We have just finished State Championships and things sure did get scary. We saw a deck filled with bugs and ghosts overrun the competition. A breaking point did happen as trainers worked hard to find a deck that will tip the scales in their favor. Talented players began to take root with new tactics that will help ensure them victory. Some even branched out to some old ideas that haven’t seen play in awhile.
We are going to spotlight one of the decks that grew in usage due to some of the scary things that were being seen at States. This deck had originally planted it roots during XY Base Set but really broke into the meta once BREAKpoint became playable. Once this deck is set up, your game will feel cursed as you can’t use your items. It will slowly start spreading fear among your bench as you struggle to mount an attack. Your weaker Pokemon may not stand a chance against this deck as they will simply past out. If you are not careful then you may find yourself lost in this scary forest that will haunt you whole game.
So how do you defeat a scary deck of bugs and ghosts? You make something even scarier. Get ready to spook your way into victory with a haunted forest filled with Trevenant and Trevenant BREAK!
Decklist
Pokemon- 14
Trevenant BREAK x3
Trevenant (XY Base Set) x4
Phantump (BREAKpoint) x4
Shaymin EX x2
WobbuffetTrainers- 37
Professor Sycamore x4
Wally x3
Judge x2
Lysandre
Xerosic
Trainers’ Mail x4
Ultra Ball x4
VS Seeker x4
Bursting Balloon x3
Float Stone x2
Super Rod x2
Battle Compressor
Head Ringer
Weakness Policy
Dimension Valley x4Energy- 9
Psychic x5
Double Colorless Energy x2
Mystery Energy x2
Deck Breakdown
This deck wants to get Trevenant out as quickly as possible and it has the means to do it. That included doing it on their first turn if they go first thanks to Wally. Simply find a way to get a Wally in the discard and use VS Seeker to retrieve it or simply play it from their hand to evolve an active Phantump. They can also simply evolve by using Phantump’s Ascension attack which allows it to evolve into Trevenant. This attack can be used for free thanks to Dimension Valley which cut the attack cost to nothing. Though, by the end of their first turn there should be a Trevenant active and item lock on your opponent’s side of the field thanks to Trevenant’s Forest Curse.
The item lock is the main appeal of this deck as it will disrupt your opponent. They will lose access to cards like Ultra Ball and VS Seeker which could be used to search out Shaymin EX or a needed Pokemon. Battle Compressor will be out of their reach which would normally help your opponent to dig into their deck. Trevenant’s item lock can happen on turn one which will put your opponent in an uphill struggle even before their first turn begins.
This deck also has other ways to disrupt your opponent thanks to Bursting Balloon. You just need to attach a Bursting Balloon to an active Trevenant which will discourage your opponent from attacking your spooky tree. If they do attack then it will result in their active Pokemon taking six damage counters. It is a win-win situation because either your opponent won’t attack you or they will take damage. It means that your Trevenant will live long enough to continue the item lock and attack. Head Ringer does something similar as it could prevent your opponent’s active EX Pokemon from attacking. The combination of Bursting Balloon and Head Ringer should be enough to help you set up more Trevenant on your bench and BREAK Evolve to make things even scarier for your opponent.
Things get even scarier once Trevenant BREAK is played. It has higher HP and can spread damage. It has the Silent Fear attack which cost a Psychic and one other energy. This attack allows you to put three damage counters on each of your opponent’s Pokemon. Even scarier, this attack be used for a single Psychic energy thanks to Dimension Valley. If you allow this to happen for a few turns then things can get nasty as the damage piles up and allows you to take knockouts by using Wood Hammer. Though you are always welcome to use Wood Hammer to put pressure on your opponent and use the 30 splash damage to the bench to start setting up knockouts on low HP Pokemon.
There are also a few other ways to make your opponent sweat in fear in the form of Judge. Your opponent may find themselves with a hand filled with unusable Item cards. If you want to limit their options then simply play Judge to put their Items back into their deck and raise the chance for them to draw into unplayable Item cards. It will make it even harder for your opponent to mount an attack against your spooky forest.
Trvenant found a lot of success during States thanks to the rise of Night March. Night March is filled with bugs and ghosts who love to use Item cards such as Battle Compressor and Ultra Ball to search into their deck. It helps not only thin their deck out but also to fill their Discard with Night Marchers to power up Pumpkaboo and Joltik Night March attack. If you get Trevenant out on your first turn then you can simply deny them of their items and slow them down. Once you do that then you can simply pick off their Pumpkaboo and Joltik by using Wood Hammer. They do have a few ways to get out of this such as drawing into a Hex Maniac to turn off Forest Curse to regain use of their items. If that happens then it is important for you keep streaming Trevenant who are ready to attack and take knockouts.
Anything that plays a Mega Pokemon may not enjoy facing Trevenant. They will be locked out from playing Spirit Links and Mega Turbo. These two things are what Mega Pokemon love as they give Mega Pokemon decks speed. They can eventually set up and Mega Evolve but it may come a the cost of knockouts. So if you are playing against a Mega Rayquaza EX or M Gardevoir EX deck then the odds of you winning against these matches up are pretty high.
If you are looking for bad match ups then you will want to avoid Dark decks. These decks are Trevenant’s weakness and can cut down your forest in a matter of minutes. You would be able to slow them down thanks to Forest Curse which will prevent them from playing items. Though it will be only a matter of time before they power up a Yveltal EX and simply take out one Trevenant after another. Weakness Policy will help in this match up but you will have to move fast to take your knockouts against Dark. It is because of this weakness that you will want to keep Trevenant out of Expanded where Dark decks lurk in the shadows.
If you are wanting to spook your opponent and out scare Night March then go ahead and give Trevenant a try. It is a deck that will force your opponent into a forest filled with despair. If they are not careful then the curse will overwhelm them which will lead you towards victory.
