When it comes to out of the box ideas, Syahmi Razak is the person to look for. Syahmi has been known for creating new deck concepts that breathe fresh new life into a meta. Just prior to the introduction of Sword & Shield, Syahmi co-created Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX / Moltres & Articuno & Zapdos-GX with Farhan Aziz – a deck which gave him a runners-up spot at this season’s Kuala Lumpur Regional Championships back in December. “ADP Bird Trio” became a successful deck archetype used the world over.
In a recent League Cup, Syahmi and Farhan debuted their brand-new concoction – Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX / Magcargo-GX / Rainbow Brush, which landed him in the Top 8. The Southern Islands speaks to him about how the idea came out and how to play the deck.
How did the idea for Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX / Magcargo-GX / Rainbow Brush come about?
This deck was originally conceived by Farhan and me for this season’s Oceania International Championships (OCIC). Magcargo-GX is pretty strong, it has the potential to hit 300 damage on turn 2 with 5 Energy.
We tried several different iterations to make Magcargo-GX consistent. We tried 4 Jirachi (Stellar Wish), then 3 Jirachi, then a version with no Jirachi. The addition of Jirachi makes the deck consistent and it will not lose to Reset Stamp to 2 or 1 hand card in the late game. But Jirachi takes up vital deck space that can be used for resource searching Item cards such as Fire Crystal, Fiery Flint and Reset Stamp. Without Jirachi, we can fit all the resource Item cards we need but we sacrifice deck consistency. The deck will lose hard to a Marnie with Trevenant & Dusknoir-GX Night Watch hand lock.
Later, we experimented adding Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX, so we won’t lose too many resources when we aim to OHKO a Tag Team Pokemon-GX. But for it to be compatible, we can only use Basic Energy cards – Magcargo-GX’s Crushing Charge Ability allows it to attach any Basic Energy from the top deck to any of your Pokémon. Plus, it’s main attack Lava Flow can discard any Basic Energy attached to Magcargo-GX to deal 50 damage plus 50 more for every discarded Basic Energy card.
For our support Pokémon, we tried Victini (Victory Sign) but the deck became slower and inferior to straight Magcargo-GX. Next, we trialled 4 Energy Spinner and 3 Jirachi, but the deck still wasn’t consistent. Even with 4 Energy Spinner, we weren’t able to pull off Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX’s Altered Creation GX consistently.
The breakthrough came about when we tested Rainbow Brush. We already use Welder in the deck, so Rainbow Brush fits in perfectly to setup a turn 1 Altered Creation GX.
Unfortunately, OCIC was a week away by then and I only managed to test about 100 games with this deck (for a deck to be consistent, we test at least 200 games with it). I gave up on the deck and used a different deck for the Internationals in Melbourne.
What is the Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX / Magcargo-GX / Rainbow Brush deck’s objective?
The main goal is to pull off an Altered Creation GX, so Magcargo-GX uses less Basic Energy to OHKO a Tag Team Pokemon-GX. For example, Magcargo-GX only needs to discard 4 Basic Energy instead of 5 Energy to OHKO a 280 HP Pokemon. But why stop there when we can gain Altered Creation GX’s bonus effect as well.
If you’re the first turn player, then you play the deck like a typical Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX deck, attaching Energy cards turn by turn. But if you find yourself going second, here is where the deck truly shines. Your best start is either a Jirachi or Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX. To make this work, you need the following combination of cards:
- 1 Water or Metal Energy
- 1 or 2 Fire Energy with Welder
- Rainbow Brush to switch the additional Fire Energy to Water or Metal Energy (depending on what you already attached, search for the opposite Energy card)
Getting a Switch is important if you start with a Pokemon other than Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX or Mewtwo & Mew-GX (which can copy Altered Creation GX).
This list can fulfil its objective of a turn 1 Altered Creation GX 80% of the time.
There are many pieces in the deck that look like they come from different archetypes combined together. Could you explain the additions of:
- Mewtwo & Mew-GX
This is third attacker for this deck. Usually my sequence of attackers are Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX first, then Magcargo-GX and finally Mewtwo & Mew-GX. Mewtwo & Mew-GX is the backup attacker after Magcargo-GX gets Knocked Out because I do not play Ordinary Rod.
