TCG Jump: The Metal Factory (Internationals Recap)

It is time to put the petal to the metal in one of the biggest tournaments of the year!
The first ever North America International Champions was held during the weekend of June 30th to July 2nd. It was truly an international event as players from all over the world came to test their merit. Some people went for fun. Others went for the chance to gain an invite to Worlds 2017.

There were plenty of strong TCG players at NAIC who wanted to prove that they deserved the title of champion. These players had impressive decks that have been tested various times. I decided to take a deck that is as tough as nails and sharp like a sword in a tournament filled with tough competition.

Today’s TCG Jump will cover my experience at NAIC with my Metal Clockwork deck. We are going to see how heavy metal has to be in order to take out strong opponents. So get ready to see how Metagross can crush the competition at the first ever NAIC!

The Deck
This deck has a simple purpose. It wants to set up three Metagross GX and put metal in the discard. After that, the deck will run like a well oiled machine. A Metagross GX being rotated out and refueled. Either they will stay on the bench and help power up the next Metagross GX or get healed. Metagross GX has plenty of HP to take a hit and then hit back harder.

I have been testing out variants of Metagross GX since the start of Guardians Rising. I knew how the card worked, the weaknesses and strengths. My Metagross deck has gone through a few changes with more that I wanted to make prior to the tournament. Some of them I made but others I just couldn’t figure out how to fit into the deck. Either way, I went into NAIC with a deck that I felt was best even with the obvious weaknesses it had.

I just knew one thing. I needed to get the factory set up so I could recycle my attackers to hit hard.

Pokemon: 14
Beldum x4
Metang x2
Metagross GX x4
Alolan Vulpix
Magearna EX
Tapu Lele x2

Trainers: 36
Professor Sycamore x4
N x3
Lysandre x2
Brigette
Skyla
Olympia
Professor Kukui
Pokemon Ranger
Hex Maniac
VS Seeker
Rare Candy x4
Ultra Ball x4
Max Potion x3
Choice Band x3
Field Blower x2
Rescue Stretcher

Energy: 10
Metal x9
Psychic

As I mention before, this deck wants to get three Metagross GX out. It was huge goal but this deck has the means to do it.

You will want to start your game with Alolan Vulpix in the active. You will have a few ways to do that. You could start with Beldum and use Ultra Ball to find Tapu Lele GX. Once you do that, you can put Tapu Lele GX on your bench to activate Wonder Tag to find a Brigette. You will then use Brigette to find two more Beldum and an Alolan Vulpix. After that you can attach a Metal energy to Beldum and retreat to use Beacon to search out what you need to get a Metagross GX on your bench.

It is a rather simple plan but once you pull off having three Metagross GX on the bench then the rest of the game is easy. You will need to focus on ensuring you have a constant stream of Metagross GX that are ready to attack. Occasionally you will need to use Max Potion to heal up a heavily damage Metagross GX. This will prevent your opponent from knocking it out during their turn by the use of Lysandre.

Brigette and Skyla was key in making this deck run so smoothly. You will use Brigette on your first turn to get three Pokemon on your bench. This will not only set up your bench with three Beldum but it will also thin out your deck. Meanwhile, Skyla will help you get certain needed items. In the early game you will use Skyla to get a Rare Candy. That way you can evolve your Beldum right into Metagross GX. Later in the game you can use Skyla to grab a Max Potion to heal up a heavily damaged Metagross GX.

Olympia was useful in this deck because you wanted a way to retreat if something unwanted was in your active. Your opponent will try to put a Metagross GX with no energy in the active. This is a stall tactic as they will force you to put down three energy to retreat it. Especially when they know there are no Metal energy in your discard. They will make you decide if you want to save the Metagross GX or simply allow it to go down. That is where you take out Olympia. Simply play Olympia to get your Metagross GX out of the active and attack with the one who has the energy.

If you want to take knockouts then you will need Choice Band in this deck. This card is key if you want to take knockouts on EX and GX Pokemon. Metagross GX’s Giga Hammer only does 150 damage. That is enough to knockout any non EX/GX Pokemon but it is short of a knockout on anything else. If you want to take clean knockouts on most EX/GX Pokemon then make your Metagross GX wear a Choice Band. It will allow Metagross GX hit that magic number for a knockout. If your Metagross GX isn’t wearing a Choice Band then it could cost you the game. That is why I wanted to put four Choice Bands into this deck but I just didn’t know how to fit it into the deck.

