Howdy Y'all!
Returning to the game after a playing hiatus from standard since around DAA, and a meta-analyzing lurker hiatus since the start of the year, and looking to post a list of the new Giratina VSTAR since he's probably one of my favorite legendaries, and he seems really good with the return of the lost zone supported by an actual engine. The lost zone was my favorite mechanic back when they revived it in Lost Thunder, and that set is probably my favorite from the entire 4 years I played semi-competitively (at my lgs, 2015-2018 rip), so it seems almost poetic to swing back into standard with the revival of one of the most interesting mechanics in the entirety of the game, spun in a completely new, but also (almost) retro way.
Pokemon (15)
***CARD TRANSLATIONS***
Giratina V – Dragon – HP220
Basic Pokemon
[C] Abyss Seeker: Look at the top 4 cards of your deck. Put 2 of them in your hand and put the remaining cards in the Lost Zone.
[G][P][C] Shred: 160 damage. This attack’s damage isn’t affected by any effects on your opponent’s Active Pokemon.
When your Pokemon V is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.
Weakness: none
Resistance: none
Retreat: 2
Giratina VSTAR – Dragon – HP280
VSTAR Pokemon – Evolves from Giratina V
[G][P][C] Lost Impact: 280 damage. Put 2 Energy attached to your Pokemon in the Lost Zone.
[G][P] Star Requiem (VSTAR Power): You may only use this attack if you have 10 or more cards in the Lost Zone. Your opponent’s Active Pokemon is now Knocked Out. (You can’t use more than 1 VSTAR Power in a game.)
When your Pokemon V is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.
Weakness: none
Resistance: none
Retreat: 2
Comfey – Psychic – HP70
Basic Pokemon
Ability: Flower Picking
Once during your turn, if this Pokemon is in the Active Spot, you may look at the top 2 cards of your deck and put 1 of them into your hand. Put the other card in the Lost Zone.
[P][C] Spinning Attack: 30 damage.
Weakness: Metal (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 1
Sableye – Psychic – HP80
Basic Pokemon
[C] Scratch: 20 damage.
[P] Lost Mine: You may use this attack only if you have 10 cards or more in the Lost Zone. Put 12 damage counters on your opponent’s Pokemon in play in any way you like.
Weakness: Darkness (x2)
Resistance: Fighting (-30)
Retreat: 1
Colress’s Experiment – Trainer
Supporter
Look at the top 5 cards of your deck. Put 3 of them in your hand and put the remaining cards in the Lost Zone.
You may play only 1 Supporter card during your turn.
Mirage Gate – Trainer
Item
You may play this card only if you have 7 cards or more in your Lost Zone.
Search your deck for up to 2 Basic Energy of different types and attach them to your Pokémon in any way you like. Then shuffle your deck.
You may play as many Item cards as you like during your turn.
Lost Vacuum – Trainer
Item
Put a card from your hand into the Lost Zone in order to use this card.
Choose either a Pokemon Tool card or Stadium card in play (yours or your opponent’s) and put it into the Lost Zone.
You may play as many Item cards as you like during your turn.
***END OF TRANSLATIONS***
So the Lost Zone in this set works very similarly to the Threshold mechanic in MTG, and has a presumably consistent way of achieving threshold very quickly, thanks to the main draw supporter, removal card, and ideal starting active all pitching cards into the Lost Zone, presumably, then, so long as I don't lose too many prizes to Comfey getting blown up early, I should reliably be able to hit Mirage Gate's seven required Lost Zone cards by turn 3, and Giratina's 10 by turn 4, This can lead to a devastatingly reliable OHKO on an opposing threat out of nowhere so long as I have a Basic Giratina V the turn I go for the VSTAR power. As for how I hit those threshold numbers...
4 Comfey, 4 Colress' Experiment, 2 Lost Vacuum, 3 Mirage Gate - The Engine
This set of trainers and pokemon are what make up the core of my energy acceleration engine. Comfey acts like and Acro Bike (CES) but pitches the other card into the Lost Zone, Colress' gives me a raw draw 5 and then I pitch two into the Lost Zone, and Lost Vacuum removes my unwanted/unneeded tools and stadiums and throws them in. According to the public section of Zakary Krekeler's premium article from a couple days ago (9/1/22). I'm led to believe that this particular set of cards is the ideal shell for the Mirage Gate, which is the main fuel that lets us charge a Giratina of either stage in a single turn, provided we can also attach from hand in the case of the basic attacks. Giratina V, henceforth reffered to as "DaBaby" bc I'm a cringelord, adds a nice buffer to these numbers as well, since it's a Mini Version of Colress', and can get us the effect of the card even if we miss the supporter drop for turn.
