Today, I stepped into my first ever Standard-format Pokémon TCG tournament, and I won. All three rounds. Clean 3-0. I put a lot of pressure on myself to win, so I’m estatic that I did not taste the bitterness of defeat today.
Let me tell you how it went. I wasn’t playing some perfectly tuned top-tier meta deck. I brought something a little offbeat. A little risky.
The Deck – Joltik Leads the Charge
You might not expect a Stage 1 Lightning-type with 60 HP to make waves in a competitive Standard event, but Joltik packs one of the most fun and disruptive attack packages around. Paired with a handful of ex heavyweights, and a flexible toolbox strategy, my list was built to surprise and survive.
My list included:
- Joltik 90% of the time he just exists to search and attach energy. But can evolve into Galvantula to take out Darkness types.
- Iron Hands ex, for multi-prize plays.
- Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex for sheer brute force and finishing strong.
I also included Dreepy, Drakloak, and Dragapult ex as a potential threat, but I never managed to evolve into Dragapult in these three matches.
As for Morpeko, it ran in place of Mew ex in this build. Its Sneak Snack ability let me peek at the top card of my deck and discard it if I wanted. In theory, this could give you some control, but in practice, I only used the discard effect once. this deck runs extremely lean on energy so I was unable to sacrifice any I previewed there. That said, the information it provided may have helped me plan a few turns ahead, so it wasn’t completely wasted. For example I knew a Crispin was my next card and could plan my next attacker that way.
Round One: vs Dragapult ex Control
My first match was a mirror of sorts—at least in terms of Dragapult being on both lists. My opponent ran a more traditional Dragapult ex deck focused on spreading damage and locking the board with retreat denial and confusion.
My opponent never got much online and Iron Hands ex ended up having a field day knocking out basic Pokemon one after another.
Round Two: vs Tobi’s Festival Grounds Dipplin Deck
This was the toughest match of the day.
I know Tobi’s Dipplin deck well—we’ve played each other often. The deck itself is no joke, he prefers to go first and he is liable to have a full bench and be attacking on his second turn. The Festival Grounds is a huge threat to my Pikachu ex as Dipplin is able to attack twice, bypassing Pikachu’s Reselute Heart ability to stay alive.
From the first turn, I was also on the back foot. I struggled to get any backup attackers set up, and Iron Hands ex just doesn’t hit hard enough to take out Teal Mask Ogerpon in one shot. Tobi applied pressure fast as he always does, forcing me to react defensively almost the whole game. At one point he had enough energy on Teal Mask Ogerpon to do 300 damage.
In the end I used Crispin to attach one energy to Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex, plus a Prime Catcher to target down an easy Knockout for the last prize.
It was my most hard-fought win of the event, and I have to give credit to Tobi for making me work for every single prize.
Round Three: vs Team Rocket’s Mewtwo (Control/Disruption Build)
This match was pure chaos.
Team Rocket’s decks are built to frustrate. They disrupt your energy, your hand, your tempo—everything. I am not highly familiar with all the Team Rocket cards or Pokemon so I had to think on my feet.
My opening hand was a little slow, but Arven and Nest Ball got me what I needed to start. I never got any Dreepys going this game, which is pretty rare for me, and that turned into a very small hand. Flip the Script is ridiculous and finally gave me some options, but I noticed I was dangerously low on energy, there was absolutely no way to charge Pikachu an attack, or another Iron Hands. I ended up reling on Bloodmoon Ursaluna for some damage, and then Miriadon for a targeted 220 dmg on my opponents Mew ex.
Takeaways – What Worked, What Didn’t
✅ What Worked
- Joltik was easy to access with Miraidon and a consistent asset
- Iron Hands ex created real pressure and brought home the most prizes
- Crispin + Arven gave strong support without relying on draw engines which some games never came online
❌ What Didn’t
- I never once evolved into Dragapult ex. In some of my casual games earlier, I was able to attack with him and it’s so satisfying, but getting there is tough
- Morpeko offered interesting information with Sneak Snack, but it created a lot of tough choices that mad the deck somewhat stressful to play
Final Thoughts: A Wild Start and a Great First Win
Overall, it worked better than I could have hoped. That first win feels like the start of something, and I’m excited to keep testing new ideas.
Let’s see where Joltik takes me next.