This past weekend Gamers Grove held our biggest Pokémon Cup yet! With 30 attendees, a lovely snack array, and fresh new cards from Temporal Forces the event was a blast! In this blog we’re going to take a look at the winning lists from our Masters, Juniors, and Seniors divisions. But be warned! There’s been a lot of fire-lizard sightings recently…
Masters 1st – Charizard EX
Congratulations to our 1st place winner! Here at Gamers Grove every Pokémon Cup is also a Win-A-Box event so Mauricio walked away with a full booster box of Temporal Forces as well as those awesome Championship Points. Let’s check out their list:
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Pokemon 4 Charmander (OBF) 3 Charizard EX (OBF) 2 Pidgey (OBF) 2 Pidgeot EX (OBF) 1 Charmeleon (OBF) 1 Charmeleon (PAF) 1 Radiant Charizard (PGO) 1 Bidoof (CRZ) 1 Bibarel (CRZ) 1 Rotom V (CRZ) 1 Lumineon V (CRZ) 1 Cleffa (SVP) 1 Jirachi (PAL) 1 Manaphy (BRS) |
Trainer 4 Rare Candy 4 Ultra Ball 4 Buddy Buddy Poffin 3 Arven 3 Iono 2 Boss’s Orders 2 Professor Turo’s Scenario 2 Super Rod 1 Roxanne 1 Lost Vacuum 1 Forest Seal Stone 1 Defiance Band 1 Choice Belt 1 Collapsed Stadium Energy 6 Fire Energy |
Here we can see the new adaptations that Charizard EX has gone through in order to compete in our post-rotation world. The core of Charizard EX + Pidgeot is still intact but we see new tech in the form of Professor Turo’s Scenario. This card allows you to put any Pokémon back into your hand, discarding everything on it when you do so. This may seem counter-productive but it’s a nice card to have when you’re running utility Pokémon that give up 2 Prizes like Rotom and Lumineon. Further, it gives you a way to pick up Radiant Charizard if it gets bossed into your active zone with that nasty retreat cost.
Junior 1st – Charizard EX
It seems that the weather isn’t the only thing heating up this Spring, Charizard is on fire! Bringing up 1st place in our Junior division, Charizard EX once again shows its dominance.
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Pokémon Trainer |
4 Ultra Ball Energy |
This list is very similar to our 1st place Masters deck with a few exceptions. The pilot chose to go down to only 3 Buddy Buddy Poffins which, in a deck with so much draw power and so many tutor effects, does make some sense. I like that this list also includes a second stadium in Artazzon to help get rid of those pesky Paths to the Peak while also filling in the gap of the fourth Poffin as it can also fetch small basic Pokémon. While not vastly different from the other deck we saw earlier in this blog post, having different Arven targets in your deck can vastly change the gameplay. We see a few differences here, mostly with the inclusion of Counter Catcher and Prime Catcher.
Senior 1st – Charizard EX
Well, well, well, here we are again. Another 1st place finish for Charizard EX! Who can stand against the great fire lizard? Where’s Squirtle when you need them?
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Pokémon Trainer |
4 Ultra Ball Energy |
This is probably the most unique Charizard EX list among the top ones in our Pokémon Cup. Breaking from the 6-energy build with lots of 1-off Pokémon, our 1st Place Senior pilot went with a more consistent approach. More energy, multiple copies of important Pokémon, and only a couple 1-off Pokémon to round the list out is where I’d want to be as well. Another curious choice is only running 2 Buddy Buddy Poffins and more Nest Balls than the other lists. I think this is a sign that players aren’t in love with the 70hp restriction and diminishing returns that come with multiple copies on Poffin.
Why is Charizard So Good?
With all these victories, one has to ask what makes Charizard EX such a strong deck. If I had to choose two reasons, it would be as follows:
1. The Arven Toolbox – Arven allows Charizard EX players to not only set up their first Charizard evolution but also to find their 1-off cards with niche use-cases. You don’t always need a Defiance Band or Choice Belt but, when you do need it, you have 3-4 Arvens that can become a copy of it.
2. Charizard EX’s Typing – Charizard benefits from having a Dark type in an otherwise Fire centric deck. This means that Grass Pokémon, who would usually be good vs Dark, are in danger of all the Fire attackers in the Charizard deck. Similarly, Water type is good vs Radiant Charizard and Charmeleon but not against Charizard EX itself. This makes Charizard EX a very hard deck to deal with from the angle of type effectiveness.
Wrapping Up
So, there we have it! Three top-tier Charizard EX lists sweeping the competition away with fire and fury! If you’re looking to pick up Charizard EX for your next event, I think any of these lists would serve you well. Despite the variations we see, they all have one end goal: get our buddy Charizard out ASAP! Thank you to all who attended this awesome Pokémon Cup, we look forward to you all joining us as we host many more as the year goes on. Thank you all for reading and, as always, we’ll see you at the Grove.
