He’s Blue for an AMAZING Reason
By Lake Lubrano
Have you ever spent months refining an idea you believed in your entire heart of hearts had potential? That was the position I was in before the Pittsburgh Regional Championship, where I played Cornerstone Zoroark Tirtouga, and I did terribly. My tenth event in a row where I was so far from the goal of making a profit, and I was demoralized, exhausted, and out of gas in my deck building tank. But, I couldn’t take a day off, because Milwaukee Regionals was coming up, and Zoroark just walked with Pittsburgh. I thought about switching decks, playing Gardevoir or Dragapult/Dusknoir to the first event of the Mega Evolution Block, thinking I should take my eyes off of the trader. But, watching Liam Haliburton win the entire tournament and reach the highest points achieved in one event, I knew I still wanted to walk into Pittsburgh with N’s Zoroark in my deck. But, what to play? Mega Evolution was set to shake up the meta the most its been changed since the advent of Journey Together, and with the rise of DengoRocks, CeruledgeRocks, PidgeotControl, and the late game addition of AbsolKang, I didn’t see Zoroark as being good enough on their own. So, who would I partner N and Zoroark with, with only 3 weeks on the clock to make a list?
Deckbuilding Process:
The first Zoroark list I tried in the new set was pairing them with Lucario, another fan favorite Pokemon. This idea wasn’t mine, as I watched an Omnipoke video discussing and testing the deck, and I quickly came to the understanding that the deck wasn’t that great, and another idea was needed. After Pittsburgh, the time limit loomed over my head, and eventually, a friend and I landed on Zoroark Hariyama. A strong single prize engine and additional gust, being able to attack for a single attachment, it seemed like it had it all. Sadly, after a week and a half of testing, I threw the list out, feeling like it was missing too much consistency, and didn’t fix any matchups Zoroark was already winning aside from Raging Bolt. After shedding tears over my computer and feeling the high pressure, I went back to the drawing board after a day off and getting out with some friends. Once I came back to the Limitless Deckbuilder, I made more deck lists, a new straight Zoroark list based off of Liam’s, a Mega Absol variant, this weird Single Prize Zoroark Hariyama list, all lists failing in testing to the same threats as always. After the defeated feeling set in, I stared at the list of decks I had and saw the old Zoroark Lucario deck I had. I physically slapped my face with my palm and texted this to my friend Iris, who I’d been talking theory with the entire time.
If you couldn’t tell, I was really stressed about Ceruledge.
After this message, I remade the original Zoroark Lucario deck, now using updated theory in terms of supporter lines, and card value. The week of the event, after having a decent list nailed down, Liam Halliburton releases some lists for Mega Evolution Zoroark lists, and I find two take-aways: for Lucario, more supporters is better than Pal Pad, and the space for an Ace Spec is wider. Before this, I was only ever playing Secret Box, but his list ran with a Legacy Energy and a 4-4 split of fighting and darkness energy. Legacy Energy, however, is a garbage card played in poopy decks (Ceruledge), but the ace spec choice from Liam’s straight Zoroark list caught my eye. Hero’s cape pushing a Zoroark to 380 HP and, more importantly, Lucario to a 440 HP behemoth was extremely alluring. After running test games against myself on TCGMasters, I knew this had to be the Ace Spec I played, and eventually I settled on my “final list.”
And this list was not great. It was entirely serviceable, but only 3-3 Zoroark and a 4-4 Energy split were extremely rough, but felt like necessary evils. Before this event, I didn’t have a single Riolu with 70HP because of my recent move for college, and I needed Lucarios and Black and White Stamped fighting energies anyway, so I figured I could get all the missing cards at the convention center. Eventually, it set in that not a single vendor had a copy of Scarlet Violet Base Set Riolu, only the new printing, so if I wanted to play this deck, I needed to either buy the alt arts or change the printing. Eventually, after searching since the center opened to when it closed I got the lovely CJ/TheMintMermaid to buy me a copy of the alt art so I could play the optimal Riolu, while I bought the other copy I needed. With that, this list was built and eventually sleeved, but it wasn’t correct. In testing, it was falling behind and not setting up in some cases, and I had some rough runs against my testing partners, the first time I was able to play the deck in paper. While I know they were good hearted, the critiques became far too much for me and I shut myself away to cry, finally letting out the extreme pressure I was under. Thankfully, I had my friend Liv there to help me and advocate for my skill as a player to everyone while comforting me. Once I calmed down, their critiques stuck in my head, and once everyone but Iris and I went to bed, I sat down and laid out my list, along with the additional cards I brought with me to fix the list if needed. Eventually, I called Iris into the room to look at the list with me, and we ended up making some crucial changes: the return of 4-4 Zoroark, the refined energy split letting me play six Darkness and four Fighting in only nine deck slots, and changing to play three Cyranos instead of three Hildas. With the deck submitted at 2 am, I went to bed, overflowing terror about the coming day of competition, with this deck locked in on my RK9.
