AMU:
| Pokémon (14) | Trainers (36) | Energy (10) |
| 1x Azelf Lv.X 2x Azelf 1x Azelf MT 1x Mesprit Lv.X 2x Mesprit 1x Mesprit MT 1x Uxie Lv.X 3x Uxie 1x Palkia Lv.X 1x Palkia |
4x Roseanne’s Research 3x Looker’s Investigation 2x Bebe’s Search 4x Poke Drawer + 4x Premier Ball 4x Level Max 4x Energy Pickup 3x Switch 1x Warp Point 2x Energy Switch 1x Pokemon Rescue 1x Night Maintenance 1x Time-Space Distortion 2x Snowpoint Temple |
8x Psychic Energy 2x Rainbow Energy |
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Performing well earlier in the season, AMU’s main selling point was having the ability to detonate any Pokemon with Mesprit Lv.X’s Supreme Blast attack for only 2 energy. However, each of the pixies in the deck served a great role in either providing built in consistency or heavy disruption. Palkia Lv.X combo’d well with Mesprit’s Upper Material allowing you to target down any of your opponent’s Pokemon with no cost. While the deck died down in popularity towards the end of the season, the “AMU” core found its way into other decks as a disruptive package especially with the rise of SP Pokemon.
DPL:
| Pokémon (21) | Trainers (25) | Energy (14) |
| 1x Palkia G Lv.X 2x Palkia G 1x Dialga G Lv.X 2x Dialga G 1x Luxray GL Lv.X 2x Luxray GL 2x Mespritt 2x Unown G 1x Uxie 1x Azelf 1x Toxicroak G 1x Bronzong G 1x Crobat G 1x Chatot 1x Claydol 1x Baltoy |
4x Cyrus’s Conspiracy 3x Roseanne’s Research 2x Bebe’s Search 4x TGI Energy Gain 4x TGI Poke Turn 3x TGI Power Spray 2x TGI SP Radar 1x Night Maintenance 1x Luxury Ball 1x Aaron’s Collection |
4x Call Energy 3x Metal Energy (Special) 2x Water Energy 2x Lightning Energy 1x Metal Energy (Basic) 1x Psychic Energy 1x SP Energy |
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DPL tried to take advantage of as many of the powerful new SP Pokemon as possible, playing 3 of the main Lv.X’s in one deck. The inherent consistency Cyrus’s Conspiracy provided along with Roseanne’s Research made this type of toolbox deck surprisingly effective in having an answer to any given situation. However by the time Worlds arrived players started favouring more streamlined builds in favour of more disruption or consistency.
Flygon Lock:
| Pokémon (24) | Trainers (23) | Energy (13) |
| 1x Flygon Lv.X 3x Flygon 2x Vibrava 4x Trapinch  2x Claydol 2x Baltoy 1x Nidoqueen 1x Nidoran 1x Palkia Lv.X 1x Palkia 1x Mewtwo Lv.X 1x Mewtwo 2x Uxie 1x Unown G 1x Chatot |
4x Roseanne’s Research 4x Bebe’s Search 3x Cynthia’s Feelings 4x Rare Candy 3x Memory Berry 2x Premier Ball 1x Luxury Ball 1x Night Maintenance 1x Switch |
4x Call Energy 3x Fighting Energy 3x Psychic Energy 2x Water Energy 1x Upper Energy |
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A deck that started to spark rumours just before the World Championships, Flygon Lock focused on a method of play which had fallen out of favour for a while – milling. It would try to set up the lock of using Palkia Lv.X’s Restructure Poke-Power to bring something active it would want to trap. Then it would use Memory Berry on a Flygon Lv.X to copy Trapinch’s Sand Tomb attack to prevent retreating, all while Wind Erosion would discard the top card of opponent’s deck between turns. This would either outright win the game by milling key resources, or would allow you to set up alternative win conditions like Mewtwo Lv.X or a swarm of Flygon.
