Greetings, Cut or Tap readers! I am Carson Washer, a Pokemon TCG Senior for Dead Draw Gaming, and I’m thrilled to share my journey to a Top 4 finish at the San Antonio Regional Championships in the Senior Division! I decided to play “DTE Mew”, with a touch of innovation: two Fusion Strike Energy and one Elesa’s Sparkle. In this article, I will provide insights into my deck selection, the reasons for some of the important cards in my list, a deep dive into the deck’s matchups, and a walkthrough of each round in my tournament.
Here is the list that I played for the tournament:
Deck Choice and Innovations
I was initially torn between playing Charizard EX or Lost Zone Giratina VSTAR, but during this time, I always looked at the insane potential of DTE Mew. However, a lingering concern about the dreaded Spiritomb made me hesitate. Trying to solve this, I tried to play around with some fun new ideas such as one Fusion Strike Energy. This addition proved effective against Spiritomb decks such as Urshifu/Inteleon or Entei/Valiant, with those being the most favorable matchups that could play Spiritomb. Despite this, the deck still faced challenges against Miraidon EX or Lost Zone Giratina VSTAR, solely when Spiritomb was played in those decks.
To solve this, I doubled down on Fusion Strike Energy, and added an Elesa’s Sparkle, I also brought in a Town Store to have consistent access to the Forest Seal Stone in order to get Elesa’s Sparkle. The Town Store was also very good for extra consistency in every matchup, and could also find Box Of Disaster in the early game against decks such as Charizard EX, or Gardevoir EX. This not only solved Spiritomb weaknesses but also added a layer of flexibility, being instrumental in various scenarios throughout the tournament. These would include being able to take a Turn-1 knockout, being able to Psychic Leap for 70 with no Power Tablets being played, and the damage output being higher when two Fusion Energy are attached.
No Crushing Hammer
Due to needing space for “The Fusion Package”, I decided to exclude Crushing Hammers from my deck. While Hammers are commonly included in “DTE” Mew builds, I found their effectiveness questionable. The primary argument often centered around disrupting Charizard decks, attempting to stop the second Charizard from attacking. However, I think this strategy is unreliable against skilled Charizard players who could easily play around it by simply just attaching more energy with their Ability, meaning the use for Hammers is very niche. However, the Hammers were pretty important for the Roaring Moon matchup. While I knew that if I had played this matchup now, I would most likely lose, I decided that Roaring Moon didn’t have a high enough meta share. This made these precious four spots in the deck more important for being able to beat decks that include Spiritomb.
1 Town Store
This is not commonly seen in Double Turbo Energy Mew builds, as it is more commonly played in Fusion Mew decks. The rationale behind this choice was usually because of the differences between DTE Mew and Fusion Mew’s strategy. DTE Mew focuses more on using Judge and Path to disrupt, making it more Path-centric compared to the less-disruption and more speed-focused Fusion Mew.
Town Store is a potential boost to consistency, mainly during the opening turns. As I said earlier, it was good in matchups where getting a Box Of Disaster early was necessary, such as the Charizard matchup. The Town Store was also able to bail me out of some poor hands and offer additional consistency in several critical situations, making its place in the deck a perfect inclusion.
The Art of the Leap
To be honest, I don’t think this deck would even be playable without being able to Psychic Leap. Using Psychic Leap after your opponent has already knocked out one Mew VMAX forces them to have more stuff in the following turns. Let me explain: many decks in the current format can easily knock out two Mew VMAX, giving them an easy prize map. On the contrary, using Psychic Leap after your opponent takes three prizes forces their remaining prize cards to one if they take a KO on the next turn, meaning they will still have to take another knockout, most likely on Mew Vmax after disruption.
Once your opponent is left with only one prize card, the effectiveness of Iono/Path is so much greater. Using Psychic Leap against Charizard is especially crucial. After using a Judge/Path, most of the time their Pidgey will remain unevolved. This allows for an effortless Boss’s Orders into Psychic Leap, taking an easy knock-out. Although, I would not kill the Pidgey if they only have one Charmander down, as disrupting their setup for more Charizards is the most important plan.