The Tournament Proper:
Round I:
I got to the venue at 7:50, shotgunning a monster during the walk out partially out of nerves partially because I knew they wouldn’t let me in with it. I found my seat, finding myself at table 155, shuffling up as I wondered if we’d have another egregiously late start like in Pittsburgh. After light talk with my opponent, we started, and he flipped over a Dreepy, immediately putting the stress on me. After some middling play and mediocre draws, I lost game one, and opted to play the draw. Then, going first, this man plays Buddy-Buddy Poffin, Dreepy, and Duskull from his hand, attached a Neo Upper to a Dreepy, and passes to me, where I have an okay start and pass on a decent board. Then I am slammed by candy Dragapult, Hawlucha, Lillie’s Determination, get board wiped for my entire life, and lose a quick game 2. Even he recognized how sacky that game was, but he was cool about it. With so much time on the clock, I had to do a hard mental reset after talking to my boyfriend about how frustrated I was and who it felt like this was going to be my entire day.
Round II:
After an extremely tilting opener round, I get a break round 2. My opponent is Playing Kangaskhan Bouffalant, and as you may have realized, my deck plays a fighting type. I was able to Poffin nest ball set up my board perfectly both games, get into a caped mega Lucario, and despite it getting knocked out game one through quad Munkidori move plus three heads on Kanga, I won game one, and game two he missed a heads flip to knock out a Zoroark, so I got to walk with the game. He was chill about it but, only round two but he had to claw back up, but I was feeling pretty solid after the sweep. The third copy of Cyrano and the Luminous energy both came up as massively impactful cards for me to be able to win both games, and Hero’s cape proved to be the most broken card in the deck. Good round, good opponent, good game, I went to buy an Araquanid sitting cutie afterwards.
Round III:
As I watch my opponent shuffle I see fighting energies, a Solrock, and a Lillie’s Determination. I eventually learn he’s somehow playing Ceruledge and this is the build he decided on? No hate to him, it was his conclusion so good to stick by it, but I was able to win in two by his deck running out of gas to his my Hero’s Caped attackers. In game one, he had to reach thirteen energies in discard to be able to crack a Zoroark, but he could only get to twelve before scooping the game seeing the writing on the wall. Game two, he wasn’t able to reach the sixteen breaker on Lucario, and once I established the cape, the game was sealed, and my theory of playing extremely aggressively into Ceruledge paid off, never allowing my opponent any room to breathe.
Round IV:
My opponent flips a Pidgey and I start sweating. Charizard is a historically rough matchup for Zoroark decks, especially if they’re playing the ever present Dusknoir package. I lost the coin toss, but was able to set up a decent game state on the play, and passed it over to my opponent, who also had a completely decent set up. On about turn 3, he Poffins for a Psyduck and promotes it after I’ve taken a prize, baiting me into playing into Max Belt Zard. Thankfully, the first thought of the day crossed my mind and I realized both that there were zero copies of Duskull in his deck, and that if I knocked out this duck I would definitely lose the game. Instead, I played the slow game, forcing him to attack into me while establishing a board that was tricky to crack. During an extremely drawn out game one, we eventually reached parity, him being on one prize left and me at two, both being stressed out of our minds during this game of chicken, and me getting passed back to with one turn to win this game before Pidgeot searched boss. After I realized I had five cards left in my deck and two trades available, I was about to super rod back in energies and a Lucario to try and wall out the last two prizes, until I saw the Pecharunt in my discard and the Hilda energy switch in my hand. I was able to super rod back in Pech, Hilda for the energy I put back in, and on a 2/3 chance to hit the game winning Pech, I clutched the game, and beat in for 300, cracking the bird. Game two starts out the same, only now with about fifteen minutes left on the clock. We both play as fast as we can, but I'm able to establish Caped Lucario, which he is completely unable to crack, even at a point where I had taken four prizes and it had been pinged down by Munkidoris, it was still twenty off of being knocked out, if he hadn’t prized double candy. We shook hands and he thanked me for not slowplaying, and I walked out feeling on top of the world.