Flygon/Machamp:
| Pokémon (28) | Trainers (19) | Energy (13) |
| 1x Flygon Lv.X 3x Flygon 2x Vibrava 3x Trapinch 1x Trapinch 1x Machamp Lv.X 2x Machamp 1x Machoke 2x Machop 1x Nidoqueen 1x Nidoran 2x Claydol 2x Baltoy 2x Unown G 1x Uxie 1x Azelf 1x Ditto 1x Chatot |
4x Roseanne’s Research 4x Bebe’s Search 4x Rare Candy 2x Cynthia’s Feelings 2x Night Maintenance 1x Premier Ball 1x Luxury Ball 1x Lucian’s Assignment |
4x Call Energy 4x Fighting Energy 3x Upper Energy 2x Psychic Energy |
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Losing out only to an unfavourable matchup in the finals, Sami Sekkoum piloted this Flygon variant to 2nd place at the World Championships. Flygon was a strong attacker in the format, and provided the deck with insane amounts of manoeuvrability, and a swarm of them in a game often proved too much for decks to handle. The Machamp line allowed the deck to instantly gain an advantage over SP decks, which would otherwise cause the deck issues with its speed. Ditto was a tech choice which allowed it to take on other Flygon decks more effectively.
Flygon/Weavile:
| Pokémon (26) | Trainers (20) | Energy (14) |
| 1x Flygon Lv.X 3x Flygon 2x Vibrava 2x Trapinch  2x Trapinch 2x Weavile 2x Sneasel 2x Unown G 2x Claydol 2x Baltoy 1x Azelf 1x Uxie 1x Mewtwo Lv.X 1x Mewtwo 1x Dusknoir 1x Duskull |
1x Lucian’s Assignment 4x Roseanne’s Research 4x Bebe’s Search 4x Rare Candy 2x Premier Ball 1x Luxury Ball 2x Warp Point 2x Night Maintenance |
4x Call Energy 4x Darkness Energy (Special) 4x Psychic Energy 1x Darkness Energy (Basic) 1x Fighting Energy |
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Weavile was added to this popular archetype to provide the deck with both energy acceleration, as well as increased damage output throughout the game, allowing Flygon to gain the benefits of the Special Darkness Energy with its Dark Engage Poke-Power. Mewtwo Lv.X provided a different option for dealing with the various SP decks which flooded the format, and Dusknoir provided more general disruption.
Gyarados:
| Pokémon (20) | Trainers (33) | Energy (7) |
| 4x Gyarados 4x Magikarp 3x Sableye 2x Crobat G 1x Claydol 1x Baltoy 1x Pachirisu 1x Toxicroak G 1x Regice 1x Uxie 1x Azelf |
4x Roseanne’s Research 4x Felicity’s Drawing 3x Bebe’s Search 2x Buck’s Training 1x Cynthia’s Feelings 4x Pokemon Rescue 4x Super Scoop Up 4x TGI Poke Turn 2x Luxury Ball 1x Switch 1x Night Maintenance 3x Broken Time Space |
4x Call Energy 2x Psychic Energy 1x Dark Energy |
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A deck which was surprisingly a rogue at the World Championships. The French brought this iconic archetype to a T8 and T16 finish at the event, with many believing Fabien Garnier deserved to win the event. It focused on setting up Gyarados’s Tail Revenge attack using cards like Felicity’s Drawing and Regice to get Magikarps in the discard. Sableye allowed you to both get Magikarps out the deck quickly and discard them with its Impersonate attack. Gyarados would prove to be very hard to deal with, having 130HP on a stage 1, and requiring 0 energy to attack, also allowing more deck space for powerful cards like Super Scoop Up.
