[Japan Championships 7-2] Weezing Zebstrika
Please find the original Japanese-language article here. Note my translation is not a perfect translation and I have rearranged and reworded some parts of the original article for clarity and readability. Find also some explanatory comments inside square brackets, italicised.
Greetings, this is yos.
Note: While there is nothing behind the paywall, you may pay
for this article if you are feeling generous. [Note: You may give 100 yen to
the original author of the article by clicking the link in the disclaimer
above].
The PJCS (Pokemon Japan Championships) has finally
concluded. Today, I will write about the deck I used at the JCS as well as talk
about my matchups on the day.
My result was 7 wins and 2 losses, my losses being early in
the tournament, resulting in a 100th place finish. I was not able to
continue to the main round [Note: Unfortunately, many 7-2s bubbled from day
2]. I did not end up playing the deck I had been perfecting right up until
the tournament. It hadn’t been playing as usual, and on the day before the
tournament I suddenly changed decks. However, this has been my best result since
picking up the game in October, so I have no regrets.
That’s a lie. I’m very disappointed.
What were you doing until the day before?
I had been using a Dark deck with my testing group. As it
was not my deck that I thought up from scratch, I won’t explain all of the
details, but the idea behind the deck was this: using Sableye’s Limitation, you
would slow down your opponent while setting up your benched Naganadal and
Weavile GX. You would also set up Mega Sableye & Tyranitar GX and Umbreon
& Darkrai GX to pressure tanky GX Pokemon. When Sableye gets knocked out,
its Energy goes to the discard, allowing it to be used for Charging Up. If you
are able to halt your opponent’s set up during Limitation turns, I think you
can win without much trouble. While I had confidence in this deck, you can be
hugely affected by which cards you Prize and the chances of dead drawing are quite
high. I decided to stop using the deck because I didn’t have confidence in my
playing and deck building skills.
Regarding the metagame, I believed there would be lots of
Reshiram & Charizard variants, Zoroark variants and Mewtwo & Mew
variants. I also predicted there to be
Dark Box decks created from the cards released in Miracle Twin, Malamar
variants (Ultra Necrozma and Garchomp & Giratina) and Aerodactyl Carracosta
decks.
In the actual tournament, I only played against one Reshiram
& Charizard, and no Zoroark, Mewtwo & Mew or Malamar, which wasn’t as
planned. But I think the actual metagame was close to what I had predicted.
If you have the luck to hit conventional decks in the early
rounds and you are a person who can play according to their testing, I think
you could go deep into the tournament. On the other hand, if you end up hitting
good players with unconventional decks, I think there is a chance that even top
players could perform badly. This was the type of tournament that I thought the
JCS would be.
I was lucky to hit many opponents that I was somewhat advantaged
against, though I didn’t realise it at the time.
Deck List

Yes, that’s right. I played Weezing.
While I saw other people mentioning this in their articles,
the usual reaction to opponents seeing Koffing was, “Damn! I ended up hitting Weezing.”
This made me very happy.
I think what sets my deck apart is that it runs a high count
of Zebstrika. It is very strong.
Card Explanation
4 Weezing
It is a strong card. I don’t understand why it isn’t a rare.
4 Koffing
I ran the 70HP Koffing. If I had used the 60HP Koffing, I
would be able to use Normalium Z, giving the deck more options. In the decks I
usually use, I like to run a lot of one ofs, for example Articuno Rainbow Box [Note:
I have no idea what this deck is…], where pretty much every card is a one
of.
However, for this tournament, I decided that I would run a
rounded out deck, with the conviction that if I didn’t hit bad matchups I would
be fine. I thought it would be strong to run as many three and four ofs as I
could, so I decided upon the 70HP Koffing.
3 Zebstrika
This is the best card for thinning your deck. While you
would understand if you played the card for yourself, its retreat of one and
its two Energy Head Bolt for 60 damage are both very useful. It is so good I
could die. I was able to win some matches in the tournament thanks to this
card.
Often I would evolve this from Ditto.
As I thought it would be best to run lots of strong cards, I
ran three copies. I considered running four, but decided against it as if you
set up too many, you will run through your deck too quickly. There have been
some decks using that concept recently, though.
There was no doubt that this card was the MVP. Thank you,
Mr. Zebra.
2 Blitzle
As there is no reason for me to use Delivery Dash with
Counter Energy and having higher HP would be better, I chose the Blitzle with
70HP.
The card is strong simply due to it being the pre-evolution
of Zebstrika. If you are able to set up one you will be comfortable, and if you
can set up two that will be more than enough. As I wanted to start Koffing as
often as possible, I ran two copies.