Round V:
I immediately fell off the top of the world when my opponent flipped over ANOTHER CHARMANDER. I had won the flip and got to watch as my opponent set up two Dreepy, telling me that this was the slightly worse matchup, but a less consistent deck. Game one is a stressful blur, but I remember getting extremely scared of Munkidori bounce damage onto fez, phantom dive for three, so I attached my hero’s cape to Fez, which was ultimately determined the game. Going into game two I was already feeling bad, after walking out of an extremely exhausting matchup then playing into another extremely coarse matchup that I had nearly no testing into. As I shuffled up and played second, I looked at my opening hand and immediately felt the heaviest sense of doom I’ve ever felt. Two Munkidori, Riolu, Super Rod, Two Zoroark, and a Darkness energy. The only supporter able to help me here is Iono. His set up is decent, but better than mine, as I dead draw for three turns. Soon, he’s able to begin establishing an intimidating board, having a Charizard and a Dragapult along with 2 Drakloaks drawing an extreme amount of cards. Eventually, my opponent bosses my Riolu and knocks it out, beginning the prize race. After that, I finally draw a Zorua, something! I bench it and pray my opponent doesn’t find gust, but I know he’s on prime catcher, having seen it game one. I watch my opponent play the beautiful alt art Arven, and with what felt like the most stressful deck search ever he grabs… a nest ball and a Technical Machine: Evolution, and knocks out my Munkidori. I let out a heavy sigh and promoted my Zorua, a Zoroark staring at me in my hand. My draw is dead as I evolve, having a single trade to get me back into this game, and then I see the devious smile on the second card on my trade: Iono. I slam the supporter as fast as I possibly could, finally getting out of my dead hand and drawing energy switch, PP Up, Artazon, Poffin, Air Balloon, and a Zoroark, the perfect hand to navigate my way back into this game. And somehow, I do it, making my opponent play around a Zoroark swinging onto a Charizard while a Munkidori bounced back any damage that stuck, punishing them for trying to attack with Dragapult. My opponent wasn’t able to crack through another Zoroark until it was too late, eventually letting me set up 280 damage on a Charizard with two Munkidori on my bench, and being behind in the prize race with a full HP Lucario set up. I was able to counter catcher the chameleon sitting on his bench, iono him to two in hand, knockout the Charizard with Munkidori moving 60 damage off of my caped Zoroark on bench, and then aura jab to knockout the Charmeleon. I watched as he promoted Munkidori, and I felt extreme pressure rising in my chest, watching him recon directive once, draw an ultra ball to grab Fezandipiti, and draw three. Counter Catcher, energy, Dragapult is what he needed to find, but all he could do was attach fire to Munkidori, Iono me to one, and mind bend. Through one trade I wasn’t able to find a Pecharunt to move the Zoroark, and there was no other way to attack on my bench, so I had to risk it on the confusion flip after bossing the fez for a clean aura jab knock out. When I watched my die come up on a four, I let out a heavy sigh, fist bumped my opponent, picked up my deck, and we both agreed after both of our decent turn ones to just tie the round with four minutes left on the clock. This was the miracle round I never should have won.
Round VI:
I was completely exhausted after my last round, so I was happy my opponent was really chill this round, really sweet guy at his first regional. I watch as he flips over an Abra, and I legitimately hit the dog looking at the sunset face, knowing that I'm going to be 3-2-1 after this. I got absolutely dogwalked this round but my opponent was super super funny and nice about it, I wished him luck for the rest of his day and wished him well to make day two, and walked off, grabbing a smoothie and some dumplings with my friends Sky and Iris, having to lock back in for the next round, just praying it was a Gardevoir.
