META Gardy ex 🧠

thepokeman here is the list. lemme know if you have anything to say abt it!

I would trade a tm evo for a rare candy, even if your goal is to be control this could be a good move to power before when your field is already established. I would also put one more pendant because normally using 2 you can prize one and also because using only 2 normally in the last turns they will be in your discard with 3 you can still hit a lot in the last turns. Believe me, these changes save a lot. I placed 2nd in a championship of more than 70 players :)

Thanks for the advice synkbrain! ❤️

Yeah I can very well see why 1 more charm can help thanks for that. I was experiencing issues sometimes with opponent stage 2 up and I was out of charms. (also "pendant" is a cool nickname btw)

Same with candy. The advantages are clear. It's just that I'm the slightest bit hesistant to remove tm evo bc I originally had 1 but it kept being annoying prized which is why I added the second. Candy can act like an alternative almost which is why it feels like a valid swap. It's just that it'll be a bit tougher to find since Arven cannot search for both candy and poffin. Idk honestly. lemme know if I made gaps in my reasoning there. 

Thanks for the help. I'll make those edits. Lemme know if there are any more concerns! 🥰

Siegislash Interesting in this way, I'll test it. thank you!!!!

Well that was fast! This list looks super interesting. I like how you've kinda changed the ratios of certain cards, as well as add some new ones I've never seen in Garde before. I do think though, that you're missing a couple of important cards. I'll do some testing with your version, and compare it more in depth to some other lists I've had success with online. It's nice to finally see more and more people playing Gardevoir, because it's such an underrated meta anymore. Also, What do you think of the new Henry Chao style?

thepokeman Glad you like it! ❤️

Ye this is personally the optimal build. I've done some testing with decks that tournament players have used but they are all lacking ever so slightly in some way. Though there still could be possible revisions as I just added the extra charm bc there were more times where I needed an extra charm than I found Turo useful.

With Henry Chao do you mean this? Gardevoir by Henry Chao – Limitless (limitlesstcg.com)
While I do like the idea bc it's new and all, but it's not anything worth shifting over to. Running more Iono than Arven makes many plays Gambles. Moonlit hill is kinda eh when you have so many more options to discard energies from your hand(ig its kinda justified with only 2 ultra but still). Spiritomb is also a very niche play. 1 darkness energy is risky bc of how useful Monke is, especially for OHKOing Stage 2s. HOWEVER there are some plays here that are very optimal. 3 vessel and 3 charm are both great plays, and secret box is probably the "secret" play(pun intended) bc It could very well pull it's own weight as an ace, just not completely sure you'd use it over stamp but it definitely is a decent consideration. Overall it's decent. Not better or worse than the basically identical decklists by other tournament players. Just my initial thoughts. 

What are your thoughts on it?

npppp synkbrain! so glad I could help! ❤️or attempted to help idk lemme know after you test it if I helped lmao

Ok, so I did some work on your deck (hopefully I'm not just turning your work into my list)...

- I'd take out 1 Drifloon for another monkey. Double monkey is just sooo broken. As well as being an invaluable tool against Dragapult (maybe also take out the 60hp one), 2 monkey also allows for some crazy 2-3 pize turns against any deck that has small pokemon using (Devo might also be worth considering for this play too).

- Because you're not running any stall pokemon like Mimikyu (not to be confused with ability lock pokemon), or any speed cards (rare candy or sada), I'd swap 1 boss for a counter catcher so as not to waste a supporter.

- PLS PLS PLS add turo!!! I know you said you didn't use it a lot, but I can't count the number of games I would have lost had I not had it in my hand. If I were you, I'd take out an ultra ball just for this.

- And finally, I don't think Ciphermaniac is very good here. While I see what you're trying to do with Kirlia/Greninja, I don't believe it's a good supporter to rely on at only one count. By taking out cipher, you now have space to add in another consistancy card like +1 Iono or Candy.

Regarding Henry Chao, I think his take on Garde is very interesting. I very much agree with you on the "Secret" Box and Spiritomb, but I think what he's trying trying to do with the Moonlit Hill, is try to create a Drago tech without taking up 2 slots (yee old double monkey). The reason why I asked about his list was to see if that's what inspired you to run the extra earthen vessels and ulta balls. 