1 Mimikyu
Originally, I had two Psychic and one Fairy Mimikyu, but I
kept starting it so I reduced my counts. Even if I do start it, I can use Filch
so it’s not too bad.
This card is very strong because it can use any attack other
than GX attacks.
It is most useful when you are playing against a Reshiram
& Charizard player. They might think, “I may as well knock out Weezing with
a 230 damage Flare Strike, even if that seems a bit overkill.”
In fact, that deck doesn’t have a lot of ways to knock out Weezing.
If too many damage counters pile up, it will become inconvenient for the
Weezing player, but up until that point they must use Double Blaze GX or
Heatran GX’s Steaming Stomp.
If your opponent attacks you with a strong attack, you can
retaliate immediately. Isn’t Mimikyu strong?
Of course, you can also use Riotous Beating and Full Blitz.
By the way, while Fairy Mimikyu can knock out Garchomp &
GIratina GX due to weakness, it isn’t useful when they play the recycling Giratina
game. So, I chose the Psychic Mimikyu to hit into Mewtwo & Mew GX for
weakness.
I had stupidly forgotten that Wondrous Labyrinth existed.
1 Mr Mime
I ran this to prevent Acerola.
Though, I was aware I could also use it against Gourgeist.
When my opponent would discard U Turn Board, I would say, “OK, you discarded
that. Wait a moment! Please don’t return it to your hand. I have Mr Mime in
play, so it has to go to the discard. Yes, goodbye!”
This is also effective against Zoroark Lycanroc. As a result
of my aforementioned “rounded out deck”, I did not run Secret Hood. So, let’s
be careful of using Mr Mime when Alolan Muk is in play.
1 Marshadow
In the JCS 2019, I played this card on the first turn and
won. In this case, you would be called a criminal, but I don’t really
understand the problem with playing this card on the first turn and giving your
opponent a hopeless hand. What is so wrong about playing a card to win?
I often didn’t search for this card on the first turn, as
there aren’t many decks which are bad matchups for Weezing which would be
crippled into an easy win by Let Loose. However, I think you should use it on
the first turn when you have a dead hand but have Pokemon Communication or
Mysterious Treasure.
1 Mew
This card can be used to avoid the worst of attacks like Tag
Bolt GX, Sky Legend GX, Dual Blizzard etc. Against evolution decks which go
first, Weezing’s Detention Gas is unable to spread much damage, so it is quite
common to use Mew’s Psychic Power to spread damage instead.
Sometimes when you feel that you can’t win a match, you can
Guzma up a Pokemon with a heavy retreat cost and continually use Psychic Power
to try to win.
1 Tapu Lele
While I thought I wouldn’t need this card, it is useful when
you have a situation where you want to knock out your opponent’s powered up
Pokemon, but they only have one Prize card left. You can use it when you have
spread your damage well.
In fact, you can play it down when you don’t want your Weezing
to be knocked out. Your opponent may think that you have something up your
sleeve, and will go out of their way to use Guzma and knock it out. It is the world’s best decoy.
While I haven’t given a clear reason for this card, as my
deck is a spread deck I have included it. I think it would be harder to come up
with reasons not to include it.
1 Absol
The dark horse of the tournament. It can mess with your
opponent’s calculations just by putting it in play. Basically, this card can
slow down the tempo of any deck with Jirachi in it. With two Counter Energy,
remember you can knock out Pokemon such as Gengar & Mimikyu GX.
1 Larvitar
Originally, I ran two copies, but after receiving advice
from an acquaintance about deck space and the low chances of Zoroark Lycanroc
being widely played, I dropped one copy.
Of course, Larvitar can deal great damage thanks to
weakness, can take down Tapu Lele GX for the last Prize and can deal with tough
non-GX Stage 2 Pokemon. It is great when you attach Choice Band and take down
Raichu & Alolan Raichu GX.
1 Ditto Prism
Rather than becoming my fifth Koffing, more often than not
it became my third Blitzle. If you are able to set up Koffing, Blitzle and
Ditto Prism on your first turn, you will be in a very strong position.
4 Nest Ball
It is a strong card, so I ran four.
3 Mysterious Treasure
You can search for Psychic types, such as Tapu Lele or
Mimikyu, so it is great. Without this card, the deck is not very good.
2 Pokemon Communication
This deck contains twenty-one Pokemon. I will usually have
at least one of them in hand, so this card is strong. I was most often using it
to find Let Loose Marshadow or Zebstrika.
3 Spell Tag
Everything is strong about this card. I wanted to have four,
but due to not being able to attach it to Zebstrika or Larvitar, and wanting to
include one Choice Band, I reduced this count by one. If my Zoroark Lycanroc
opponent goes first and I am not able to place down Shrine of Punishment, let’s
pray that I will be able to use this card.