Round VII:
I sat down at my table and started setting up my mat for round seven when someone sitting diagonally from me without an opponent asked if I’m Lake. I of course say yes, and he moves in front of me, saying he figured out he was sitting at the wrong table, and he figured it out because “I looked like a Lake.” I immediately laughed and asked what he meant by that, he said it was because of the blue hair before he immediately realized his mistake, and tried not to be insensitive. I told him jokingly to quit while behind, and started to ask about his day. When the round started, I saw him flip over a Mega Absol, and I felt some weight lift off my shoulders for the first time since round two. Unfortunately, this meant my mind went totally blank, and I somehow lost game one, and I can’t remember if this was a demon possessing me and making me play bad, or if it was a bad brick, but we get into game two with about thirty minutes on the clock, and I beat him by playing patient and setting up better like I’m supposed to. Shuffling for game three with ten minutes left on the clock, we agree to make a Gentleman’s Agreement on board state, and start the game. Unfortunately for him, I get an explosive start and begin to play out of my mind, playing extremely fast to make up for the waning time, and eventually taking the first knock out right as time is called. Unfortunately, he doesn’t draw until after time is called, so I lose my extra turn, but all he has a munkidori with energy, a Pecharunt with a fighting energy, and a powered up Mega Absol with three energies on it staring down my fully powered Mega Lucario, double Zoroark, Munkidori with energy on bench. Once time is called and he shows that his plan is to Claw of Darkness, I show him my hand and we start to talk about the game state. For five minutes, I forgot the second Munkidori knowingly sitting in my deck, which I confirmed wasn’t prized. Eventually, I tell him the second Munki is waiting, and if he punches me I have Artazon to find it and two trades for the dark energy, and if I don’t find it I can Turo or Cape my Lucario to make it continue to play the long game, my inevitability far outweighing his in the matchup. A judge gave us another minute to decide, and eventually, he offers his hand, understanding I won’t cede my position, and he tells me to win out. I reached my first win and in since NAIC 2023.
Round VIII:
The final round of swiss, one win away from phase two, and I have to bolt to the bathroom. It was impossible to know if I’d have time or not, but I had to take the risk. As I sat on the toilet to compose myself, I heard the voice announcing round eight going live. I checked my RK9, and saw my final pairing for phase one, and I was across the entire venue. I threw on my headphones and half ran, half hobbled my way all the way to my seat, after nearly everyone had already sat down and started to shuffle up, and was completely out of breath. I laid out my setup and started to collect my thoughts again, as I watched my opponent’s shuffle carefully, which is when I saw it: Scream Tail. After eight rounds today and six at Pittsburgh, I was finally thrown a bone; my first Gardevoir to play against. Game one was a wash, being able to set up triple Zoroark and a Reshiram, wiping his board of a single Drifloon, a Ralts, and a Flutter Mane. Going into game two, I watch my friend Liv and Iris walk by my table. They watched game two start, and I heard Liv start yelling "That's my son, he’s going to be in day two!” I watched them from the corner of my eye, refusing to resign any minute of this game as on lock. Sadly, game two I found myself too bricked to walk with it, and we began to shuffle up for game three. I had to breathe, remember my fundamentals and remember that, no matter what, my boyfriend, and my friends watching would be proud of how far I made it, but I also felt the fire to go even further. My opening hand going second was beautiful… except there were no outs to a Zoroark. I had to Cleffa to try and draw into one, but whiffed again, only drawing an Iono. After getting Cleffa and a Zorua knocked out in a turn by Munkidori and Scream Tail, I felt my dread burning in me as I drew for turn, seeing another dead card. I counter-catchered his Gardevoir, ripped the Iono, and drew my cards in sets of twos. The first came up empty, the next set the same. I put my cards down and took a moment to breathe, and drew my last two cards. The sixth showed me the beautiful blue face of N and Zoroark, gleaning at me, as I let out the tightness in my chest. My trade proved to be pretty meaningless, but after that Zoroark draw, I knew the game was practically over. He scream tailed to knock out another Zorua, but the writing was on the wall as I evolved up, bossed his lone Gardevoir, and knocked it out. He tried to trap my Reshiram in the active spot, my air balloon already on a Zoroark, and tried to buy time, but it was too late. I traded into a nest ball for a Pecharunt, and as soon as it hit the bench, my opponent offered his hand, conceding the game. It didn’t register for a few seconds, and once I saw it, I felt my hands go numb and I watched my friends celebrate. I signed the slip, thanked him for a great game, and walked away, feeling light, on top of the world once again. I found CJ and hugged her, I hugged all my friends I could find, and I called my dad to tell him I needed a later flight out.