Hope this was of some use. PLEASE feel free to listen to none of my suggestions. I really like your list how it is, and I don't want to ruin it if your already content with it (every player is different). I'm simply observing some of the choices you chose to make, searching for feedback from other people (you're a much more experienced player then I am).

Thanks for your help,

thepokeman

Ps

What do you think about nest ball over artazon?

Thanks thepokeman for taking the time to write this! 😇

"I'm simply observing some of the choices you chose to make, searching for feedback from other people" Thats a rly good way to learn to be a better deckbuilder! 

All of your suggestions are at least valid, which I thank you for! Though I have reasons why I personally didn't choose to make those plays. But then again, like you said, "I don't want to ruin it if your already content with it (every player is different)" same goes for your version. If you think that these suggestions are the way you want to play, then go for it. 👍 I'll only correct u if ur objectively wrong, which is not the case for a single one of your suggestions. (lmk if u wanna hear why I didn't make ur suggestions bc they are all part of old ugly scrapped tests and don't I don't wanna sound mean 😓)

Nest ball over Artazon was a tough choice honestly. I don't remember exactly where this decision was made but it was part of a chain thought that eventually led to it being removed and deeming that nest ball is still the better option for this deck. These aren't all the reasons but some include:

- Being able to grab Greninja is absolutely massive. The nest ball search 70% of the time for Greninja. Greatly benefits speed in all respects. This is the biggest reason I chose nest ball over Artazon.

- Artazon sometimes helps the opponent more than yourself sometimes. In this meta of evolution exs(especially pult) and decks like Ancient box (its not a box btw idk why ppl call it that) Artazon has a really good chance of slipping your opponent out of a pickle when they are stuck and that's never good. 

- Artazon's Late game coverage still isn't great. The greatest advantage of Artazon is probably searching for loons after cycling it. With 2 loon and many other search cards like a full playset of ultra ball and ciphermaniac, making sure you have a loon every turn isn't that crazy of a use of Artazon. 

But don't get me wrong. Artazon is still very good in this archetype. It's just that I chose not to bc of the reasons above and other minor issues such matchup countering and speed manipulation.

Thank you for being so respectful and taking my help! ❤️

Hey, no hard feelings :) There is no point in asking for help and feedback if you're only going to argue to get your point further (I seem to have this problem a lot). We should all be able learn from eachother and respect everyone's different opinions on how a deck should work. I am constantly trying to improve my list(s) and become better. At some point though, as Michael Jackson once said, "You've got to let it SIMMER." Also meaning stop while your ahead. Meta decks shouldn't be a "One size fits all" deal. Neither should anything else besides basic truths. Through my conversations with people like you, I've been able to gain some really great information.

Thanks so much for taking the time to help. When I followed you because I liked your decks, I didn't think I'd ever learn this much! You've been very kind and patient, and I really appreciate that. Have a great week ahead,

-thepokemon

Yeah all valid thepokeman.

You're starting to sound like a friend on this site who just recently left the site bc of issues with the userbase. I specifically mention him bc he had lots of trouble with people that were very vehement abt their "objectively wrong" ideas. This stuff happens more often in the expanded format which me and him both main in. expanded is objectively a MUCH more difficult format to build in and believe me when I say this, but "objectively wrong" happens so much more in expanded due to beginners in expanded who are very experienced in standard come in and don't know how to strategize in expanded at all. The friend was probably the most intellectually superior in terms of expanded than 99.9% of users on this site. He would always say smth like this "There is no point in asking for help and feedback if you're only going to argue to get your point further"(what you just wrote) to those beginners bc they were "objectively wrong" and needed to be enlightened. A whole lotta yap I'm sry but I feel like you'd wanna hear his story.

Aside from that though. At this level of optimization, we are far past the level where "objectively wrong" mistakes can be made, so yes, you are completely right abt there not being a "one size fits all" bc the ways that these edits change the game are far more minimal than those that can be made in expanded. 

np! I am always happy to help. I can be a much bigger help if u were to venture into expanded bc thats the format I main. The format thats more fun to play, with more satisfying plays, more consistent plays, a larger deck variety, strategies that have yet to be discovered, what's not to love? nobody cares if no one plays this format, has some VERY toxic decks (though just annoyances not broken), and is difficult to build in. 

See you around! A great week ahead for you too. ❤️