Hey Espeon.
Do you... Do you feel that?
All that Psychic Energy coming through?
Well, I can sense something.
Something shining about your future.
You're about to learn something tremendous,
something incredible,
something about the Pokémon TCG.
It's Top Deck Academy!
TOP DECK ACADEMY
Today, we're going to take a look at a Gardevoir and Gallade deck,
both of which released in Chilling Reign.
These fan favorites are relatively easy
to get a hold of and offer a ton of flexibility and balance to your deck.
This list is focused around two different Stage 2 Pokémon,
but it's built a little differently to other Stage 2 decks.
Are you ready, Trainers?
Let's Mirage Step into it.
Many Stage 2 decks,
like Charizard from Vivid Voltage, use Rare Candy,
which allows Basic Pokémon to bypass Stage 1 Evolutions
and become Stage 2 Pokémon when they evolve.
Rare Candy is usually always a necessity for attacking Stage 2 decks to keep up.
But this deck has a rare trick up its sleeve.
Get it?
By using Kirlia's attack Mirage Step,
you can search out all the other Kirlia and put them directly onto your Bench.
This gets around the need to evolve them from Ralts
and sets you up to potentially evolve all of them on the next turn.
If you've been following this season of Top Deck Academy,
you might remember that we've talked about support Pokémon that sit on the Bench,
different ways of accelerating more than one Energy into play each turn,
and how to cover your Weaknesses when deck building.
This Gardevoir and Gallade Stage 2 line combines all these effects.
Talk about getting the full package.
It's time to dive into the main attractions of the deck,
the Embrace Pokémon Gardevoir
and the Blade Pokémon Gallade.
Gardevoir's powerful Ability Shining Arcana
lets you draw two cards for no cost at all.
Also, if you are lucky enough to draw any basic Energy cards this way,
you can attach them to your Pokémon in any way you like.
By setting up multiple Gardevoir,
you can get access to multiple Shining Arcana
to draw a ton of extra cards every turn,
and potentially accelerate lots of extra Energy into play.
This is where Oranguru really shines.
Oranguru's Ability Primate Wisdom lets you swap the top card
of the deck with one in your hand.
That means you can take a basic Energy card from your hand
and put it directly on top of your deck,
which guarantees that Gardevoir's Shining Arcana
will find an Energy for you to attach.
With this Ability,
Gardevoir will double up as not only a draw engine,
but also as a reliable way of accelerating basic Energy
into play every turn.
The best part is it doesn't even stop there.
Gardevoir's attack Brainwave can pack a solid punch as well,
doing more damage for each Psychic Energy attached to itself.
Another great thing about the Ralts Evolution line
is the option to evolve into two different Stage 2 Pokémon.
This means that this deck can get access to Gallade,
a powerful Stage 2 Fighting-type Pokémon,
without having to commit any deck spots into another Evolution line.
Having a Fighting-type Pokémon in a Psychic-type deck is excellent,
as most Darkness-type Pokémon are actually weak to Fighting.
As you might remember from our episode on Pokémon Weakness and Resistance,
having multiple types of Pokémon in your deck means it will be easier
for you to take advantage of Weakness and play to your strengths.
In Gallade's case, it will punish the opponent
for playing down a lot of Pokémon V with its attack Dynablade,
doing 60 damage for every Pokémon V on your opponent's side of the field.
Remember Trainers,
this also includes Pokémon VMAX.
Whoa! That was a lot of info, huh?
Let's have a little recap with a pop quiz question.
What does Kirlia's attack Mirage Step do?
Is it, searches your deck for up to three Kirlia
and puts them directly onto the Bench?
Searches your deck for a Rare Candy and Gallade or Gardevoir?
Or sends your opponent to the Lost Zone, ending the game?
That's it! Mirage Step searches your deck
for up to three Kirlia and puts them directly onto the Bench.
It's not a mirage.
It's the real deal.
In previous episodes, we looked at how you could use Inteleon
as a consistency engine for your deck,
letting you pick your own Hero Pokémon as the attacker.
Gardevoir and Gallade are powerful attackers on their own.
But there is nothing stopping you from treating the Ralts line
like the Inteleon line,
and use it as the consistency engine for your deck instead.
This will provide consistency
in the form of drawing cards while also increasing
your deck's power level by accelerating Energy, too.
If you want to be adventurous,
use your imagination and cut a few cards from the list.
That means you can add your favorite Pokémon as the hero of the deck,
while still using the awesome Ralts Evolution line.
Remember that the Ability Shining Arcana
lets you accelerate any type of basic Energy as well,
meaning your Hero Pokémon of choice is not limited to a Psychic type.
The Trainer lineup we've included is very similar
to what we featured in previous episodes.
And for good reasons.
Our Supporter lineup, consisting of Professor's Research,
Marnie, and Boss's Orders, are all considered to be
the very best Supporter cards in Standard format right now.
We've also included the powerful Pokémon search cards
Quick Ball, Evolution Incense, and Level Ball.
A rather mysterious addition to this list is the use of Fog Crystal,
a very powerful card for decks with Psychic Pokémon.
This card can find both the Ralts and the Psychic Energy,
both of which are crucial throughout the game.
For mobility and retreating,
we've included some copies of Air Balloon,
as nothing in the deck has more than two Retreat Cost.
These can be important in the early game
to get Kirlia into the Active Spot to get a Mirage Step up and running.
A slightly odd pick for this list is the inclusion of four Ordinary Rod.
You might have seen us suggest playing these
in smaller numbers in other decks,
but in this deck, they are absolutely vital.
Since Gardevoir serves as a draw engine,
Energy acceleration, and one of the main attackers,
we need to constantly recycle them.
This way, we will have a steady stream of attackers
while also preserving our engine along the way.
Its attack Brainwave is quite costly,
so it's also important to get the Energy back.
Ordinary Rod really is the catch of the day for this deck.
But if you were to add another Hero Pokémon,
Ordinary Rod will be less necessary,
as Gardevoir will be less likely to get Knocked Out in the Active Spot.
Thank you for joining me on today's episode of Top Deck Academy.
Today we looked at a different type of Stage 2 deck
with the powerful duo of Gardevoir and Gallade.
Few cards can brag about serving as many purposes in a deck
as Gardevoir, so be sure to give it a try.
Oh! And maybe we should call this deck GG,
as I think we'll be saying it a lot to our opponents when we play with it.
What do you think of Gardevoir and Gallade?
Don't hesitate to comment if you have any questions,
and let us know what you want to see featured next
here on Top Deck Academy.
Thanks for watching and see you next time.
Shout out to TCG player Tord Reklev
for writing this episode of Top Deck Academy.
TOP DECK ACADEMY