With the 2026 season kicking off for competitive Pokémon it was clear from the start that reaching an invite is a lofty goal. My favorite tournament, Vancouver Regionals, has been cut from the circuit and Regionals on the west coast in general are few and far between. I’m also busy this year with my wedding coming up in July 2026 which is looking quite expensive so I can’t justify traveling every month. Still yet, when a regional tournament in Las Vegas was announced I knew that I wanted to go instantly.
I’m not huge on gambling or anything but I do enjoy the spectacle that is the city of Las Vegas. With its gigantic illuminated signs, flashing casino lights, and emoting spherical orb, Vegas captivates its audience by showing them things never seen before.
I arrived Friday afternoon in Las Vegas and headed over to the Westgate hotel. It is about a block off the famous Las Vegas strip but immediately adjacent to the convention center where the majority of my time would be spent. The hotel itself was quite big, it came equipped with 13 restaurants, outdoor tennis courts, pools, and a Monorail station.
My first impression was the sign, you could see it from miles away but once you got close to it you start to actually realize the true scale of this behemoth. Standing at 85m tall, it is the largest freestanding sign in the world. It was as tall, if not taller, than the hotel itself! My second impression was the food court sports betting arena which really blew me away. Ginormous screens showing all major sports games and betting results all over the sides.
My first thought was, “wouldn’t it be cool if they put the Pokémon Regional stream up here.” I doubt that Pokémon would support that though.
After a good night’s sleep the tournament was underway.
For this event, I wanted to bring something that would be under the radar and would be funny to do well with. I tested a lot of different control archetypes and cooked on different lists but I was never satisfied with the consistency. I also could not for the life of me figure out a good way to beat the Zoroark matchup – a deck that I expected to perform well since Gardevoir was on the uptick.
The reason that control struggles so much is that Zoroark naturally has all of the counters to your alternate win conditions. Pecharunt ex allows switching out to powerful attackers so nothing can get trapped in the active spot. The deck plays Turo’s scenario so that any energy stuck on a random Reshiram or Munkidori can be discarded to be recovered by Night Stretcher or Super Rod. More than this, the deck plays Team Rocket’s Watchtower meaning that you can’t even use Quick Search!
I decided that the only way to make this matchup playable was to run a 4 Colress’s Tenacity engine with Artazon and Grand Tree. This makes it much more likely to find a counter to Watchtower and also gives me a way to set up Pidgeot very easily. Fan Rotom as an Artazon target also allowed me to search out multiple Pidgey and set up more consistently. Everything was coming together but I had trouble fitting in all of the techs that I wanted to run for other matchups. I started to look through what other targets Fan Rotom could find and I came across two very interesting ones: Slakoth and Indeedee.
I had known about Slaking and it was always in the back of my mind since I was trying to build the deck for the expanded format. It has seen some success in Japan due to the fact that it can hit for 280 very easily which takes out both Regidrago VStar and Lugia VStar, the two big decks of the format. The thing that it lacks in standard is the consistency engine that Bunnelby + TM: Evolution provide as well as the benefit of item lock through Vileplume (if you are interested in more, here is the decklist from the CL Aichi in Japan where the deck made Top 8). But why couldn’t this be good in standard anyway?
280 damage is a great number to work with! Here are all the Pokémon that you can one-shot that others normally cannot (without weakness or other exploit):
A plethora of positive matchups, surely! Well as it turns out, yes! The combination of 280 damage output and 340HP is a deadly one and once you get set up there is little that will stop you from outright swinging out four prizes in exchange for two. Here is where I thought the matchup spread would be for a fast and powerful attacking Slaking deck:
| Deck | Matchup Win % |
| N’s Zoroark | 80% |
| Ceruledge | 90% |
| Flareon Box | 80% |
| Tera Box | 70% |
| Raging Bolt | 60% |
| Joltik Box | 60% |
| Gholdengo | 40% |
| Gardevoir | 40% |
| Dragapult | 50% |
| Charizard | 40% |
| Mega Absol | 65% |
| Marnie’s Grimmsnarl | 50% |
| Ethan’s Typhlosion | 1% |
If you stop reading after the first few lines it looks great! The good matchups are against decks where you are heavily favored in the prize trade even if you take an extra turn to set up. The percentage increases if you no longer have that extra turn but you still usually set up and win. The percentage goes below 50 when even if you set up you have to hit perfect combos repeatedly to win. And the percentage goes to zero against exactly the matchups that don’t ever bench and ex Pokémon so that Slaking can never attack.