Kingdra:
| Pokémon (24) | Trainers (28) | Energy (8) |
| 4x Kingdra 3x Seadra 4x Horsea 3x Claydol 3x Baltoy 2x Uxie 2x Crobat G 2x Unown G 1x Skuntank G |
4x Broken Time Space 4x Bebe’s Search 4x Roseanne’s Research 4x Rare Candy 4x Super Scoop Up 3x Warp Point 2x Cynthia’s Feelings 2x Luxury Ball 1x Night Maintenance |
8x Water Energy |
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Sami Sekkoum placed 1st at UK Nationals with this deck. The deck had the ability to consistently provide high damage output very early in the game, while thinning dead cards with Kingdra’s Dragon Pump attack, allowing Claydol’s Cosmic Power to become even more powerful. Super Scoop allowed Kingdra to act as a tank with 130HP, but also meant more damage modifiers could be used with Crobat G.
LuxApe:
| Pokémon (20) | Trainers (28) | Energy (12) |
| 1x Infernape 4 Lv.X 2x Infernape 4 1x Luxray GL Lv.X 2x Luxray GL 1x Uxie Lv.X 1x Uxie 1x Claydol 1x Baltoy 2x Unown G 1x Ninetales 1x Vulpix 1x Rayquaza 1x Chatot 1x Crobat G 1x Lucario GL 1x Azelf 1x Bronzong G |
4x Roseanne’s Research 4x Cyrus’s Conspiracy 4x TGI Energy Gain 4x TGI Poke Turn 3x TGI SP Radar 1x TGI Power Spray 2x Bebe’s Search 2x Stark Mountain 2x Night Maintenance 1x Luxury Ball 1x Premier Ball |
6x Fire Energy 3x Lightning Energy 3x Call Energy |
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Kyle “Pooka” Sucevich piloted this deck to 1st place at the US National Championship. The deck provides a lot of speed and power, allowing you to deal damage where it would be most effective in each matchup with Infernape’s Split Bomb and a combination of Infernape E4 Lv.X’s Intimidating Roar and Luxray GL Lv.X’s Bright Look. The powerful SP engine supports this speed, giving it consistent access to the tools it needs each turn. Ninetales also gave him an out for Mewtwo Lv.X.
LuxDrill:
| Pokémon (24) | Trainers (30) | Energy (6) |
| 2x Beedrill 2x Beedrill 4x Kakuna 4x Weedle 1x Luxray GL Lv.X 1x Luxray GL 2x Unown G 1x Crobat G 1x Azelf 1x Chatot 3x Claydol 2x Baltoy |
4x Roseanne’s Research 4x Rare Candy 4x TGI Poke Turn 4x Night Maintenance 3x Bebe’s Search 2x Broken Time Space 2x Cyrus’s Conspiracy 2x Cynthia’s Feelings 2x Warp Point 1x TGI SP Radar 1x TGI Energy Gain 1x Luxury Ball |
3x Grass Energy 2x Multi Energy 1x Lightning Energy |
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Stephen Silvestro piloted this innovative Beedrill list to win the World Championships. The deck sets up very quickly and consistently behind the engine of both Claydol’s Cosmic Power and Beedrill’s Flutter Wings, and gives the deck continued support throughout the game. Band Attack becomes too overwhelming for many decks once it sets up, doing ridiculous amounts of damage for just one energy. Stephen decided to add part of an SP Engine to the deck to give it extra damage output, as well as disruption, allowing it to pick and choose its targets with Luxray’s Bright Look Poke-Power.