Now lets talk about the interesting techs this deck has: Magearna EX, Pokemon Ranger and one Psychic energy.

If you have been reading this column during the last year then you know how much I love Magearna EX. It is a card that has an amazing ability. That is why it is in this deck. Magearna EX’s Mystic Heart ability prevents effects of attacks from effecting Pokemon with Metal energy attached. That is perfect when there are so many attacks that have power effects that can turn the tide of a battle. Some of my friends told me to take it out but I knew that Magearna EX could provide an edge in some battles.

Pokemon Ranger was a last minute addition that proved useful. I had originally put in Pokemon Ranger as a tech against Greninja BREAK. Shadow Stitching from Greninja BREAK can be the death sentence for this deck. I had used Magearna EX as a way to prevent Shadow Stitching from turning off my Pokemon’s ability. The problem was that it was hard to spread Metal Energy over four Pokemon.

That is where Pokemon Ranger comes in! You will simply play down Pokemon Ranger after your opponent used Shadow Stitching. Pokemon Ranger will remove the ability locking effects of Shadow Stitching and give you some time to take a knockout.

You can even use Pokemon Ranger after you use Giga Hammer. That means you can have the same Metagross GX use Giga Hammer two times in a row. The effects of being unable to use Giga Hammer is something that Pokemon Ranger can remove. It was something that I took out of Volcanion EX’s book of tricks.

Lastly there is that single Psychic energy. This energy is in the deck only for a chance to use Tapu Lele GX’s GX attack. Tapu Cure GX can be used to heal up two Benched Pokemon. This could be used in the late game as you run out of Max Potions and need to heal up two heavily damaged Metagross GX. You may lose a Tapu Lele GX but this means you have two Metagross GX ready to attack. All you need to do is have a Psychic energy in your hand or discard to use Tapu Cure.

Now that we have talked about my well oiled machine of a deck, let see how it did at the NAIC.

The Tournament
There were over 1200 TCG players at the NAIC. All of them wanted something. I wanted five wins with Metagross GX. I knew I could do it but I will have to work for it. If I could avoid the Fire and Greninja decks then I may have a chance to hit my goal.

Round One: VS ???
I have no idea who my first opponent was because she never showed up.

Round one started and I sat down with no opponent across from me. I was all excited to play my first round at NAIC with Metagross GX. I knew that I had a lot going against me but my opponent was going to give me a good warm up.

Though I never got my warm up and instead got a free win after ten minutes have passed.

I later found out that my opponent was semi-famous. I just know that her name was Nicholena Moon and that she streams. Her name sounds familiar but I do not know her work. A quick Google search has told me that she writes for a few sites and I am curious about how I would do against her. She sounds accomplished and I would’ve love to test myself against her. Maybe one day but this weekend was apparently not the time.

Result: Win (1-0-0)

Round Two: VS Volcanion
It was out of the oven and literally into the Fire as my next opponent was Brad Curcio. I was quite familiar with Brad due to him being from my area. We have even battled a few times in the past. I have beaten Brad once (which can be read about on this site!) but most of the time he has beaten me. This will be one of those times as Brad was playing Volcanion which burns my deck. Literally. Though, I was going to try to walk through fire to win this round.

During round one, I tried to set up a few Metagross GX and it worked. I knew that I had to attack fast and hard. If there was anything that had energy attached then I would need to pull it up and knockout it out. It worked at first as I took a few prizes. The problem was that I did it with Metagross GX which means Brad was able to take easy prizes. It wasn’t long after that I ran out of Metagross GX and was rushing to set more up. It was obvious that I had lost the match at that point.

My second round was much better. Brad had a bad start so I made sure to take advantage of that by setting up some Metagross GX. This time I wanted to start attacking with Tapu Lele GX. After all, it was one of the few Pokemon in my deck that didn’t have Fire weakness.

