So now what? ADP, the format and the general situation  

Hello everyone! This is Elena from Gaia Storm TCG and welcome to another article here in CCG Castle. As you all probably knows, there is a bit of uncertainty worldwide as the spread of COVID-19 continues – a contagious disease that affects the lungs. As I am writing this, different European countries (including mine) have asked the population to remain at their homes to avoid social contact and slow down the number of cases. This situation has made Pokémon and many other companies to start canceling their scheduled events around the globe: Cups, Regionals and even International Championships won’t be happening any time soon.

Of course, we could spend days talking about the competitive circuit and the consequences this generates but I don’t want this article to be all about it. Pokémon TCG, as any other game, is a fantastic way of entertaining ourselves and exercising our mental capabilities. Even if there are no psychical tournaments in your area, it will always be good to play some games to clear your mind (and avoid starring at the TV for hours) and try to come with new strategies for when the situation gets better. In addition, remember that Pokémon has an amazing online platform that you can use to keep playing the game and testing your strategies. If you are not a big fan of Standard, I highly recommend you exploring the Expanded format. It’s true that you could face some nasty decks but it has so many different options that it is truly motivating trying to climb the ladder there! Or, if you are hopelessly nostalgic as I am, I suggest trying the available Legacy format. It is a dimension where you are only allowed to use cards that range from the Hearth Gold/Soul Silver era till Legendary Treasures. Players here need to completely change their mindsets to adapt to an overall much slower pace of the game and the importance of one-prize attackers. I promise it will surprise you.

Now, if you live in an area where tournaments continue just as expected and you plan to attend, your main priority is clearly to either learn perfectly how to play ADP Zacian or to come up with a good strategy that beats it. If we take a close look at the latest SPEs and Regionals Results, we see that the trendy decks we first saw at Oceania International Championship are getting stronger. In fact, ADP has consistently toped in any single tournament of the season due to the fact that it is simply the most balanced deck in the format. I guess that its sudden increase we’ve lately seen is because many players have followed the logic “if you can’t beat them, join them”. ADP Zacian not only can win any other strategy in the format but also, can tech accordingly for difficult match-ups to turn the odds in its favor. For example, there are some builds that use Copperajah to deal with Obstagoon and some others prefer to tech Metal Frying Pan to avoid the danger of running into Fire Box. And what’s more, we are lately seeing that many ADPs are teching against other ADPs, running energy removal cards as to make the mirror match easier. So, no matter what you play in this format: just make sure you playtest enough against ADP.

All in all, ADP Zacian is the best deck in the entire format and regardless of where you play, you need to be ready to face it. And for those of you that are testing on PTCGO now, remember you can still buy code cards here at CCG! Thanks for reading!