3 Quick Ball, 3 Ultra Ball, 1 Fog Crystal, 1 Evo Incense - The Balls
This is admittedly a bit of a weird line, I think, but I have a reason for splitting it this way. So out of the 15 pokemon I run, 3 of them are evolutions, but those evolutions are the most important cards in the deck, arguably, so I wanted to make sure I could still use a dedicated resource for grabbing them, hence the 1 Evolution Incense. My single-prize supports are all psychic type, so 1 copy of Fog crystal is dedicated towards getting them, while also allowing the search for a basic energy to secure an energy attachmetn from hand, which may come in clutch on my "surprise" turns where I swing in with a Giratina VSTAR , henceforth referred to as "Big Man", and need to attach all three energy for the main attack. The other 6 seem fairly standard, since Quick Ball and Ultra Ball both are probably the best ball cards ever printed outside of the master ball ACE SPEC, so plugging those in seemed like a good choice.
3 Air Balloon, 2 Switch, 2 Bird Keeper, 3 Choice Belt - Pivotal Equipment
Since Comfey's ability requires it to pivot in and out of the active spot, having a good base to do so and enable multiple ability triggers is parellel to the success of the deck. To that end, I decided that 3 Air Balloon was probably a good call given how it improves an individual Comfey's pivot potential tremendously, and also synergizes with Lost Vacuum in cases where I need to add a little extra fuel to the fire; in the vein of Vacuum, Choice Belt seems like the next best tool alternative due to how well it fixes the already fantastic numbers of the Big Man. As for getting around the retreat rule and enabling true pivoting prowess, my trainer switch options currently include 2 Bird Keeper, who adds a nice flare of draw into the mix as well, so I don't miss any card draw if I end up playing it over a Colress', and two Switch, just as a nice basic item pivot. I could run Escape Rope in these slots instead, but I'm not sure how big the effect of soft gusting it brings to the table is, and would therefore prefer to stick to basics.
1 Sableye, 1 Manaphy, 2 Lumineon V, 1 Crobat V - Support 'Mons
Rounding out the pokemon line for this deck, we have 1 copy of the new Sableye, who's second attack is a great cleanup asset in the event that I can't OHKO with Big Man's normal attack and still managed to hit the threshold for the VSTAR attack, which is almost guaranteed after 1 use. Manaphy exists to help the RS Urshifu Matchup, as well as anything else that deals other damage to my bench and is looking to pick up some cheap prizes from my Comfey or multi-prize Bench sitters: Lumineon and Crobat. From back when I played with Tapu Lele GX, two ETBH (enter the bench from hand) effects that search for a supporter seems really solid in this deck, even when we only really rely on Colress' Experiment, just to guarantee that we can actually play it and get the effect, and thus 2 Lumineon V, henceforth referred to as "Fish". Similarly, 1 Crobat to drop in a pinch seems good as well, just so I don't fizzle out if I can't top-deck a piece I need to progress.
7 Psychic, 4 Grass Energy
This energy lineup is still relatively preliminary, but I think at least on paper it strikes a good balance between the two types, while also leaning more heavily into 1 for the sake of playing or fueling backup attackers. Due to the nature of Mirage GAte, and how they can only grab different types of energy, I would ideally never attach a grass energy from my hand, and would primarily doing so with Psychic energy, expect for maybe the first cycle of charging a Big Man in the very early turns of the game.
1 Path to the Peak, 2 Training Court, etc. - The Kitchen Sink
This section is going to be dedicated to everything else I have yet to specifically address, and also areas I think the deck could be improved. For instance, I think the stadium line is the deck's weakest by far. I was originally going to go with 3 Path just to try and shut down opponent's shenanigans, particularly OFP VSTAR since I think some lists with Calyrex still run it, but I could run my own and mess with their timing... until I remembered I had Crobat and Fish. Now the line sits at 2 Training Court instead, but I'm not sure I have enough energy going into the discard pile to do anything with it. The other Stadium I'm looking at to replace it is probably Lost City, which makes all knockouts go to the lost zone instead of the discard pile, but I don't know if I should do a full replacement, tweak the ratio between it and Path, or do a 1/1/1 split between the 3. I still like the 1 Ordinary Rod though, just in case I have to discard my Sableye early for some reason, or if too many lines of DaBaby and/or Big Man are prized and I have to recycle to compensate, even if the energy mode lacks a bit due to the nature of my attacker.
Conclusion
Thank you all for reading this essay of a decklist, to those who made it this far. I know it was probably a lot, regardless, I'm excited to be getting back into the format with what looks like a really solid new deck coming out of the new set. Let's see if I can pull the alternate art, since it looks so pretty.
Returning to the game after a playing hiatus from standard since around DAA, and a meta-analyzing lurker hiatus since the start of the year, and looking to post a list of the new Giratina VSTAR since he's probably one of my favorite legendaries, and he seems really good with the return of the lost zone supported by an actual engine. The lost zone was my favorite mechanic back when they revived it in Lost Thunder, and that set is probably my favorite from the entire 4 years I played semi-competitively (at my lgs, 2015-2018 rip), so it seems almost poetic to swing back into standard with the revival of one of the most interesting mechanics in the entirety of the game, spun in a completely new, but also (almost) retro way.