I knew that I wanted to soften things up with Tapu Lele GX and try to use another Tapu Lele GX or Metagross GX to take knockouts. That did work as I took four prizes. Though what made me lose was getting over prepared for Turtonator GX. I had place down Magearna EX to keep Brad from using Shell Trap to hurt my Pokemon. After all, Magearna EX prevents the effect of Shell Trap from going off. The problem was that Magearna EX’s low HP made it an easy target to be knocked out with Lysandre’s help.

I may have lost the battle but I finally got my warmup. I  even did a great job against Brad Curcio. I would like to think this was my personal best against him. At least this let me know that I can stand against the best players.

Result: Lost (1-1-0)

Round Three: VS M Rayquaza EX
In the third round I had to face M Rayquaza EX. I knew that I had to set up fast because my opponent was going to do the same. I have had plenty experience with M Rayquaza EX and how they can get ready to attack on their first turn. I figured that a bench of eight Pokemon wasn’t going to be enough to knock out Metagross GX. After all, M Rayquaza EX has a damage cap of 240 while Metagross has 250 HP. I could always take a hit and then heal up using Max Potion then proceed to two hit KO M Rayquaza EX.

My rounds proved that I was wrong.

Apparently M Rayquaza EX decks have now started to use Professor Kukui to add 20 extra damage to their attacks. So now a full bench of eight is enough to knock out a Metagross GX. All they have to do is to play Professor Kukui to make their Emerald Break attack go from 240 to 260.

I tried to dig for my Field Blower to remove Sky Field and force my opponent to settle for only doing 150 damage. Though that did not help because I knew my opponent’s deck played four Sky Field.

It did not help that I was unable to set up my bench. I knew I need to set up quickly but my deck did not allow me to do that. During my second game I had prized two of my Metagross GX and discarded my third one with a turn one Professor Sycamore That means I only had one left. That pretty much ended my round.

Result: Lost (1-2-0)

Round Four: VS Alolan Ninetales GX
It was now round four and I knew I had to turn things around. Luckily my opponent was playing Alolan Ninetales GX which was perfectly. Metagross GX breaks through the deck like a metal ice breaking against ice. I just needed to make sure that I can set up three Metagross GX in time before my opponent could set up some Alolan Ninetales GX. If I am too slow then that means that I could lose my Beldum due to a few Ice Blade attacks.

I did have a slow set up and it took me awhile to get a Metagross GX. I had the start that I wanted where Alolan Vulpix was in the active. I was able to Beacon all the things I needed. The problem was that my opponent kept using N to get rid of what I needed. I kept having to hope for a Rare Candy, Metang or Metagross GX to be in my new hand.

Granted, it wasn’t all bad. Each new hand gave me something that I could use to push my set up a little bit more. I was also guilty of doing the same thing to my opponent. Every time my opponent had gotten a Ninetales GX I made sure to N him back. I only did it because that was the only Supporter I had to use beside Brigette. It was a lot of “I am sorry but don’t bother searching because I have an N in my hand” between turns. We were both joking but knew that we were telling the truth.

Eventually I did get three Metagross GX set up. I was able to cleanly knockout his Ninetales GX with no problem. It was literally clockwork! My opponent may have tried to use Tapu Lele GX to attack but a simple Choice Band was enough to take a clean knockout. All I had to do was repeat the same thing in game two.

Result: Won (2-2-0)

Round Five: Toxapex GX-Garbodor
I knew that I had a long way to climb back to the top but I was at least having fun. Especially in this match where my opponent was using a unique Toxapex GX-Garbodor deck.

My opponent’s deck wanted to get Toxapex GX set up as fast as they can. They used things like Max Elixir to attach energy to their Mareanie before evolving them into Toxapex GX. Once they got three energy on their Toxapex GX then it was time to use Super Intense Poison. This attack allows them to inflict a Poison condition on my Pokemon that puts 10 damage counters on them. They use Garbodor to either finish the job to knockout the Pokemon. My opponent had a BREAKthrough Garbodor to turn off abilities. It was a pretty nasty deck!

I knew that things could go bad fast if I was not careful. My deck was made to not use too many items if needed so I wasn’t too worry about Trashalance. It would be a problem if the game lasted too long but things were manageable.

The real problem was Toxapex GX who could put ten damage counters on my Metagross GX. Luckily I had just the thing to combat this in the form of Magearna EX. This cute card had the Mystic Heart ability that makes Pokemon who have Metal energy attach to them immune to effects of attacks. That means the poison status effect that Super Intense Poison inflicts.