Round IX:
I check my opponent’s limitless page and see Pidgeot Control. I sigh walking to my next game, which proved to be what I expected as he flipped over Pidgeot and established a Mega Kangaskhan for early card advantage. This is around the point that I learned just how crucial Lucario was, as punched through every answer control could have and vastly overwhelmed him. Once I showed my opponent the boss on their fez for my last prize, they conceded the set, understanding that a game two and potentially three would just keep us here for no reason. Thankfully my set was less boring as I sat next to my good friend and renowned good player Sebastian Lashmet, as he told my opponent that I was his coach and taught him everything he knew. With that, my first day of competition was over, and I finally was going to get to play a second one, going in with a 6-2-1 record, needing to win every single one of my next rounds to have a chance at asymmetrical top cut.
Round X:
After getting to the convention center with Christian Fontenot, Emma Hagen, and our driver, Dr. Kevin Kreuger, I found my opponent’s limitless page and heard around from some friends that he’d likely be on walls. I have little to say about this round except that Lucario makes this an autowin despite cornerstone. In game two I bricked so hard that I didn’t trade once, but Milotic only does 160 and caped Riolu has 170 HP. After a quick win, I walked around and found myself in the coloring corner, coloring what I believed to be a pretty good Zoroark.
Round XI:
I’m talking to some Jersey locals who made day two about how our rounds have been going when I hear that pairings had went up, and who do I see but James Morris, a guy I was talking to not TEN SECONDS AGO. We both had a really good laugh as we went to the table. I asked where he’s from as a joke, and before time was called to start, we both looked for each other’s decklists in our testing server with other Jersey players. Eventually we were both shuffled up on my two player mat and we started a match I had plenty of prep for, and that he had a very slim chance of winning. GrimmLass normally could do well into Zoroark, but Lucario being a massive attacker that can one shot a Grimmsnarl and become even bigger with hero’s cape swung the matchup staunchly in my favor. Game one James fought hard but Lucario denied him too much board presence, stopping even Munkidori from being set up, and I won. Once we set up game two, James sighed, showed me his hand, and I felt pain in my chest for this poor soul. Secret Box, four of his eight darkness energy, a boss, and a Shaymin. He was able to establish a perfectly respectable board, but the liability of Shaymin and dropping so many resources spelled disaster for him. We played it out and he got really close to winning on a devolution board wipe, but unfortunately for him I was able to keep him off of it long enough to Lucario punch through his board and clear away the threats. Afterwards we talked about the set both at the venue and at the airport, and he told me it was easily his favorite match of the weekend, and that he felt like he saw me mature as a player since the first time I played against him. If you’re reading this James, you were a great sport and next time we play I’m kicking your teeth in again.
Round XII:
My opponent flipped over another Mega Absol and I felt myself relax even harder. I dog walked him game one, we laughed during between games about how hard the matchup was for him to navigate, and game two I once again rocked him. Great guy, really fun opponent but another quick round, putting me to a five round win streak.
