brent Tonisson's Gardevoir list, which is the most successful list to date and is the list I have been using. After better understanding the 60 cards in this list, I want to focus on the matchups, as it is necessary to adapt your game plan according to the deck you are facing.

Explanation of Cards

3-2-2 Gardevoir

The idea is that you always have a Gardevoir ex on the field and at least one Ralts, so when your Gardevoir ex is Knocked Out you can evolve another one with undefined. This is a line that allows you to consistently set up a Gardevoir ex by the third turn. Honestly, there is no need to hurry to evolve by the second turn — it's better to focus on getting Energy in the discard, setting up one or two Munkidori with Darkness Energy, or even finding the appropriate attacker. The setup is slow but consistent.

Three Munkidori

Munkidori has one of the strongest Abilities in the game. Several other decks in the format use Munkidori, but none of them can extract all of its qualities as well as Gardevoir ex. With that in mind, we want to make the most of this Ability, and I believe that the most you can do is play three Munkidori with three Darkness Energy. This way, you can consistently put two on the field, and sometimes it is possible to put all three. Most of the time, more is better.

One Budew

When your starting hand is good and/or you realize that your opponent's setup isn't so good, it's worth using Budew to slow down your opponent's game while you set up your board. In some matchups, like the mirror match and Dragapult, Budew always helps to slow down your opponent.

One Cleffa

Conversely to Budew, when your starting hand is bad and/or you realize that your opponent's setup is good, it's worth using Cleffa to speed up your setup so you can attack as quickly as possible. In some matchups, like Joltik Box and Raging Bolt ex, I don’t think you can effectively use Budew to stop your opponent from doing what they need to do, so it's better to improve your setup with Cleffa than to slow the game down.

One Scream Tail

This list doesn't play Boss's Orders, so undefined is the only way to do damage to the Bench when you're not losing. Scream Tail is often your initial attacker in games where you complete the setup first and neither player has taken Prizes. You always want to avoid Knocking Out the opponent’s Cleffa or Budew, because they are useless after setting up, they take up a spot on the field, and you can always Knock them Out later.

One Drifloon

This is the attacker responsible for dealing the bulk of the deck's damage. With the help of Munkidori, this damage exceeds 330, and then you can Knock Out any Pokémon in the format.

One Lillie's Clefairy ex

Lillie's Clefairy ex is very good for the Dragapult ex matchup, but it is also a great attacker against N's Zoroark ex, as it is weak to Metal and is not KO'd by Zoroark ex.

One Fezandipiti ex

This is a deck focused on single-Prize Pokémon, and because of that Fezandipiti ex does a phenomenal job, because you can activate it at least five times. This Pokémon is especially important because it is practically the only Pokémon in the deck to offer draw power. In some matchups, you should put a Bravery Charm on it, because it will likely be one of the opponent's main targets.

Four Professor’s Research

In the current format you only have one turn to set up with the help of Items, because on the second turn the opponent can start using Budew. The same goes for your ability to search for and discard Energy, since you rely on crucial Items like Earthen Vessel and Ultra Ball. Professor's Research helps solve this by discarding Energy under Item lock, and also by digging for additional cards to help your setup.

Four Iono

Iono is the second best draw Supporter in the game and has one of the best punishing effects in the endgame.

One Professor Turo's Scenario

Professor Turo's Scenario allows you to correct your field and remove unwanted Pokémon, such as a Budew that has already done its job or a Clefairy ex or Fezandipiti ex that is at risk of being Knocked Out. Furthermore, it can be used on any Pokémon that has a lot of Energy trapped on it to return those Energy to the discard — this happens a lot when you set up a Drifloon or Scream Tail with five Energy. Another good function of Turo is to escape attacks from Maractus or Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex on your Fezandipiti ex.

Four Nest Ball

Often your Items must be planned out with the Supporters you are using. Since the list has a full set of Professor’s Research and Iono, we need to fill the deck with Pokémon search Item cards, so that when we draw six or seven cards we always have one or two search cards there. Nest Ball targets practically the entire deck, with the exception of Kirlia and Gardevoir ex.

Four Ultra Ball

The Ultra Ball has the function of discarding Psychic Energy and helping your setup, mainly looking for Kirlia and Gardevoir.