1 Choice Band
While Spell Tag is the strongest Tool, if Choice Band is
Field Blowered, nothing has really happened except that my opponent has used up
their Field Blower. So I ran this card.
I think this card makes my deck more aggressive by
increasing the damage that is actively dealt.
If you attach Choice Band to Larvitar, you can knock out
hefty Tag Teams such as Pikachu & Zekrom GX, Raichu & Alolan Raichu GX
and Umbreon & Darkrai GX with four damage counters on them. You can also
attach it to Weezing when you need that little bit of extra damage against Tapu
Lele GX or Dedenne GX, allowing you to hit for 70 damage.
Further, after your opponent uses Flare Strike, you can get
a surprise OHKO on an unscathed Reshiram & Charizard GX from Choice Band +
Shrine of Punishment + Copycat with Mimikyu.
Rather than using it for the extra 30 damage, I often used
it in conjunction with weakness to hit an extra 60 damage.
1 U Turn Board
This card is great.
In order to successfully pull off the aforementioned Copycat
Mimikyu combo or Magical Swap Tapu Lele without this card, the Pokemon must be
in play already. Having Zebstrika in play can allow you to get off a surprise
attack if you also have U Turn Board.
In order to carry out this surprise attack in the late game,
you just need to be able to draw this card once throughout the entire game.
With this reasoning, I only included one copy, though I think two copies could
also work.
While all Pokemon in this deck have a retreat cost of one
except for Weezing, in order to not be stopped by Absol and Mount Lanakila, we
should attach this to Zebstrika.
2 Rescue Stretcher
While strong, sometimes I have to throw it away with Sprint.
I want a “Rescue Stretcher” Stretcher…
2 Reset Stamp
When you are in a difficult position, you should Guzma up a
Pokemon with high retreat cost, play this card, and continue spreading. While
this card is a common card in decks, players often discard them without a
second thought. This can cause a player to lose, as this card impacts the late
game. These types of misplays are hard to notice, but do use your Reset Stamps
carefully.
4 Lillie
It is a strong card, so I ran four.
4 Cynthia
My usual self would run three Cynthia and an Erika’s
Hospitality or a Janine, but since I wanted to run a rounded out deck I ran
four Cynthia. I think this resulted in a great success.
2 Guzma
If you discard this without thinking, you will lose.
There were times where I had to discard this due to Sprint,
so I considered running Pal Pad. However, at key points in the game I would
draw Pal Pad instead of Guzma so I don’t think I would run it, though it is
strong.
3 Shrine of Punishment
If you discard this without thinking, you will also lose.
In fact, in the second round of the JCS, by playing this
down on the first turn, I essentially had already lost at that point. I will
explain the reason as to why later on.
All of the Energy cards I chose were strong, so my reasoning
for those has been omitted.
Cards that didn’t make it
This will be quite messy, so please forgive me.
Oranguru
This can be stopped by Alolan Muk, so it is not good. If you
do decide to run this, you should seriously consider running two Secret Hoods.
Nihilego
While Night Cap is certainly strong, I haven’t used Nihilego
except in Jirachi Zapdos, and as Jirachi Zapdos runs Rainbow Energy and I need
Counter Energy, I didn’t have confidence in being able to use it well. If you
do run it, I think you should also run basic Psychic Energy.
Tapu Koko (Flying Flip)
While this is a strong card for sure, it is stopped by
opposing Mews and being able to start Tapu Koko while having Double Colourless Energy
in hand is almost unheard of, so I decided against running it.
Frost Rotom
I ran this originally, but the effect of its attack was too
dependent on my opponent. Even if I had a very good set up, if my opponent didn’t
have a lot of Energy it would be useless.
Jirachi
While it is strong, it is stopped by Alolan Muk and I can
get most things once I have set up Zebstrika anyway. If you use this and Escape
Board, you will also need to run four
PokeGear 3.0.
Pokegear 3.0
I had this in originally, but I ran out of space and wanted
a few more draw Supporters.
On the day of the JCS I never dead drew.
Counter Catcher
This is honestly a strong card, and I did want to run it,
but I was told by a person that I respect that it was a “convenience” card, and
I was unable to refute that. In fact, this was true, and if you get your Guzma
plays correct at key points in the game, you will win regardless.
Secret Hood
This is a card I could put in to prevent Alolan Muk stopping
Mew, but I may as well lose hard to opponents I will lose to, and against a
Zoroark Lycanroc that can set up Alolan Muk I can just lock the Alolan Muk in
the Active and hope to win from there.
