Gardevoir ex - October 2024 META

R.I.P Zacian v😭

(sigh) The good old days...

It's gonna be sad when when all the V, VMAX, and VSTAR pokemon are gone. Although I think they will probably come back like EXs.

Are you still playing lostbox?

Very strong build the one tiny thing I would change is a extra candy for a rod. Are you really taking advantage of both rods enough to keep both? Idk ur choice

Thanks for your comment Evn! Two candy is very interesting, but I think 1 is better in this version of the deck. One candy is already pushing it, and it's only purpose if for bricking situations or if Gardy gets knocked out. If I were playing a more turbo Gardy style (Henry Chao), then DEFINITELY run 2 candy. But because this list is a bit slower, it's better to let your opponent take 1 or 2 prizes and make a huge comeback with plenty of recovery than to start swining at the beginning of the game and be stuck in a bad position later. This is just my opinion, and I have seen plenty of people have success with only 1 super rod and a stretcher.

Hope this was helpful :) 

let me know if you have any more questions/feedback

Evn Iplaylostbox

thepokeman if it's not their deck, @ them or they won't see that you responded.

To answer your question you posted on my Salazzle budget, I would remove an Iono. 3 is more than enough already. Most of your draw should come from Greninja and Kirlia(which is why more ultra ball is optimal imo). Other considerations include:

TM devo - most of your shots should be OHKOs once you have charm, diminishing the need for this.

Manaphy - bench snipe isn't meta currently, except maybe Greninjas which ur gonna clobber anyways.

Comments about the suggestions from Evn:

thepokeman is right abt not needing candy much. Normally you would be going second. The sole purpose of candy is for coverage for when you end up going first and want to maintain the same speed as before. Gardy's stage 2 naturally cannot be turbo; thus this list isn't slow at all. This is basically the fastest Gardy can get. TM evo is only half a turn slower than candy bc it requires you to go second. 

It's been this long and I still can't bring myself to believe that the concept of a Vmax is real... the best old days were when MEGAs were still in rotation imo, the concept of ending ur turn on evolution is still crazy. They kinda ruined it with spirit links tho. For all I know MEGAs won't be coming back bc the core series will def move on to a different gimmick that they will make a tcg version of. 😔

good deck overall! 👍💯 like I said, at this level of optimization, no play is objective anymore, it's only playstyle and preference at this point.

thepokeman i’m working on a better version of lost box but for now, I play Zard and lost box but my lost box is almost done.

I'll probably post the list tomorrow

Siegislash (lemme know if this works). Thx for the help with garde (i must sound like a broken record lol). I'm testing taking out an Iono. 

Iplaylostbox Nice! Can't wait to see the list! I'm surprised lost box hasn't done better now, with very few people playing Manaphy or Jirachi in this format.

Ye the @ worked. 

dw abt it. Good luck testing!

ye ur rly right abt ppl not playing manaphy or Jirachi a lot. I, too dropped them in literally every deck I have lol.

Siegislash (so glad the @ worked), thanks so much for the tips! I havn't really been missing that fourth Iono that much in testing. One game though, I had charm in hand going second with no other supporter to play... then I literally got Iono'd from my opponent next turn lol (It was zard, and they were dead after devo with one card in hand and no fez).

I really think manaphy is underrated in a lot of the meta decks right now. Even though C pow is gone, bech disruption is still at an all time high. Decks like Garde & Zard (small pokemon) can take a second to get set up- making them really vulnerable to Regidrago, Lost Box, and Palkia. I seem

glad everything worked out! 🥰

"all time high" is an extreme exaggeration but I get what you mean. Drago is prob the most prominent issue and manaphy will do wonders when you do come into the matchup with a vulnerable deck like this. Lost box is extremely unpopular fsr, and palkia isn't consistent enough to consistently whip out Greninja or Wellspring second turn. Then again, the point before still stands. At this level of optimization, a little change like this isn't critical. You could choose to sacrifice a bit of consistency to deal with Drago, Greninja, and such, or you couldn't. Personally, it has helped so less that I just decided to scrap it out of most of my decks. totally not bc I main basic rule boxes which are virtually invulnerable to bench snipe.

Siegislash that lostbox comment goes hard... Iplaylostbox ....... (scroll down. I died laughing when u said that)

Everything has been working great in testing! "All time high" might be an understatement, but everything hurts against Garde. Kirlia and Monkey can still easily be taken out.

What are your other main Standard Format decks? I think I saw a Raging Bolt list a while back on ur profile. Is it still up?

lmao it's unfortunate but its tru tho.😢 Lost box is rly underrated in this META. less ppl are using it for absolutely no reason. 

In the sense of Gardy, ur point abt manaphy stands strong. Imo Gardy is actually the most vulnerable to multi strike bench snipe in this meta bc most of your pokemon succumb to R Greninja, and all but gardy succumb to Wellspring, Greninja EX, and and Kyurem. The worst part is that most of your pokemon are turn based supports which can be extremely detrimental to your setup if you lose them. Some elements of this do exist in other decks such as pult, but aren't dire enough to be of attention. 

Also another reason I don't play Manaphy much is that it is a counter box card which I have a personal grudge against. Other cards are stealthy hood, pokemon ranger, Drapion V, Spiritomb that shuffles pokemon into the deck, and many more. This is different when there are legit unholy decks like Alolan Raichu Donk that need to be burned alive. 

I don't post the standard decks I use bc unfortunately nobody wants to see a deck that's basically identical to other decks already posted (also they're meta decks and even if I forgave the dark side doesn't mean I'm ready to join them), but in the spirit of the expanded format, I would main Ancient Box (not a box) and Raging bolt bc their playstyles are the only ones in standard that are similar to expanded. (better format)

sry for all the yap but good questions

Siegislash no prob! You always have great feedback! I'm gonna start posting my different versions of the list for each month I'm playing Garde. September 2024 will be done next week (same list with a couple extra techs). Lemme know what you think :D

Siegislash lol meant nov 2024! Oops 😜