Luxray/Manectric:
| Pokémon (16) | Trainers (32) | Energy (12) |
| 1x Luxray GL Lv.X 3x Luxray GL 2x Manectric 2x Elektrike 3x Crobat G 2x Uxie 1x Azelf 1x Unown G 1x Giratina |
4x Cyrus’s Conspiracy 4x TGI Poke Turn 3x TGI Energy Gain 3x TGI Power Spray 2x TGI SP Radar 4x Roseanne’s Research 3x Pluspower 2x Bebe’s Search 2x Cynthia’s Feelings 2x Sunnyshore City Gym 1x Aaron’s Collection 1x Looker’s Investigation 1x Luxury Ball |
8x Lightning Energy 4x Call Energy |
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Darrell Moreno placed 2nd at US Nationals with this interesting take on a Luxray GL Lv.X deck. Luxray is inherently a very strong card, with a game changing Poke-Power in Bright Look, as well as strong attacks. However the SP engine really allows this deck to shine, being able to set up consistently, while disrupting your opponent with cards like Power Spray. Manectric provides the deck with energy acceleration, while disrupting decks too reliant on Poke-Powers, and also protects your bench from Luxray’s Flash Impact attack. Crobat G in conjunction with the Poke Turns allow you to hit key numbers when you need to as well.
Luxray Tech:
| Pokémon (16) | Trainers (32) | Energy (12) |
| 1x Luxray GL Lv.X 3x Luxray GL 2x Claydol 2x Baltoy 1x Toxicroak G 1x Toxicroak G 1x Skuntank G 1x Crobat G 1x Bronzong G 1x Unown G 1x Uxie 1x Azelf |
4x Cyrus’s Conspiracy 4x Roseanne’s Research 3x Bebe’s Search 4x TGI Poke Turn 4x TGI Energy Gain 4x TGI Power Spray 2x TGI SP Radar 2x Night Maintenance 1x Luxury Ball 2x Lake Boundary 2x Sunyshore City Gym |
6x Lightning Energy 4x Call Energy 2x Psychic Energy |
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Focusing on the inherent strength of Luxray GL Lv.X, this deck aimed to take 6 prizes as cheaply as possible with the ability to target down any opposing threats with Bright Look with low energy attack costs.
Magnezone:
| Pokémon (21) | Trainers (24) | Energy (15) |
| 1x Magnezone Lv.X 1x Magnezone 2x Magnezone 2x Magneton 2x Magnemite (#66) 2x Magnemite (#67) 3x Jirachi 1x Uxie Lv.X 2x Uxie 1x Azelf 2x Claydol 2x Baltoy |
3x Roseanne’s Research 3x Bebe’s Search 2x Felcity’s Drawings 3x Warp Point 2x Cynthia’s Feelings 2x Broken Time Space 2x Premier Ball 2x Luxury Ball 3x Rare Candy 2x Night Maintenance |
7x Lightning Energy 4x Metal Energy (Special) 4x Metal Energy (Basic) |
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Magnezone saw play occassionally through the middle of the season, and Adam Hawkins managed to take Top 4 at UK Nationals with this list. The idea of the deck was mainly to set up Magnezone Lv.X and use its Cyber Shock attack on the opponent’s main threats, then use Magnezone’s Super Conductivity to be able to use Gyro Ball on the following turn to retreat it safely to the bench while taking a KO.
Mother Gengar:
| Pokémon (25) | Trainers (25) | Energy (10) |
| 4x Gengar 2x Haunter 4x Gastly 2x Nidoqueen 1x Nidorina 2x Nidoran 2x Claydol 2x Baltoy 2x Crobat G 2x Uxie 1x Azelf 1x Unown G |
4x Roseanne’s Research 3x Bebe’s Search 4x Poke Drawer + 4x Rare Candy 2x Warp Point 1x Luxury Ball 1x Night Maintenance 2x Looker’s Investigation 2x Cynthia’s Feelings 2x Broken Time Space |
7x Psychic Energy 3x Call Energy |
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Gengar was a popular archetype throughout the season, and with the release of Nidoqueen in Rising Rivals it helped solve some potential problems. Gengar’s Shadow Room attack proved extremely powerful in a Poke-Power filled format, and Fainting Spell flips could singlehandedly turn games around. Nidoqueen helped prevent strategies to get around Fainting Spell with its Maternal Comfort Poke-Body, while providing a potential secondary attacker.