So I would have a great Zoroark, Ceruledge, and Flareon matchup, three decks which seemed well positioned and are on the rise after Regional results in Europe and the Azul stream list buff. I just needed to improve the poor matchups until they were at least even and at best favorable. Well, here is the list that I ended up with:
(There are two Jet Energy cut off at the bottom)
The 1-1 Tentacruel is solely for the Gholdengo matchup. If they ever force a KO on Pidgeot or Slaking ex, searching out Toedscool and using Indeedee to evolve it right away will set them back while they dig for Super Rod + Boss to KO the Toed. And if they manage to hit, you can just evolve it right back with a single Super Rod + Artazon.
Psyduck seemed necessary to neutralize the threat of Dusknoir in both Dragapult and Charizard decks. Shaymin helps a lot against Gardevoir since it means an early Scream Tail can’t mess up your board and you can actually set up Pidgeot. Munkidori is the saving grace in the Grimmsnarl matchup, allowing you to heal up while taking KOs with either Pidgeot or Slaking. Erika’s invitation is necessary against decks that try to counter you with Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex (namely Absol decks). Black Belt, Gravity Mountain, and Vitality Band all help you deal with big HP stage 2s like Gardevoir ex, Dragapult ex, and Charizard ex. The one-shot potential is necessary if you want to be able to swing games in your favor. Double Mist energy is good against TM: Devolution of Jelli/Garde and also lets you autowin against Alakazam since they are typically on just one Enhanced Hammer. The deck was theory crafted more than anything and it kinda shows.
Here is what my expected win rate is with this list:
| Deck | Matchup Win % |
| N’s Zoroark | 80% |
| Ceruledge | 90% |
| Flareon Box | 80% |
| Tera Box | 70% |
| Raging Bolt | 60% |
| Joltik Box | 60% |
| Gholdengo | 60% |
| Gardevoir | 50% |
| Dragapult | 60% |
| Charizard | 50% |
| Mega Absol | 70% |
| Marnie’s Grimmsnarl | 50% |
| Ethan’s Typhlosion | 1% |
I figured that Gholdengo and Dragapult became favorable with my techs and Gardevoir and Charizard were about even, depending on how good my early set up is and how many prizes I can steal with an early Fan Rotom. Absol improves a bit with Tool Scrapper to remove Bravery Charm, Black Belt to one-shot Kangaskhan, and Erika’s to get around Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon.
Now let’s get into the actual games:
R1 vs Ceruledge WW
I was right! Indeedee was the MVP of the match, it survives the early Solrock aggression while setting up my whole board. The plan is to get early aggression with Pidgeot ex until they evolve into Ceruledge then just one-shot them with Slaking. They were never able to reach 280 damage quick enough to KO my Pidgeot before I take 3 prizes. They are also pretty much never able to one-shot Slaking ex so it trades extremely well. I won two quick games.
R2 vs Crustle/Yanmega WLW
I really hit the wackiest possible matchup here. The lone Crustle deck could be quite scary but this also had Yanmega and Mega Kangaskhan. In game one, they put enough non-Crustle Pokémon into play that I could take three prizes then I finished the game with Erika’s Invitation on a Mega Kangaskhan that was Turo’d earlier and Munkidori for the extra bit of damage.
Game two I assumed he would go for a solo-Crustle board this time so I searched out Artazon with my Colress instead of Grand Tree so I could start using Indeedee right away. I got instantly punished as he chose to be super aggressive and KO’d my Indeedee with Yanmega before I could evolve into Pidgeot and I just bricked from there.
Game three I was able to actually set up and respond to his aggression this time. He naturally got to a board state with a lone Crustle but I was able to deal with it with a barrage of Fan Rotom attacks.
R3 vs Charizard LL
Game 1 was close since I was able to get an early KO on his Pidgeot but he was able to find the entire Klefki, Jet, Dusknoir combo off the Fezandipiti anyways. Game two was a wash as I was unable to set up quick enough and my Pidgeot got ghosted off the board.
R4 vs Raging Bolt WW
Both games were very similar with them taking a single prize, me taking two with Slaking, them KOing the Slaking, me setting up another and taking two more, then they either KO it back and I use Blood Moon to clean up or they just miss the KO and I win with energy + Boss.
R5 vs Gardevoir WW
Game one they struggled to set up and I was able to take a lot of early prizes with Pidgeot and Fan Rotom.
In game two they got an early Gardevoir but struggled to find attackers. I kept on going for the Munkidori KOs so that my Slaking would live and I was able to finish off the game with back-to-back KOs on Mew ex and Fezandipiti ex.