Pokemon (15)
- Giratina V (3)
- Giratina VSTAR (3)
- Comfey LOR (4)
- Manaphy BRS (1)
- Lumineon V (2)
- Crobat V (1)
- Sableye LOR (1)
- Colress’ Experiment (4)
- Mirage Gate (3)
- Lost Vacuum (2)
- Boss’ Orders (2)
- Choice Belt (3)
- Quick Ball (3)
- Ultra Ball (3)
- Fog Crystal (1)
- Evolution Incense (1)
- Air Balloon (3)
- Switch (2)
- Bird Keeper (2)
- Marnie (1)
- Path to the Peak (1)
- Training Court (2)
- Ordinary Rod (1)
- Psychic (7)
- Grass (4)
***CARD TRANSLATIONS***
Giratina V – Dragon – HP220
Basic Pokemon
[C] Abyss Seeker: Look at the top 4 cards of your deck. Put 2 of them in your hand and put the remaining cards in the Lost Zone.
[G][P][C] Shred: 160 damage. This attack’s damage isn’t affected by any effects on your opponent’s Active Pokemon.
When your Pokemon V is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.
Weakness: none
Resistance: none
Retreat: 2
Giratina VSTAR – Dragon – HP280
VSTAR Pokemon – Evolves from Giratina V
[G][P][C] Lost Impact: 280 damage. Put 2 Energy attached to your Pokemon in the Lost Zone.
[G][P] Star Requiem (VSTAR Power): You may only use this attack if you have 10 or more cards in the Lost Zone. Your opponent’s Active Pokemon is now Knocked Out. (You can’t use more than 1 VSTAR Power in a game.)
When your Pokemon V is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.
Weakness: none
Resistance: none
Retreat: 2
Comfey – Psychic – HP70
Basic Pokemon
Ability: Flower Picking
Once during your turn, if this Pokemon is in the Active Spot, you may look at the top 2 cards of your deck and put 1 of them into your hand. Put the other card in the Lost Zone.
[P][C] Spinning Attack: 30 damage.
Weakness: Metal (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 1
Sableye – Psychic – HP80
Basic Pokemon
[C] Scratch: 20 damage.
[P] Lost Mine: You may use this attack only if you have 10 cards or more in the Lost Zone. Put 12 damage counters on your opponent’s Pokemon in play in any way you like.
Weakness: Darkness (x2)
Resistance: Fighting (-30)
Retreat: 1
Colress’s Experiment – Trainer
Supporter
Look at the top 5 cards of your deck. Put 3 of them in your hand and put the remaining cards in the Lost Zone.
You may play only 1 Supporter card during your turn.
Mirage Gate – Trainer
Item
You may play this card only if you have 7 cards or more in your Lost Zone.
Search your deck for up to 2 Basic Energy of different types and attach them to your Pokémon in any way you like. Then shuffle your deck.
You may play as many Item cards as you like during your turn.
Lost Vacuum – Trainer
Item
Put a card from your hand into the Lost Zone in order to use this card.
Choose either a Pokemon Tool card or Stadium card in play (yours or your opponent’s) and put it into the Lost Zone.
You may play as many Item cards as you like during your turn.
***END OF TRANSLATIONS***
So the Lost Zone in this set works very similarly to the Threshold mechanic in MTG, and has a presumably consistent way of achieving threshold very quickly, thanks to the main draw supporter, removal card, and ideal starting active all pitching cards into the Lost Zone, presumably, then, so long as I don't lose too many prizes to Comfey getting blown up early, I should reliably be able to hit Mirage Gate's seven required Lost Zone cards by turn 3, and Giratina's 10 by turn 4, This can lead to a devastatingly reliable OHKO on an opposing threat out of nowhere so long as I have a Basic Giratina V the turn I go for the VSTAR power. As for how I hit those threshold numbers...
4 Comfey, 4 Colress' Experiment, 2 Lost Vacuum, 3 Mirage Gate - The Engine
This set of trainers and pokemon are what make up the core of my energy acceleration engine. Comfey acts like and Acro Bike (CES) but pitches the other card into the Lost Zone, Colress' gives me a raw draw 5 and then I pitch two into the Lost Zone, and Lost Vacuum removes my unwanted/unneeded tools and stadiums and throws them in. According to the public section of Zakary Krekeler's premium article from a couple days ago (9/1/22). I'm led to believe that this particular set of cards is the ideal shell for the Mirage Gate, which is the main fuel that lets us charge a Giratina of either stage in a single turn, provided we can also attach from hand in the case of the basic attacks. Giratina V, henceforth reffered to as "DaBaby" bc I'm a cringelord, adds a nice buffer to these numbers as well, since it's a Mini Version of Colress', and can get us the effect of the card even if we miss the supporter drop for turn.
