Yo mates, it’s ZapdosTCG again, and in this TCG Park article, we will be checking out Tord Reklev’s winning decklist from Peoria! The Peoria regionals concluded in Lost Zone Box, winning the event. The Lost Zone Box always seemed super fragile and a bit slow, but this consistent version of the deck is something else. Let’s take a closer look at the 60 winning cards to see what pushed the archetype over the edge.
Key TCG Cards
First of all, you see that the deck’s engine is Comfey. Comfey with Flower selecting allows you to look at the top 2 cards of the deck if it’s in the active position. Then we can put one card in hand and one card in the Lost Zone.
The Lost Zone is a place of no return. It’s pretty much a discard pile that no cards can get back from, and it’s located above your prize cards.
Why do we want cards in the Lost Zone?
The attackers in the deck require you to have a specific number of cards in the Lost Zone.
Cramorant can attack for zero energies if you have 4 or more cards in the Lost Zone. Spit Innocently slaps 110 damage which is enough to take down small Pokemon like Sobble, Bidoof or other Comfeys. With this, you can even donk people as we saw Tord Reklev do throughout the event.
Sableye is actually the star of the deck. It allows you to spread 12 damage counters wherever you want on the opponent’s board. You can use it for 1 Psychic Energy as soon as you have ten or more cards in the Lost Zone. You might think, ten cards, that’s a lot. Well, that’s where you’re wrong this deck can really do it quite quickly because of all the switching cards in the deck.
We have 18 switching cards in the deck, allowing us to circle between our Comfeys an insane amount. The best one is Scoop Up net.
With Scoop Up Net, you can reset a Comfey by putting it back in your hand. This allows you to reuse Flower Selecting a bunch. We also have Switch Cart, which is actually a better Switch for this deck, as all of our Pokemon are basic. Sometimes you can even heal of specific damage like attacks from Regieleki or Quick Shooting damage.
Then there’s Escape Rope. Escape Rope helps against 1 Empoleon V and is a way to switch to other Comfeys. Path to the Peak can help if the opponent has 2 Empoleon V in play. I also like Escape Rope as it has some synergy with Cross Switcher. And Cross Switcher is our only way of gusting with this deck. You don’t actually need more, as Sableye spreads damage around.
We also have more ways to get cards in the Lost Zone quicker, so we can attack with Sableye ASAP.
We have Colress’s Experiment, which allows you to look at the top 5 cards of the deck. We can select 3 to go to the hand and 3 to the Lost Zone. This will open the door to Cramorant on turn 1 going second or make you use Sableye quicker. Also, Path to the Peak, in combination with Lost Vacuum, can help with that. The Vacuum is excellent since it can get two cards in the Lost Zone really quickly. And will allow you to get rid of your Path to the Peak when you need Radiant Charizard. I’ll talk more about that card shortly.
First, let’s check out the other supporters in the deck. The remaining ones are Marnie, to have some hand disruption against other Lost Zone decks and Klara.
Klara is actually one of the best cards in the late game. This will get you Pokemon and Energies back from the discard pile. This means you can instantly get Sableye back with an energy or even the Radiant Charizard.
Radiant Charizard is our heavy hitter in the late game. If you have spread your damage well with Sableye, the Radiant Charizard can easily clean up with Combustion Blast. The attack does 250 damage for 1 energy if the opponent has taken 4 prize cards. So taking 4 prize cards is not unheard of with Radiant Charizard. Just remember that Path to the Peak must be removed from play in order to attack with Radiant Charizard. So keep at least of Lost Vacuum for that scenario.
Manaphy in the deck is a must. Radiant Greninja is included in many top Pokemon TCG decks like Giratina VSTAR, Goodra VSTAR and Palkia VSTAR. So we really need some bench protection, or we will instantly lose the game. That’s why this deck is running 2 copies of the deck. The deck is not running Quick Ball to find it, so you will either need to get it on turn one with Battle VIP Pass or draw into it.
Oranguru is Tord Reklev’s favorite card. It can allow you to dig one card deeper with Primate Wisdom or protect yourself from upcoming Marnies. You can swap the top card of your deck with a card from the hand. It is also super nice to put a terrible late-game card like a Battle VIP pass on top, so Flower Selecting can put it in the Lost Zone. Quite a fantastic card, indeed.