R6 vs Gholdengo/Mega Lucario LL
This was not what I was expecting… Mega Lucario is quite the scary threat. Having this attacker neutralizes my entire Toedscruel plan since just two energy on the Lucario one-shots my big sloths and I have no way of reaching 340 damage in one go. He won this quite handedly in a clean and convincing 2-0.
R7 vs Joltik WW
Slaking one-shots Iron Hands ex and then follows it up with another one-shot onto whatever has energy attached. Munkidori allows me to KO Pikachu and also potentially KO Joltik leaving no room for a Magneton pop. Very clean and easy 2-0.
R8 vs Grimmsnarl WLT
At this point we were on the 5-2 record when 5-2-1 guarantees advancement into phase two and more games to play. However, I wanted to do my best to reach the top tables and find the Zoroark matchup I so desperately craved so I declined the ID and asked to play it out. This worked in my favor game one as the second Mist energy prevented a big TM Devolution play giving me the win. Then in game two, I prized a Mist Energy in my last two prizes which ended up costing me the game. With just a minute left before time is called going into game three, it was clear that we wouldn’t be able to finish and just called it a tie.
R9 vs Joltik/Gholdengo WLL
This match tilted me to no end. My opponent was acting very strange the whole time and kept speaking loudly in Spanish which threw me off my game. I won game one quite easily then drew completely dead in game two. I then proceeded to throw game three because my focus was entirely off after 40 mins of playing against this guy. Maybe I should’ve asked him to stop talking or called over the judge, I don’t usually get tilted by stuff like this maybe it was a combination of both a long day due to early round pairing delays and barely getting a tie in the previous round. Should have tried to stay more sharp.
The day ends and I am sitting at a record of 5-3-1. It is tough to not feel defeated when out of contention for top cut but I could still technically win out for cash. For some reason I usually just lack motivation when in scenarios like this and end up tossing games left and right. This happened a lot last season and is something that I definitely need to improve on.
Onto the next day:
R10 vs Gardevoir LL
I got some early KOs but they were able to find a quick turn two Gardevoir both games. Whenever I sent up Slaking to attack expecting there to be no possible response, I ran right into a Munkidori Mind Bend which pretty much paralyzed me since I couldn’t switch out of confusion without using Jet Energy and I couldn’t attack with anything other than Fan Rotom in that case. If I had tested the matchup more I might’ve teched in a Therapeutic Energy or something. Also, Mew ex + two Munkidori Adrenabrain KOs Slaking :c
R11 vs Hydrapple LL
This is not a good matchup either!!! With Meganium, Teal Mask Ogerpon, and Hydrapple ex it is surprisingly easy for them to reach 340 damage. I got served a heaping slice of humble pie in this match – a crazy showdown you would never expect to see in phase two. We both congratulated each other for making it this far while going against the grain and moved on.
R12 vs Gholdengo/Mawile WW
This matchup is fine, Mega Mawile does not pose as much of a threat as Lucario because Slaking ex one-shots it and it does not one-shot back. Indeedee + Toedscruel is a nasty combo that always catches them off guard.
R13 vs Charizard WW
I felt bad for this guy because he just had some of the worst luck. I was able to hit all my combo pieces and one-shot Charizard very early which prevents a return KO since his damage cap is 240 after I take just two prize cards. I finish it up with a Boss to KO Pidgeot and then Boss KO Fez with my Blood Moon Ursaluna. Game two he just hits a brick and I set up enough to go for a similar prize map with no issues.
R14 vs Gholdengo LL
I am once again humbled by Gholdengo. In game one I prized double Pidgeot, Toedscool, Grand Tree. I find my Reserved Ticket but by then it is too late.
In game two I have another slow-ish set up and start my Toedscruel play early. However it is to no avail as they have enough energy with Super Rod to just KO my Indeedee to finish off their last prize.
I ended the tournament in 426th place with a record of 7-6-1. While I’m disappointed in my result, I am still glad that I was able to have a fun tournament run with a cool deck that I genuinely enjoyed playing. And I’m glad that other people could enjoy my deck as well. Most of my opponents were very cool and happy to see a rogue archetype doing well and had tons of questions after the match about how this deck worked. I hope that I can keep making interesting and exciting decks and I would encourage everyone to do the same.
That was my trip to Vegas in a nutshell, shoutout to all of my friends who supported me throughout the event and to everyone who had to pick up Indeedee to read what it does.
joey gaffney 