Hapu
When I think about hitting four Double Colourless Energy off
this I cannot sleep at night, so I did not include it.
Erika’s Hospitality
Not all decks try to set up large benches, so I did not
include it.
Mount Lanakila
It’s fine if you get it in play, but please do not let it
get removed immediately.
Powerplant
I should have played this card. I think it’s a pretty good
card. Decks which are hurt by Powerplant are also hurt by Shrine of Punishment.
It could be very good if your opponent works hard to get rid of your Shrine of
Punishments and then you play Reset Stamp and Powerplant together.
Basic Psychic Energy
I kept discarding this with Mysterious Treasure, but then I
realised that my deck didn’t have Psychic Recharge so I took it out.
It was strong in the
sense that you could take advantage of your opponent’s Viridian Forest.
Tournament Report
I don’t remember everything exactly. It may become rough at
times, so please forgive me.
Round 1: Jirachi Zapdos Raichu & Alolan Raichu, Second,
Win
I was really nervous. The first round of a major tournament
is way too stressful. It was so stressful that I said to my opponent, “I just
can’t do this kind of time~~” My opponent was sympathetic towards me and that
helped me relax.
Because I was playing against Jirachi Zapdos, if I was able
to set up a Weezing, my opponent would need two Electropowers to knock it out
with Zapdos, which is unsustainable in the long game. So, Raichu & Alolan
Raichu GX appeared. I managed to put four damage counters on it and then I was
able to knock it out with a Choice Banded Larvitar.
Round 2: Gardevoir & Sylveon Mismagius, First, Loss
The moment I saw Gardevoir & Sylveon GX, my heart clenched
painfully and I thought, “Wait, this wasn’t in my meta prediction!”
Well, that’s fine, but I was going to make a joke of this
game.
In particular, I played down Shrine of Punishment without
confirming my Prize cards. This was my only accessible Shrine of Punishment
(the rest were in my Prizes).
Powerplant came out in seconds. While I was able to take
three Prizes and receive one from Misdreavous to take four in total, only one
Shrine of Punishment came to hand. The scenario become one so that I had to use
Sprint to find an Energy, so I played down the Shrine of Punishment. It was
replaced by Wonderous Labyrinth. None of my Pokemon were able to attack, so I
resigned.
Round 3: Mareep Mega Sableye & Tyranitar
While I had only lost once, I had become depressed.
They started Mareep. I started Mr Mime.
I perpetually fell victim to Fluffy Pillow without being
able to draw Guzma, and my opponent was able to set up Weavile GX and Alolan
Ninetales GX. Despite Shrine of Punishment being in play, my opponent placed GX
Pokemon on the board, and while I was being stalled by Mareep I was able to set
up myself. By this time, my opponent’s board looked like a damage counter
festival (in order to slow down my opponent, I had played Let Loose Marshadow).
There were also times where my opponent did not know what Weezing
did, and I eventually had 60 damage counters on board and was able to use
Magical Swap to take all six Prizes.
Due to Fluffy Pillow, I flipped seven tails in a row, and my
Mr Mime was in the Active for about eight turns straight.
Round 4: Aerodactyl Carracosta, Second, Loss
I hit the matchup that I didn’t want to hit the most.
Thanks to Carracosta, my Spell Tags and U Turn Board had no
effect, and Rock Smash knocked out Weezing perfectly. Since the Pokemon played
down due to Pokemon Research Laboratory are Stage 1 Pokemon, I couldn’t damage
them through Detention Gas.
I was too honest.
By the way, my opponent, who had played on stream at the
previous Champions League, was a very good person when I talked to them and was
a pleasure to play against. I thought that I would like to become such a
player.
Round 5: Pikachu & Zekrom, First, Win
Pikachu & Zekrom is a deck which essentially only runs
Basic and GX Pokemon. This is not always the case, but if the board is filled
with Basic GX Pokemon:
- At the start of the turn, Detention Gas deals 10 damage to each Pokemon (60 damage total)
- At the start of the turn, Shrine of Punishment deals 10 damage to each Pokemon (120 damage total)
- The attack does 40 damage to the Active and 20 damage to the rest (260 damage total)
- At the end of the turn, Detention Gas deals 10 damage to each Pokemon (320 damage total)
- At the end of the turn, Shrine of Punishment deals 10 damage to each Pokemon (380 damage total)
I was able to bench Mew, and if I could set up my board I believed
that I would be able to win unless I was Let Loosed and unable to draw out of
it. On the other hand, I could also win with Let Loose.
Needless to say, I won without any problems.
