Pokémon Scarlet & Violet - Quarker State - Jun 1 24 C

I used to play the Pokémon Trading Card Game as avidly as I’d play the video games, and for that, I took the same approach as I do here: just as I build nontraditional teams, I’d assemble nontraditional decks, and I’d visit tournaments to spring them on unsuspecting people. As I made so many decks, I learned the fundamentals of how good decks are put together. I built off-meta, but the rules are the same, and hence they’d be optimized at certain proportions of certain kinds of cards. This is relevant to this battle, which I’ll explain in more detial below.

Type: Double Battle
Opponent: Dominique
Battle Court: Mesagoza (Central Plaza)
Music: Terarium Pokémon
My Pokémon: Wendy (Toxtricity) (Amped), Kelvin (Flareon), Dulcinea (Dipplin), Tad (Poliwrath)
Opponent’s Pokémon: Incineroar, Miraidon, Manoferrea (Iron Hands), Iron Crown

So, why did I bring up what I did about the Pokémon TCG? Because my opponent’s team reminds me of how a Pokémon deck is structured. One notable thing about the card game is that there tends to be cards whose potential is limited in some way or another, and there also tends to be some other card that lets that potential be realized but has vulnerabilities of its own. Generally, you want both cards to be in your deck, and the rest of the deck is based around keeping both components (or all if there are three or more, which is difficult to do, but I’ve made a few such decks) active through as much of the match as possible.

Dominique’s team is based on a very similar design philosophy, though I can’t know for sure if my opponent knows this or not. It isn’t clear looking at Team Preview, but the Pokémon selected fit the bill: they began with Miraidon and its Hadron Engine to set up Electric Terrain and be an overall menace, while Incineroar provides stat-dropping and Fake Out support. The other two Pokémon are both Future Paradox Pokémon, who boost a stat via Quark Drive when Electric Terrain is active. Dominique retreats Miraidon every now and then, then brings it back out to restart Electric Terrain.

This is a strategy that’s pretty easy to see, and Violet version players are encouraged to use it (just as Scarlet version players are encouraged to use Koraidon and Ancient Paradox Pokémon). Nevertheless, I just wanted to say that Pokémon TCG decks are built in this way, with some as obvious as these, while others are a bit less obvious.

Like with Tuesday’s battle (“Slippery When Wet”), my opponent seemed to have me on the ropes, then did some questionable move choices. Why Discharge, for instance, which knocked out their own Iron Hands? Victory would’ve been assured for them had they used Electro Drift, a very strong signature move that I have seen will one-hit KO most Pokémon I have that doesn’t resist the move (which is why I always tread with caution whenever Miraidon turns up). Maybe they figured Tad (Poliwrath) wouldn’t be knocked out from Fake Out, and Discharge would’ve finished them both off?

I also noticed I tended to fall JUST short of knocking out their Pokémon. Though it seems the same goes for my Pokémon to them.

(Also, Happy Juneteenth! I almost forgot. Unfortunately, I do NOT have that day off; I'll be at work when this video goes live.)