Round XIII:
High stress as I sit down at table twelve to play against Lance Bradshaw, a name I recognize immediately. I see him mulligan, showing a Dragapult, and I feel myself return to the mindset of my round one, getting bodied by a sacky Pult. Thankfully, Lance didn’t play candies, but still beat me game one simply by setting up a better gamestate. Game two, I’m able to run him out of the game with Zoroark and Lucarios, and we get into game three with thirty minutes left. During my first deck search, I get the unfortunate news that I’ve prized my second Munkidori, immediately setting off my nerves. Lance and I played a tight game, constantly trading back and forth, another matchup of chicken, but after Artazon looking through my deck again, confirming the prized Munkidori, I heaved a heavy sigh. With Munkidori in the deck, I would've been able to establish a turn to use three Munkidori to knock out a benched Drakloak, and used Powerful Rage to knock out the Dragapult in active. Without it, I sunk in my seat, and offered my hand to Lance, asking him to at least get all the way to asymmetrical top cut.
Round XIV:
My head was barely in the game anymore after such a draining loss. Fourteen rounds of high stress Pokemon had shown its wear on me, and it was a horrible round for that to set in as I saw my final opponent of Milwaukee: Andrew Hedrick. I already knew Dric was going to be on PultNoir, seeing as I had friends who knew him and I tangentially knew him through a discord server. As we sat down, we both laughed, having finally met in person in what was called a “PGH Mirror Match,” and I already had understood my day was pretty much over. Game one, I am able to keep it close, but once again off of three trades I miss the ability to perform a triple Munkidori turn to take my remaining three prizes, this time only missing the Professor Turo’s Scenario. As I scoop the game, I check the top card of my deck and see back at me the gorgeous artwork of the Professor staring back at me. Game two, knowing that I had to put a rush order on the game, I start with Lucario and try to run him out of the game, but I wasn’t even able to keep it close this time, and lost a faster game two, finishing my run at Milwaukee at 9-4-1, securing 102nd place, and being able to sell my booster box for 325 dollars, the first amount of money I’d made competing.
Post Event Thoughts:
The biggest question I felt lingering as I made my way back to college to resume my normal life was simple: “Did I play a good deck?” I still can’t say for certain that I played a good deck, but I can certainly say I’m happy I played it. Through my two days of competition, there was rarely a moment where I wasn’t enjoying myself. I’ve played Pokemon competitively for three years now, and I cannot point to another event being as enjoyable as this one, partially due to my placement, and partially because of the friends I got to spend time with, the opponents I got to play against, and the deck I got to play. While my sixty may not have been perfect, and it may not be the best deck in the room, I feel that I can confidently say it is a good deck, and that it is a good play for the rest of the Mega Evolution Base Set format. Zoroark is and always has been a strong engine, both for draw and as an attacker. Being able to deal with Gardevoirs and set up two hit knock outs on threats felt strong all weekend. On the other hand, Lucario’s ability to force opponents to break through a massive body able to take one shots, while also being able to immediately knock out evolving basics and squishy board sitters proved to be extremely powerful. While the deck doesn’t look like it should be fluid, I can confidently say that it is synergistic, the two engines bolster each other in powerful ways, and I hope to see more from this deck both from myself and from those who want to play the deck now moving forward. Moving forward, the deck likely wants to try and fit in the new Promo Psyduck that will help the now popular Charizard Pidgeot Dusknoir list, and improve the Dragapult Dusknoir matchup. Aside from that, I believe the sixty I submitted to the event was optimal, and I believe I created a good, competitive deck that has the ability to stay in this format and prove to be consistent and strong, and maybe even cut a spot in top eight of an event, and make it where I couldn’t.
Shout Outs and Thanks:
Thank you to CJ for allowing me to publish this article through her platform and for the encouragement throughout the weekend.
Thank you to Avery, my lovely boyfriend who kept me going for the past few months, and over the weekend was my biggest supporter and encouragement to continue doing well. I wouldn’t be here without him.
Thank you to Iris Morgan for being my biggest building and testing buddy during the stressful buildup to Milwaukee, and for encouraging me during my run.
Thank you to Olive Battaglia for the housing during the event, the constant support of my run during the event, and being with me during my breakdown at the event.
A thank you to my family for their support financially and emotionally for me during the last few years of competition and for my entire life
The people of PGH, specifically Reese, Annie, and Atomic, some of my biggest supporters on the sidelines during the event
Sky DelSol for talking to me about the deck after the event and the praise for my run, and for buying plushies with me and hanging out during the event.
Everyone I stayed with during the event who all were hugely funny and supportive after my day two.