- Psychic-type Naganadel-GX
This is actually a backup against Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX / Zacian V. Let’s say I’m going second, and I whiffed the turn 1 Altered Creation GX. I can alternatively go for Nagandel-GX’s Stinger GX using Mewtwo & Mew-GX, then proceed to kill Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX next turn by copying Magcargo-GX’s Lava Flow.
- Cryogonal
This is for playing against Mill decks to prevent them benching Lillie’s Poke Doll.
Could you give us a rundown of how the deck is played?
Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX / Zacian V
If you going first in this matchup, you will likely win as you will use Altered Creation GX first. The following turn after your opponent uses their Altered Creation GX, you Switch your Active Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX with a Magcargo-GX on the Bench, Welder with 2 Fire energy, Attach an additional Energy from hand and use Oranguru’s Primate Wisdom with Magcargo-GX’s Crushing Charge for a total of 4 Energy attached, OHKOing your opponent’s Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX.
Going second, if your opponent gets an energy attachment on Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX, you can either go for a turn 1 Altered Creation GX (see Q2) or use Mewtwo & Mew-GX to copy Naganadel-GX’s Stinger GX, the proceed to OHKO Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX next turn.
After you use Altered Creation GX, your win condition is to KO Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX, followed by Zacian V or Jirachi or Dedenne-GX.
Mewtwo & Mew-GX / Malamar
For this matchup, you don’t need Altered Creation GX’s bonus Prize effect. If you whiff the 2 Energy turn 1 Altered Creation GX, opt for Altered Creation GX with only the extra 30 damage. Magcargo-GX only needs 4 Energy to OHKO a Tag Team Pokemon-GX after. This deck has 1 Mewtwo and Mew-GX, which you can use to easily KO your opponents Mewtwo & Mew-GX with Weakness and get the last 3 Prizes.
Mewtwo & Mew-GX / Welder
This matchup is similar to Mewtwo & Mew-GX / Malamar but much easier as you won’t have to fight Trevenant & Dusknoir-GX’s Night Watch with Marnie hand lock combo.
Stall
This is a tough but manageable matchup. There are two ways to win. One, go for turn 1 Altered Creation GX and use Cryogonal mid game. The other way is slower, saving your GX attack for Magcargo-GX’s Burning Magma GX. The latter way is harder, because you need to KO the opposing Oranguru (Resource Management). When your opponent makes a mistake discarding 2 Fire Energy, you can drag up your opponent’s Zacian V to the Active Spot and proceed to Item lock with Cryogonal. Alternatively, lock with Cyrogonal after your opponent uses Pal Pad and Ordinary Rod, then finish the game with Burning Magma GX.
Pikachu & Zekrom-GX
This matchup is similar to Mewtwo & Mew-GX. Don’t worry if you don’t get the bonus Prize effect from Altered Creation GX, the additional 30 damage is sufficient. This match is fairly easy.
Blacephalon
This match is quite manageable. I opt to go second always against this deck so I can pull off the turn 1 Altered Creation GX. If you manage to get it, the rest of the game is smooth sailing.
Galarian Obstagoon
Magcargo-GX is an Evolution Pokemon, making Galarian Obstagoon its easiest matchup. Setup 2 Magcargo-GX, use Altered Creation GX and you’d pretty much lock the game up.
Psychic Malamar
You need to hit a turn 1 Altered Creation GX. Otherwise, this game will be pretty hard because your opponent has Latios GX’s Clear Vision GX.
What are changes you would make for the deck?
I will cut Psychic Naganadel-GX and Reset Stamp for a second Jirachi and a Pokémon Catcher. Having only one Pokemon Catcher just isn’t enough.
What is your advice for players who want to experiment?
Keep constantly testing your deck. Not only must your deck have a way to beat the top 3 decks in the meta, we play at least 200 games with the new deck to ensure its consistency. These are important factors if you want the deck to be successful in major tournaments.
The Southern Islands 