Ariados

Strengths (key points)

• Ariados' Trap Territory ability raises the opponent's Retreat Cost, trapping their Pokemon in the active spot
• Whimsicott ex's Grass Knot attack becomes more powerful when combined with Ariados' retreat cost manipulation

Weaknesses (to watch)

• Whimsicott ex struggles to deal meaningful damage against Pokemon with minimal retreat costs

Card list

• ×2 Ariados (B1a-6)
• ×1 Erika (A1-219)
• ×1 Sabrina (A1-225)
• ×1 Cyrus (A2-150)
• ×2 Leaf Cape (A3-147)
• ×2 Cottonee (B1-15)
• ×2 Whimsicott ex (B1-16)
• ×1 Copycat (B1-225)
• ×1 Lisia (B1-226)
• ×2 Spinarak (B1a-5)
• ×2 Quick-Grow Extract (B1a-67)
• ×1 Poké Ball (P-A-5)
• ×2 Professor's Research (P-A-7)

Other A Tier decks

• Zoroark ex / Darkrai ex / Mega Absol ex
  Very good deck, with Roaring Moon acting like an extra “Sabrina” effect on top of a Supporter, but its anti-Oricorio plan can require a lot of energy.
• Mega Manectric ex / Zeraora / Oricorio
  Deck very aggressive, with Zeraora to start quickly and Elemental Switch to accelerate Mega Manectric ex. Its main limit is that it becomes less comfortable if it cannot take an early point.
• Mega Lucario ex / Hitmontop / Shaymin
  Deck very aggressive, with a lot of draw and Shaymin to ease Riolu or Hitmontop retreats. Its main weakness is draw dependency, since there is only one Lucario and one Mega Lucario ex.
• Magnezone / Oricorio / Ogerpon
  Very strong against the meta thanks to Oricorio + Ogerpon blocking status conditions, with fast pressure from Magnezone. However, it relies on evolution setup.
• Charizard EX / Entei / Ogerpon
  Very fast offensive deck with strong pressure from Charizard EX and Entei, but setup-dependent and vulnerable to bad openings.
• Mega Gengar / Darkrai
  Extremely strong once set up thanks to trainer lock, but relies on a slow and fragile setup.

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