My opponent was familiar with Magearna EX and how it can ruin the match for him. He saw that his Toxapex GX’s Super Intense Poison was not going to work as long as Magearna EX was on the field. He tried to use Spike Cannon to inflict damage but he couldn’t flip enough heads to make a dent on Metagross GX. I never got too many items in the discard so that means Garbodor was never hitting too hard. As mention before, there was a BREAKthrough Garbodor in my opponent’s deck to prevent Magearna EX from working. Though I just kept using Field Blower to get rid of the attached item. Eventually I won our first game after a long and grueling battle.

The second match was more of the same except our match had went to time. This was an amazing match as is saw a deck that I had never seen before! I was on the edge of my seat and I loved it!

Fun fact: My opponent said he has faced a few Metagross GX decks but mines was the first he had seen use a Magearna EX tech. I felt so proud!

Result: Won (3-2-0)

Round Six: VS Drampa GX-Garbodor-Zoroark
This round should have been easy for my deck. Drampa GX-Zoroark decks are easy for my deck because they can not one shot my main attacker. Metagross GX has too much HP for Drampa GX to hit. Meanwhile, I can set up my bench to only have three Pokemon on it and still function. That means Zoroark can not hit big numbers with Mind Jack.

The problem was that my deck decided to take a five minute break during game one. I had started off with a lone Beldum and plenty of Metal energy. I decided that the best plan of action was to attach an energy and use N to get a new hand. I was hoping to get a Vulpix or another Pokemon. Instead I got nothing. That had put me in a position where my opponent could attach a Double Colorless Energy to their Tapu Lele GX to knock out Beldum and win the match.

Things went much better during game two. I was able to set up my board exactly how I wanted. He may have knocked out my Alolan Vulpix quickly but I was able to set up a Metagross GX with two more coming. My opponent may have taken a long time thinking but I knew that I just needed to keep knocking out Zoroark and Garbodor to win. If I could get a Choice Band on my Metagross GX then that means I can knockout Tapu Lele and Drampa GX. The only hard decisions I had to face was when was the appropriate time to use Max Potion to heal my Pokemon.

The third game went pretty much the same. I was able to take three prizes but time was called. If I had been a bit faster in my attack then maybe I could have taken the prizes I needed to win the game. Maybe if my opponent was a bit quicker then I could have gotten the round. Either way, I was glad to have at least gotten a tie. It is better then a lost.

Result: Tie (3-2-1)

Round Seven: VS Decidueye GX-Alolan Ninetales GX-Espeon EX
This round proved to be a tough one as my opponent was playing Decidueye GX-Alolan Ninetales GX-Espeon EX. This deck wants to use Pokemon like Tapu Koko, Alolan Ninetales GX and Decidueye GX to spread damage damage on their opponent’s Pokemon. If their opponent has any evolutions on their side of the field then that is when Espeon EX comes in. Espeon EX’s Miraculous Shine can return a Pokemon’s evolution back to the hand. If there are more damage counters then the HP of the previous form then that Pokemon is knock out! It is a scary thing to see happen. Usually the opponent tries to have several damage counters spread out in order to take several knockouts.

My key Pokemon here was going have to be Magearna EX. If I ensure that all my Metagross had Metal energy on them then I can keep Espeon EX from devolving them with Miraculous Shine.

The problem was that I had key pieces prized and had started with Tapu Lele GX. Not just once! But twice! My set up in the first game was nonexistent. There was no set up and eventually I just conceded so we can start game two.

My opponent and I both had a bad start during game two. The difference was that I was able to set up quicker. It was a tough match still as I had to keep an eye on my opponent’s Espeon EX. I knew that I had to time my Magearna EX’s placement just right. In the meantime I just kept hitting her Decidueye GX with Metagross GX. It eventually came down to her constantly using Miraculous Shine to devolve my Metagross GX. I just kept evolving it and was glad that she didn’t have enough damage counters on it. I was able to top deck a Choice Band and knockout her Espeon EX to take my last two prizes.

We had time called right when our third game started. We tried to do a donk on each other but it didn’t happen. I had place several Pokemon on my side of the field so her donk option was gone. I was unable to get three energy on Metagross GX on time so I couldn’t donk her.