Tord Reklev’s Lost Zone Box decklist
Underneath you can see Tord Reklev’s winning Lost Zone Box decklist:
Pokémon – 13
| 4 Comfey LOR 79 |
| 3 Sableye LOR 70 |
| 2 Cramorant LOR 50 |
| 2 Manaphy BRS 41 |
| 1 Radiant Charizard PGO 11 |
| 1 Oranguru SSH 148 |
Trainer Cards -41
| 4 Colress’s Experiment LOR 155 |
| 2 Marnie CPA 56 |
| 2 Klara CRE 145 |
| 4 Battle VIP Pass FST 225 |
| 4 Fog Crystal CRE 140 |
| 4 Cross Switcher FST 230 |
| 4 Scoop Up Net RCL 165 |
| 4 Switch Cart ASR 154 |
| 4 Escape Rope BST 125 |
| 3 Lost Vacuum LOR 162 |
| 2 Air Balloon SSH 156 |
| 4 Path to the Peak CRE 148 |
Energy – 6
| 4 Psychic Energy 5 |
| 2 Fire Energy 2 |
Matchups
So let’s talk about its matchup spread in the current metagame.
Favourable:
- Giratina VSTAR (Lost Zone Engine)
- Hisuian Zoroark VSTAR
- Arceus VSTAR / Giratina VSTAR
Even:
- Palkia VSTAR
- Mew VMAX
Unfavourable:
- Arceus VSTAR / Flying
- Pikachu VMAX
- Goodra VSTAR
- Regigigas
As far as I can see, the deck has an even matchup spread on the field and can push you over the edge when you know the deck inside-out. Giratina VSTAR (Lost Zone Engine)This is a favourable matchup. Early game, you use Path to slow them down. We have Sableye, which can take card of multiple Comfeys and set Giratina VSTAR up to get OHKO’d by Radiant Charizard. Hisuian Zoroark VSTARThis is also easy. With Sableye, you can target stuff on the opponent’s bench that is already damaged by their Gapejaw Bogs. You can finish Zoroark VSTAR with Radiant Charizard in the late game. Arceus VSTAR / Giratina VSTARThis is practically the same story. Early game, you can swing with Cramorant and then some Sableye spread until you are ready to finish off with Radiant Charizard. A random Cheren’s Care could be troublesome, though, so be careful to put all the damage on one Arceus VSTAR. Kyurem VMAXNormally Kyurem VMAX is quite difficult because of the double Empoleon V threat. But this list comes packed with Path to the Peak, Escape Rope and Cross Switcher. This means this shouldn’t cause too much trouble. Also, Kyurem VMAX heavily relies on abilities, and Path shuts that down. Also, they have many targets on the bench that you can spread damage on, so mapping out your prize cards is important here. Palkia VSTARPalkia VSTAR is rather even. Some Palkia Pokemon TCG decks now run 70HP Sobbles and a thicker Inteleon line. The Inteleon, both Aqua Bullet and Quick Shooting, both can OHKO Sableye V, so if they play well, this could be a really close match. Also, Palkia can use Roxanne and then it’s always hit or whiff with that. Mew VMAXMew VMAX is an easy matchup if the opponent hasn’t practised against Lost Box. Their main win-out is using Psychic Leap most of the time to avoid getting KO’d. Also, they need to not bench an army of Genesect V early, so they are safe from damage. Some Mew decks are now also running Volo as a way to tech for this matchup. Lost City can be a pain for Radiant Charizard, so it’s still a close matchup. Arceus VSTAR / Flying Pikachu VMAXI personally find that Flying Pikachu VMAX is unfavored. You won’t see it that often anymore, as the meta has shaped in a way where Palkia VSTAR is not the most popular deck anymore. Nevertheless, the Max Balloon attack is really annoying to deal with in the late game. Making it, Radiant Charizard can’t attack Flying Pikachu VMAX. Also, Sableye has to 3 shoots a Flying Pikachu VMAX and sometimes the Arceus VSTAR gets Cheren Cared up. Goodra VSTARAny Goodra VSTAR build is a really bad matchup for the Lost Zone Box. This current list is not running Choice Belt, so getting an OHKO on Goodra VSTAR won’t work. You can try to spread some damage on 2 Goodra VSTARs. But the probability is the Moisture Star ability that can heal off the damage instantly, and sometimes the Crystal Cave comes along as well. The deck just has too much healing for the Lost Zone Box to handle. Regigigas
The Regi deck is also unfavored after doing some testing. Getting Manaphy on board is really important, or you will lose some Comfeys instantly. Sableye has low hit points, and if the Regigigas player is playing the 130HP Regieleki, it’s also not going to end well. They can OHKO, while you can not KO anything in return and then Scoop Up Net removes all the damage. This is a difficult one-prize matchup that you’d rather not see.
Conclusion
And that’s it, mates! This has been my overview of Tord Reklev’s first-place Lost Zone Box deck. I personally think it’s a super consistent, simple 60. You can have some spicy tech includes like Galarian Zigzagoon and Choice Belt, but that will lower consistency. Definitely a nice starting list for people that want to try the Lost Zone engine. If you what to buy any products from the Lost Origin set or any other sets, you are in the right place! TCG Park has a lot of products to offer for an excellent price! They are shipping products all over Europe! You can also pre-order the upcoming set Silver Tempest here at TCG Park!
Thank you for reading another article, this was ZapdosTCG, cya next time! Have a nice day