Two Rare Candy

There are matchups in which the best (and only) way to evolve will be with Kirlia, and there will be matchups in which the best way to evolve is with Rare Candy, especially those in which the opponent starts to take Prizes very quickly. Rare Candy has the important function of evolving a Gardevoir in the late game, when the opponent is no longer using Budew and your Gardevoir ex will probably be their target. Whenever the opponent has the opportunity to Knock Out your Gardevoir, they will do so.

Three Earthen Vessel

Discarding Energy is a complicated task for Gardevoir in its current form. If you don't play enough Earthen Vessel, the Energy won't come. Additionally, putting Darkness Energy on Munkidori is a top priority as soon as the first turn.

Four Night Stretcher

Using four copies of Night Stretcher is a welcome overkill for the deck. You don't actually use all four Night Stretcher in a game — you may only need two — but the fact that you always have an Item like this at your disposal makes your life easier in many ways. If the opponent Knocks Out two Ralts with Darmanitan or Wellspring Mask Ogerpon, with four Night Stretcher you can easily replenish the Bench. If your Munkidori is Knocked Out, with two Night Stretcher you can bring it back with an Energy. With four Night Stretcher, you have four Scream Tail or four Drifloon. Basically, you don't suffer from insufficient counts of any Pokémon, and you can freely use Professor's Research and Ultra Ball without worrying about discarding anything important.

Two Counter Catcher

Scream Tail is your way of hitting the Bench when you're winning, but when you're losing you may need to use another attacker, such as Gardevoir ex or Drifloon. You can also use Counter Catcher to bring some of your opponent's useless Pokémon with high Retreat Cost forward and use Scream Tail to hit the Bench.

One Secret Box

This is not a spectacular ACE SPEC, but it contributes significantly to the deck's configuration and strategy. The cost of discarding three cards from your hand can be seen as a good thing as it allows you to discard Energy, and the search for cards contributes to the proper functioning of the deck.

Two Artazon

Artazon further contributes to the consistency of the deck and helps with setup even under the effect of Budew, but it should also be seen as a counter to Jamming Tower, the only card in the format capable of neutralizing Pokémon Tools such as Bravery Charm. Fortunately, there are few decks that use this Stadium, but any deck can adapt itself to include it, so it is important to stay alert and not discard your Artazon unnecessarily.

Three Bravery Charm

Normally we think of Bravery Charm as most useful on Scream Tail and Drifloon, which is not wrong, but in many cases we have to use it defensively to protect Fezandipiti ex from Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex's attack, or to protect your Munkidori from Iron Hands ex.

Seven Psychic, Three Darkness

This is the ideal number of Psychic Energy to extract the maximum potential from all your attackers. The attack that involves the greatest use of Psychic Energy is Scream Tail with Bravery Charm. This uses six Energy at most, so you can use it for maximum effect even if one Psychic Energy is in your Prize cards.

The number of Darkness Energy matches the number of Munkidori. The idea in this list is that you get at least two Munkidori on the field with Energy, so it's best to play three copies of Munkidori and three copies of Darkness Energy to be able to do this even if one copy is in the Prize cards. And, clearly, the more copies in the deck, the greater the ease of accessing them. This makes a difference in how easy it is to set up multiple Munkidori in a game.

Matchups

Vs. Gardevoir: 50-50

If you know how to play this matchup from start to finish, you can get a good advantage.

The perfect starting field is Budew with Bravery Charm in the Active Spot, two Munkidori on the Bench, two Ralts, and a free space to be able to bench Scream Tail later. It's difficult to understand when you should stop attacking with Budew to hit with Scream Tail, but I believe that if your setup is better than your opponent's and you are able to attack with Scream Tail to take the lead in the Prize race, it's best to do so. Budew is good, but it doesn't advance the Prize race, and too much time using Itchy Pollen only allows the opponent time to set up.

Scream Tail is the best attacker for the early game because you can hit around the opponent's Budew, Knocking Out Pokémon of higher value, which could be a Kirlia or Munkidori with Darkness Energy. Avoid Knocking Out Budew, as it takes up space on the opponent's Bench and doesn't add value in the mid- to late game.

This concludes the public portion of this article.

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