Either way, this was an intense match and fun.

Result: Tie (3-2-2)

Round Eight: VS Drampa GX-Zoroark
This round me paired with an opponent who played Drampa GX-Zoroark. My opponent was confident that I was going to win but wanted to play it out. I found that pretty honorable and understood his decision. After all, maybe I will be unable to set up and he will win. I know it is possible.

I found out during our first game that two of my Beldum were prized. That is always fun to know because it meant that I needed to make sure my two remaining Beldum needed to remain safe. I can play a game with just two Metagross GX but it means that I would need to constantly having a Metal energy in my hand or use Pokemon Ranger. It was a long match where I had to use my Max Potion wisely while waiting to take knockouts on my opponent’s Drampa GX. Luckily for me, my opponent never got Hex Maniac which means he couldn’t slow me down. This led to me winning game one.

During our second game, I found out that two of my Metang were prized. That made me cringe as I realize I would need to use Rare Candy to evolve my three Beldum into Metagross GX. It is possible but it can be slow. Game two was more of the same from game one. I just had to be slow due to having to search for Rare Candy. Eventually time was called but I was given the win.

Result: Won (4-2-2)

Round Nine: VS Excadrill
It was now time for the final round and it was an interesting one. My opponent was playing Excadrill with the Omega Barrage trait. He also played it with Choice Band, Dhelmise and Flareon from Ancient Origins to boost his Exadrill’s damage.

This deck played fast. It wanted to set up and attack. My opponent played the Steam Siege Talonflame to grab what he needed in order to get an army of Excadrill. He sped his way to take knockouts and it took me a long time to set up a counterattack. I did get set up but my opponent was just faster and knocked out my Pokemon to take his win.

Our second game started and I needed to take my stand with Metagross GX. I also discover that my opponent played Flareon during this game. That made things scary as I had to make sure that my opponent couldn’t attack with Flareon around. This was an intense match as I needed to play my Max Potion at the right time to ensure I have a Metagross GX for the next turn. Eventually I took six prizes and won game two. The key was making sure you knockout Excadrill quickly so that way they will not gain Fire typing from Flareon.

We started game three but time was called after a few turns. We tried to see if either one of us could take a win but we saw that it was impossible. Either way, this was an interesting match and proved to be fun. It was easier said then done to knockout Exadrill due to how fast they can set up.

Result: Tie (4-2-3)

Overall
I did not make Day Two nor did I get to win five games. Instead I had left with a 4-2-3 record. Am I upset? Not at all! Especially since the tournament had so many diverse decks. I didn’t play the same deck twice. That was amazing and my deck was put through the ringer which was exactly what I wanted.

My record was positive and I had only lost two games. The games that I had ties in where done because of time. If I had more time in some of the matches then I believe I could have won.

What could be done for improvements? I have not thought about this question too much. I have consider using Alolan Ninetales GX to help counter the Fire match up and spread damage. That way I do not need to focus on grabbing Choice Band. It could also help with those matches that play Pokemon who have more then 180 HP. The problem is that now Vulpix is a two prize Pokemon. The good thing about Alolan Vulpix is that it is a single prize Pokemon that can help me set up. So if it does get knockout then it only cost me a prize. Alolan Ninetales GX becomes a risk that I do not want to take. Maybe I could put back in my second Alolan Vulpix but that means something has to come out.

The one thing that I would like to change to find a way to not start with Tapu Lele GX. Most of the matches where I started off with Tapu Lele GX led to me losing. Either that or I was struggling to get my second one so I can use Brigette. The worst part was that I couldn’t use the second one to grab a needed supporter later in the game. Maybe a second Alolan Vulpix will help prevent this from happening.

Overall, the deck ran like a fine oiled machine when it set up. This happened pretty often which I am glad. It was amazing to see three Metagross GX on the field and each one of them eager to attack. The deck becomes autonomic which is good because it can keep on hitting. I loved that my opponents could not hit 250 damage. It was even better when I could make all that damage disappear with a single Max Potion. It was beautiful and I loved it!

I may not have made Day Two but I had a blast playing another great Metal deck. It ran like a factory and hit like a train. Perfect!