3 Quick Ball, 3 Ultra Ball, 1 Fog Crystal, 1 Evo Incense - The Balls
This is admittedly a bit of a weird line, I think, but I have a reason for splitting it this way. So out of the 15 pokemon I run, 3 of them are evolutions, but those evolutions are the most important cards in the deck, arguably, so I wanted to make sure I could still use a dedicated resource for grabbing them, hence the 1 Evolution Incense. My single-prize supports are all psychic type, so 1 copy of Fog crystal is dedicated towards getting them, while also allowing the search for a basic energy to secure an energy attachmetn from hand, which may come in clutch on my "surprise" turns where I swing in with a Giratina VSTAR , henceforth referred to as "Big Man", and need to attach all three energy for the main attack. The other 6 seem fairly standard, since Quick Ball and Ultra Ball both are probably the best ball cards ever printed outside of the master ball ACE SPEC, so plugging those in seemed like a good choice.
3 Air Balloon, 2 Switch, 2 Bird Keeper, 3 Choice Belt - Pivotal Equipment
Since Comfey's ability requires it to pivot in and out of the active spot, having a good base to do so and enable multiple ability triggers is parellel to the success of the deck. To that end, I decided that 3 Air Balloon was probably a good call given how it improves an individual Comfey's pivot potential tremendously, and also synergizes with Lost Vacuum in cases where I need to add a little extra fuel to the fire; in the vein of Vacuum, Choice Belt seems like the next best tool alternative due to how well it fixes the already fantastic numbers of the Big Man. As for getting around the retreat rule and enabling true pivoting prowess, my trainer switch options currently include 2 Bird Keeper, who adds a nice flare of draw into the mix as well, so I don't miss any card draw if I end up playing it over a Colress', and two Switch, just as a nice basic item pivot. I could run Escape Rope in these slots instead, but I'm not sure how big the effect of soft gusting it brings to the table is, and would therefore prefer to stick to basics.
1 Sableye, 1 Manaphy, 2 Lumineon V, 1 Crobat V - Support 'Mons
Rounding out the pokemon line for this deck, we have 1 copy of the new Sableye, who's second attack is a great cleanup asset in the event that I can't OHKO with Big Man's normal attack and still managed to hit the threshold for the VSTAR attack, which is almost guaranteed after 1 use. Manaphy exists to help the RS Urshifu Matchup, as well as anything else that deals other damage to my bench and is looking to pick up some cheap prizes from my Comfey or multi-prize Bench sitters: Lumineon and Crobat. From back when I played with Tapu Lele GX, two ETBH (enter the bench from hand) effects that search for a supporter seems really solid in this deck, even when we only really rely on Colress' Experiment, just to guarantee that we can actually play it and get the effect, and thus 2 Lumineon V, henceforth referred to as "Fish". Similarly, 1 Crobat to drop in a pinch seems good as well, just so I don't fizzle out if I can't top-deck a piece I need to progress.
7 Psychic, 4 Grass Energy
This energy lineup is still relatively preliminary, but I think at least on paper it strikes a good balance between the two types, while also leaning more heavily into 1 for the sake of playing or fueling backup attackers. Due to the nature of Mirage GAte, and how they can only grab different types of energy, I would ideally never attach a grass energy from my hand, and would primarily doing so with Psychic energy, expect for maybe the first cycle of charging a Big Man in the very early turns of the game.
1 Path to the Peak, 2 Training Court, etc. - The Kitchen Sink
This section is going to be dedicated to everything else I have yet to specifically address, and also areas I think the deck could be improved. For instance, I think the stadium line is the deck's weakest by far. I was originally going to go with 3 Path just to try and shut down opponent's shenanigans, particularly OFP VSTAR since I think some lists with Calyrex still run it, but I could run my own and mess with their timing... until I remembered I had Crobat and Fish. Now the line sits at 2 Training Court instead, but I'm not sure I have enough energy going into the discard pile to do anything with it. The other Stadium I'm looking at to replace it is probably Lost City, which makes all knockouts go to the lost zone instead of the discard pile, but I don't know if I should do a full replacement, tweak the ratio between it and Path, or do a 1/1/1 split between the 3. I still like the 1 Ordinary Rod though, just in case I have to discard my Sableye early for some reason, or if too many lines of DaBaby and/or Big Man are prized and I have to recycle to compensate, even if the energy mode lacks a bit due to the nature of my attacker.
Conclusion
Thank you all for reading this essay of a decklist, to those who made it this far. I know it was probably a lot, regardless, I'm excited to be getting back into the format with what looks like a really solid new deck coming out of the new set. Let's see if I can pull the alternate art, since it looks so pretty.
