September 2018 League Cup: Madison, WI

William Pierce

The following is an interview with William Pierce, who finished in the top eight of a recent League Cup in Madison, WI using a Vikavolt/Tapu Bulu deck.

Where are you from, and how did you get into the Pokémon TCG?

I’m originally from Dubuque, Iowa and have been collecting as long as the TCG has been around. I knew how to play because of the Game Boy Color game and the terrible PC game, but I did not know of a community who played where I lived, so I collected on and off for about twelve years. When Black and White came out, I began playing on PTCGO casually, but didn’t attend my first league until XY-BREAKthrough in 2015. After that, I continued to play casually and collect until Sun/Moon, when I began building more meta decks. I attended my first League Cup about a year later in January 2018 and have been to several cups and regionals since.

What's the basic strategy of Vikavolt/Tapu Bulu, and why did you choose it for this tournament?

The main idea is to use Vikavolt’s ability, Strong Charge, along with a manual energy attachment to power up Tapu Bulu’s Nature’s Judgment, which does 120 Damage + 60 more if you choose to discard all energy attached. That level of damage puts most commonly played Pokémon within one or two-shot range.

As for why I chose the deck, since it was so soon after rotation, I had no idea what to expect or even how to build without some of the key supporters that had rotated. Vikavolt/Tapu Bulu is a deck I am very familiar with, so it felt safe. Also, I feel it is one of the fastest decks in the current format due to its ability to hit for 210 damage on the second turn of the game. The main decks I was expecting at the event were Zoroark-GX, which has a terrible time against Tapu Bulu, and Rayquaza, which I had thoroughly tested against and was confident I could beat.

What are some other important cards in the deck?

The most important card in the deck for this tournament (aside from Vikavolt) turned out to be Tapu Koko. There was an unexpected amount of Buzzwole/Shrine decks, which kept me from benching too many GX Pokémon due to the buildup of damage from Shrine of Punishment. This forced me to use Tapu Koko, Oranguru, Vikavolt and even Dedenne to trade prizes evenly.

What worked well for the deck?

With Tapu Bulu’s ability to heal itself using its GX attack, if you can keep it out of one-shot range, it can take three prizes before going down. I realized that early in the tournament and made sure to play cautiously until both players were down to three prizes, at which point I could overwhelm my opponent with Tapu Bulu.

More broadly, I attribute much of my success in this tournament to my familiarity with Garbodor and Weavile and my ability to manage my Items and abilities accordingly.

What didn't work so well, and what might you change if you used this deck again?

The main thing I plan on changing with this deck is to add more dedicated one-prize attackers, such as Dhelmise. What ended up losing me the match in top eight was starting with Bulu and failing to set up before it took too much damage from Shrine of Punishment, giving my opponent a strong lead on prizes.

What are you anticipating in this new tournament season?

I am looking forward to the rest of the season because I really enjoy this format. It punishes players harshly for playing too aggressively and encourages players to weigh the pros and cons of every play.