Pokémon TCG: Tournament Report - League Challenge With Gardevoir EX

Now that the new set, Mega Evolution, is just a few weeks away, the Pokémon TCG meta is a bit "lukewarm". In the next Regional tournament, we'll already be playing the new set, which should change a few well-consolidated decks and enable new archetypes, such as Mega Lucario EX.

Last time I wrote a tournament report, that is, when I played a Cup, I barely didn't make it to the top 8. I was frustrated and disappointed with my performance because I felt my deck could have won, but I just didn't know how to play it well. A few days later, I played a League Challenge with the same list to prove this deck was, indeed, good.

Despite the recent controversy regarding Gardevoir ex sv4pt5 29, that is, if it's really good and if winning Regional tournaments is proof of anything at all, I decided to play it. I was much more confident this time, even though I lost a tournament with it not long before.

It's funny because, usually, losing like that impacts my mindset quite a bit. However, this time I didn't only lose: I was also able to identify why I lost, and that's what made me a bit more confident. I didn't even change anything in the list itself because I really enjoy how it works, and I was really focused on the tournament this time.

I decided to stay away from DragaDusk this time. Though I have played it lots of times, it is incredibly popular, so I believe even beginner players know how to play against it. Gardevoir ex sv4pt5 29, on the other side, makes players who are trying to get a decent average a lot more uncomfortable, and, as a result, it lets me put all my energy into the difficult plays I'll have to make against high-level players.

With high expectations, I registered my deck and hoped to dodge bad matchups, like N's Zoroark ex JTG 98 and Charizard ex sv4pt5 54, this time. Please note that this was a "best-of-1" tournament, so rounds lasted, on average, 35 minutes.

Round 1: Charizard Pidgeot (Win)

My first match was, to my surprise, a very tough opponent. Charizard EX has 330 HP, and, without Drifloon sv1 89, is basically impossible to Knock Out. The best we can do is play Mew ex sv3pt5 151 and after our opponent takes 3 Prize cards, use it to copy its "Burning Darkness" attack and deal 270 damage. By moving 3 damage counters to it with Munkidori SFA 72's "Adrena-Brain" ability, we can then Knock it Out. Still, Mew EX only has 180 HP, so it's very easy to Knock Out, and we might also lose to Briar PRE 100, for instance.

However, I was also surprisingly graced with a very aggressive hand, and my opponent forced me to play first. I was able to put two Ralts in play and already had an Ultra Ball sv4pt5 91 and an Arven sv1 166 in hand, so I could already set up Rare Candy sv4pt5 89 on the following turn and put two Psychic energies in my discard pile. My opponent opened with Chi-yu, played an Artazon to put a Pidgey on their bench, and couldn't do anything else.

The matchup was far from balanced after that. I just put Scream Tail PRE 42 in my active spot and Knocked Out any Pidgey and Charmander they put on their bench. In the end, I won the game, and my opponent still had to take three Prize cards left to win.

Round 2: Dragapult Dusknoir (Win)

This time, I won the coin flip and decided to let my opponent begin playing. Most players know this deck doesn't really work when it has to start playing because it relies on playing supporters on turn 1. Since I forced my opponent to play, they couldn't even put one Dreepy in play and had to go on with only a Hawlucha in the active spot. This matchup is already quite favorable to Gardevoir EX because of Lillie's Clefairy ex svp 195, and it was truly even easier because of this opener.

All we have to do is keep an eye out for Dusknoir PRE 37 combos

and Budew PRE 4 disruption. If they can't play these two strategies (and you should prevent them from playing them before doing anything else), we can easily discard energies and set up our board to put pressure on them.

Well, I can't say my opponent didn't even touch their Prize cards, because they did take one with Dusclops' ability. We played turn 1 exactly as above, with Scream Tail PRE 42 as our main attacker. And this time it Knocked Out any Drakloak PRE 72 my opponent attached energies to.

Round 3: Armarouge Box (Win)

This matchup was a mystery to me, as well as payback, considering I lost to a different version of it in my last tournament. Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex PRE 27 is incredibly problematic for us in the first few turns, and if they use Munkidori ex SFA 37, we must also be careful with Boss's Orders (Ghetsis) sv2 172 setups.

However, this deck will struggle considerably if Gardevoir EX can attack freely, and that's precisely what happened. Another relevant detail is that Armarouge balances the Prize card race with Legacy Energy TWM 167. You can play around this if you don't Knock Out enemy Pokémon with an attack and use damage counters instead, for instance. I managed to attack with Gardevoir on turn 2 and not let my opponent react, which was enough to get another win.

Round 4: Gholdengo Joltik (Win)

This time, "momentum", that is, that feeling you're going to beat any deck you face, carried me forward. No matter which challenges showed up in my way or which opponent I got, I was confident I would win. It was in this round that I realized that this deck could win, and quite easily too. However, I had a problematic start, and Flutter Mane PRE 43 ended up in my Prize card pile from early on, so the match was definitely not easy.

Please note that my opponent was playing a different version with Gholdengo ex sv4 139. It included Joltik SCR 50 so they could play Iron Hands EX in favorable matchups like this. Iron Hands ex PRE 31 Knocks Out smaller Pokémon to get extra Prize cards, and Gholdengo Knocks Out resilient Pokémon later on. Even though it was a bit harder because of my opponent, I followed the same plan as my last tournament: deal damage to their Gholdengos and stick a Technical Machine: Devolution sv4 177 in play.

As my opponent also had an Iron Hands, I gave up a Gardevoir EX early on to get two Prize cards and then played Devolution and Iono sv4pt5 80 right afterward to leave my opponent with just one card. That made them concede. Another win, and I'd win my second League Challenge!

Round 5: Iron Thorns (Win)

I've said a hundred times that this matchup is a walk in the park for Gardevoir, and this was no different. After just a single turn with Flutter Mane PRE 43 in the active spot, I used its ability, Midnight Fluttering, to buy some time so I could attach energies to all my Pokémon with Gardevoir EX. Then, I just attacked until the game ended.

This time, all my dedication was rewarded, and I won another League Challenge this season! I was quite proud of how I played, and this has definitely motivated me to keep playing. In the end, though, all that matters is having fun, winning or losing!

What do you think? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!