Although my ZoroGarb list did not make top 8 in masters, I did win the 128 man cup in day two with it and two of the Seniors I coach made top 8 with it. Those accolades mean something, but I am disappointed that I couldn’t take it further in the main event; I lost my win-and-in. Since the event, there are two changes I made to the list. This piece goes over the new list and covers matchups. At this point I know the deck inside and out, so I feel I can cover each matchup in detail. This piece also talks about the ZoroGarb lists that made top 8 and what I agree or disagree with. In doing so, I end up explaining pretty much all of the stranger cards in my list.
For those without a Stage 2 membership, this is the skeleton for the sort of ZoroGarb list that is seeing success currently.
| Pokémon – 19 | Trainers – 27 | Energy – 4 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Zorua (DEX) | 2 | Colress | 4 | VS Seeker | 4 | Double Colorless | ||
| 4 | Zoraork GX | 1 | N | 4 | Ultra Ball | ||||
| 2 | Tapu Lele GX | 1 | Elm/Brigette | 2 | Choice Band | ||||
| 1 | Shaymin EX | 1 | Guzma | 2 | Battle Compressor | ||||
| 2 | Exeggcute | 1 | Red Card | ||||||
| 1 | Ditto Prism Star | 3 | Sky Field | 1 | Field Blower | ||||
| 1 | Klefki | 1 | (item Pokemon Search) | ||||||
| 1 | Oranguru | 1 | Rescue Stretcher | ||||||
| 1 | Trubbish (NVI) | 1 | Super Rod/2nd Stretcher | ||||||
| 2 | Garbodor (BKP) | 1 | Float Stone | ||||||
| 1 | Dowsing Machine | ||||||||
10 Open Slots
One of the changes Zoroark went through with switching to Garbotoxin instead of Hex Maniac, was a sharp decrease in consistency. For that reason I like to use a lot of these slots up to help deal with that problem. Other than consistency, I focus on cards that help against whatever deck won the most recent Regionals (unless it is already a good matchup), mirror additions, and something for Buzzwole.
Other players have taken more straight forward approaches to answering these specific matchups, which is what I saw in the top 8 lists. That’s completely understandable, but in my view there are cards that can be added to help against Fighting, Toad Zoroark, and help with consistency. I always try to find ways to kill two birds with one stone when building expanded lists because there is no room in decks for any single-matchup techs. With a format so wide open, you can easily tech a card for one matchup and never play against it.
With that in mind, I’m going to talk about the lists that Jon Eng and Aaron Friedman played to top 8 finishes.
Aaron Friedman’s 7th place ZoroGarb
| Pokémon – 23 | Trainers – 33 | Energy – 4 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Zorua (SLG) | 1 | Sudowoodo | 4 | Ultra Ball | 4 | Double Colorless | ||
| 1 | Zorua (B&W) | 4 | VS Seeker | ||||||
| 1 | Zorua (DEX) | 3 | Colress | 2 | Battle Compressor | ||||
| 4 | Zoroark GX | 1 | Brigette | 2 | Red Card | ||||
| 1 | Zoroark (B&W) | 1 | Guzma | 2 | Field Blower | ||||
| 1 | Ditto Prism Star | 1 | N | 2 | Rescue Stretcher | ||||
| 1 | Trubbish (DRX) | 1 | Delinquent | 1 | Pokemon Communication | ||||
| 2 | Garbodor (DRX) | 1 | Special Charge | ||||||
| 2 | Klefki | 3 | Sky Field | 1 | Dowsing Machine | ||||
| 2 | Tapu Lele GX | 2 | Choice Band | ||||||
| 2 | Shaymin EX | 2 | Float Stone | ||||||
| 2 | Exeggcute | ||||||||
| 1 | Oranguru | ||||||||
Great list. Two Shaymin EX is a count that most people do not realize is ideal for ZoroGarb, Delinquent is a very underrated addition, and two Red Card makes a huge difference in mirror. One Brigette is the correct, yet sort of uncommon, count and I love that he kept the Communication. Still, there are some parts of the list I’m not as fond of. Naturally I want to cover those in a lot more depth because the cards we agree on simply stay in the list. These are the cards I would cut and the reasons why.
What I would change
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