Palkia Lock:
| Pokémon (23) | Trainers (25) | Energy (12) |
| 1x Palkia G Lv.X 3x Palkia G 1x Uxie Lv.X 3x Uxie 4x Mesprit 1x Azelf 1x Azelf 2x Crobat G 1x Mismagius 1x Misdreavus 1x Toxicroak G 1x Raichu GL 1x Bronzong G 2x Unown G |
4x Cyrus’s Conspiracy 4x Roseanne’s Research 1x Bebe’s Search 1x Aaron’s Collection 4x TGI Energy Gain 4x TGI Poke Turn 3x TGI Power Spray 2x TGI SP Radar 1x Night Maintenance 1x Luxury Ball |
5x Water Energy 4x Call Energy 2x Psychic Energy 1x Lightning Energy |
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Performing well in high numbers at both US Nationals and the World Championships, this deck focused on locking opponents out of the game with repeated use of Mesprit’s Psychic Bind Poke-Power, denying the chance for them to ever properly set up. Palkia G Lv.X’s Lost Cyclone would limit the opponent’s bench, also stunting their setup, while clearing bench space for you to be able to activate more disruptive Poke-Powers or effectively heal your Pokemon. Splashing turn would make it hard for opponent’s to knockout your main threat, Pearl Breath did consistent effective damage and Hydro Shot allowed you to target down your opponent’s biggest threat easily too.
Porygon-Z:
| Pokémon (24) | Trainers (27) | Energy (9) |
| 1x Porygon-Z Lv.X 3x Porygon-Z 4x Porygon 2 4x Porygon 3x Claydol 3x Baltoy 1x Dialga G Lv.X 1x Dialga G 1x Uxie 1x Azelf 1x Unown G 1x Unown Q |
4x Roseanne’s Research 4x Bebe’s Search 4x Marley’s Request 4x Technical Machine TS-1 4x Technical Machine TS-2 2x Night Maintenance 1x Luxury Ball 4x Broken Time Space |
4x Call Energy 3x Metal Energy 2x Upper Energy |
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Popping up at US Nationals, 2 different variants performed extremely well in swiss, this being one of them. It focused on setting up as quickly and consistently as possible, being able to utilise both Cosmic Power and Porygon2’s Download Poke-Power. The powerful combination of Porygon-Z Lv.X’s Decode and Cosmic Power later in the game essentially allowed you to put 2 of any card you wanted in your hand each turn as well. Porygon-Z’s Overload attack had an incredibly cheap attack cost and a high damage cap you could control in combination with its Install Poke-Power. Later in the game it’s easy to recover Technical Machines for more damage with Marley’s Request, especially with Porygon2’s Download.
SP Toolbox:
| Pokémon (21) | Trainers (29) | Energy (10) |
| 4x Sableye 3x Crobat G 1x Uxie Lv.X 2x Uxie 2x Honchkrow G 2x Toxicroak G 1x Skuntank G 1x Toxicroak G 1x Houndoom G 1x Lucario GL 1x Mewtwo Lv.X 1x Mewtwo 1x Azelf |
4x Cyrus’s Conspiracy 4x Roseanne’s Research 2x Bebe’s Search 2x Felicity’s Drawing 1x Aaron’s Collection 4x TGI Energy Gain 4x TGI Poke Turn 3x TGI SP Radar 1x TGI Power Spray 1x Night Maintenance 2x Galactic HQ 1x Moonlight Stadium |
4x Psychic Energy 4x Darkness Energy 2x Dark Energy |
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Favoured mainly by Japanese players at the World Championships, they really focused on the toolbox aspect of SP, and performed well with it getting T4 in Masters, and winning both Seniors and Juniors. This variant focused on Sableye to both increase consistency, but also get cheap knockouts and even wins with it’s Overconfident attack in combination with Crobat G and Darkness Energy. It also played Mewtwo Lv.X to get free wins against players who decided to not tech an answer against it.
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