As it became more obvious that players are trying to counter Zoroark, it started to become evident than I needed a second option for Denver. I knew that playing PikaRom and Blacephalon was out of the question for me, which meant the only options outside of Zoroark were Zapdos, Ultra Necrozma, or a rogue. Ultra Necrozma match results have been very draw-dependent rather than skill-dependent, which turns me away from it. None of my rogues have been good enough it seems, which means the only option left is Zapdos. Luckily I had already been working with Cameron on the deck for a while. This piece covers the deck, but not match ups. If you are interested in understanding Zapdos’ match ups, there is a long article that Cameron and I worked on which is already on the site.

The variant I prefer, and I think the whole team is on board with, is Buzzwole. I prefer the Buzzwoles because the other variants of Zapdos use those spots on a 2-1 line of Lycanroc or Lucario. The problem with a 2-1 line of a Stage 1 is that prizing the one copy of whatever Stage 1 Pokemon makes the Basics in the list completely useless outside of maybe a Jab hitting for weakness or using corner. The chances of prizing that one copy is 10.4% to be specific. You can answer that problem with a 2-2 line, but even at that point I am not very interested in playing techs that are hard to set up when I am stuck under Muk lock.

Here’s the current list:

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