Round 6: Aerodactyl Rampardos, Second, Win
I thought I was up against Fossils again. My opponent was
impossibly honest, and it seemed they had Prized one Craniodos, which put them
in a difficult position.
Eventually, my opponent was able to set up Rampardos and I
ran out of Weezing, but there was an Aerodactyl with 160 damage on the Bench. I
was able to use Zebstrika’s Head Bolt to knock it out and win.
That was a really close game.
Round 7: Hoopa Umbreon, Second, Win
I went second and only had Ditto. My opponent and was able
to create an insane set up.
Although Umbreon’s Retaliate is painful because it knocks out
Weezing perfectly, it is fine if you don’t knock anything out. If you are attacking
with Detention Gas, around the seventh or eighth turn you can knock out four
Pokemon at the same time for a stunning victory.
In fact, there was an ant on my Prize cards. I am extremely
disgusted by insects, so I wanted to win without needing to touch my Prize
cards, which is why I made the above play.
Round 8: Reshiram & Charizard, Second, Win
Finally, I hit a deck which I expected to be a tier 1 deck.
Firstly, I was attacked by Turtonator, but my opponent
realised that it was very painful to use three Energy every turn on a non-GX
Pokemon, and began to attack with Reshiram & Charizard GX. I was able to
take all my Prizes.
As I mentioned, I had not practiced with Weezing, so I was
amazed to have won.
While my Prizes were not bad, I actually had the win one
turn before, with Larvitar. Instead, I attacked with Weezing, giving my
opponent an extra turn. I had lost focus.
Round 9: Pikachu & Zekrom, First, Win
It was the final round, and my deck ran at its best. I did
everything I wanted to do from the first turn and set up an insane board.
When I set up this well, it was because I didn’t want to
lose to a Pikachu & Zekrom deck. While the game truly starts when you knock
out Eelektross with Larvitar, Eelektross has a high Energy cost, and non-GX
Pokemon need to be knocked out continually.
Result: 7-2 100th place
Conclusion
The JCS ended in this kind of way.
Losing in the early stages, hitting opponents who were weak
and not hitting many easy matchups like Reshiram & Charizard and Giratina
Malamar and not hitting any Zoroark variants which I practiced a lot against
were things that I regretted. However, I was not disappointed in my deck
choice. Weezing was definitely the way to go.
I started playing last October, and I haven’t performed very
well: I went 2-3 at the
Champions League Chiba and 3-3 at the Champions League
Kyoto. This 7-2 finish has
given me some newfound confidence.
The findings I obtained this time were:
-
The metagame isn’t everything
- A reasonably strong deck which can consistently win match points is a good play
- A rounded out deck that doesn’t dead draw is the strongest
- Decks with difficult damage calculation which make your opponent think are effective
- New cards which are hyped up to be strong are good in major tournaments
As I am still an immature player, I hope to get a little
stronger before the beginning of next season.
If anyone has any questions, and they are questions I know
the answer to, I will answer them.
Questions and Answers
As I mentioned in the article, I got more responses than I
expected and some questions. I will answer them here.
What do you do against Mew?
While decks like Passimian Koko disappeared after Mew hit
the scene, this deck is not stopped by Mew. Detention Gas is still able to be
used, as well as Spell Tag, and before you know it you will have spread enough
damage counters to draw your Prize cards.
If Rescue Stretcher is used repeatedly, and you think you
may run out of damage counters, use Magical Swap to pile up damage counters onto
your opponent’s support Pokemon. If you can destroy your opponent’s board, you
will be in a good position.
Can you beat Zoroark Lycanroc?
Honestly, I think your chances of winning are about fifty
percent. If you go first and their deck runs at about fifty per cent, you should
be able to win.
When I played this deck before, a lot of people said to not
max out your bench. However, Lycanroc GX’s Claw Slash barely misses the KO on
Weezing, so a full bench Riotous Beating is needed.
Hence, your opponent will always be filling their bench. If
they do not evolve, they will be hit by Detention Gas. If they do evolve, they
will be hit by Shrine of Punishment, and you will rack up damage counters in no
time. It takes a while for me to begin taking Prizes, and due to Zebstrika
cards like Reset Stamp and Judge don’t affect me much.
The only tough thing is that Alolan Muk stops Mr Mime and my
opponent can chain Acerolas. Let’s get Larvitar and Rescue Stretcher out
quickly, and knock out Persian GX with Guzma.
If you can knock out two GXs with Larvitar, the rest of the
Prizes can come from Pokemon which are affected by both Detention Gas and
Shrine of Punishment, such a Tapu Lele GX or Dedenne GX, and they will be
knocked out without doing much.
Please find the original Japanese-language article here.
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