The Gardevoir matchup also highlights the importance of Psychic Leap. The plays are quite similar to the Charizard matchup, although Gardevoir might not always be able to one-shot you initially. In this matchup, you might find yourself using Psychic Leap early on to remove a heavily-damaged Mew from the board.
Matchups
Miraidon (90-10)
This is one of the deck’s most favorable matchups . The main strategy is to disrupt and take efficient trades. Realistically, the most likely way that you lose is to them sticking a Path, so keeping Forest Seal Stone would be great. Watching out for Raichu one-shots, playing around Rope and forcing them to have a Boss, and making sure they can’t use Iron Hands to take four prizes are all good things to do.
Giratina (55-45)
One of this matchup’s most important aspects is trying to not use Forest Seal Stone. Without your opponent using Roxanne/Path this matchup is super favorable, although when Roxanne/Path comes down it starts to get a little tricky; this is easily fixed by not using Forest Seal Stone. Going first is great because they cannot stick Path on Turn 1, and there is a chance they only get one Giratina V down and you can easily kill it. Even if they get two, killing the first one is still really good.
Charizard (65-35)
Ideally you would want to go second, use an early Judge Path, then knockout a Charizard, Judge Path again, and Iono Path to one. You will want to keep two Power Tablets and all three Paths, as you want to have Paths in play for most of the turns.
Gardevoir (70-30)
Maximizing the number of pieces your opponent needs is what’s most important in this matchup. Using an early Judge can often stop them from being able to use Mirage Step. In this matchup, the deathly combination of Iono to one (or two) with a Path is necessary. Another thing you want to watch out for is Avery, so sometimes not putting a sixth Pokemon in play would be optimal, as you do not have any way to get Pokemon back after they are discarded.
A Tournament Odyssey: Rounds Unfolded
Round 1 (Gardevoir ex, WW)
Game 1: My opponent went first, although they did not have much of a board after I played my Judge. Due to this, I was way too far ahead and they could never come back.
Game 2: This game was very similar to Game 1, as my opponent was never able to set up as they would have preferred.
Round 2 (Charizard ex / Pidgeot ex, WW)
Game 1: I went second with my opponent having a decent start, so I knew I needed to Judge-Path and get Box of Disaster. After this they were never able to really get going and I swept through their board.
Game 2: The second game went similarly, with both of us having solid starts. However, my opponent’s board had a vulnerability, with only having two Charmanders. After Judge-Pathing and killing one Charmander, I could easily kill the Charizard EX with no worry of being knocked out. From this point, I had an easy prize map to Leap something the next turn and kill the Rotom V for the game.
Round 3 (Charizard ex / Pidgeot ex, WW)
These games were pretty much the same thing as Round 2.
Round 4 (Gardevoir ex, WW)
Game 1: The fourth round presented a familiar narrative—a less-than-optimal start for my opponent, allowing me to navigate through their board with ease. A well-timed Judge and strategic use of Psychic Leap solidified my position.
Game 2: My opponent opening up with only one Ralts and benching Jirachi allowed me to take an easy Turn-1 knockout, using Elesa’s Sparkle and an attachment. Saving all four Power Tablets made for a easy knockout on a Gardevoir ex.
Round 5 (Charizard EX with Pidgeot EX and Tool Jammer, LWW)
Game 1: This round introduced a curveball, as a significant flaw in my setup surfaced. Despite an unfavorable situation, a crucial decision not to play Boss proved fatal, offering a glimmer of hope for my opponent and leading to a strategic loss.
Game 2: A more favorable setup where I actually was able to get three Mew V’s got me a easy win. Solid gameplay and effective disruption laid the foundation for a win.
Game 3: There was a good setup for both sides. However, Judge Path disrupted my opponent’s response, leading to my opponent not being able to do much the rest of the game.
Round 6 (Lost Box Turbo Dragonite with Bravery Charm, WW)
Game 1: For most of this game, my opponent could not respond to Judge Path and they eventually fell too far behind.
Game 2: My opponent unfortunately was not able to do anything besides Flower Selecting and passing, allowing me to easily secure a 6-0 record.
Round 7 (Urshifu/Inteleon with Spiritomb, WW)
Game 1: I finally saw the introduction of Spiritomb, a long-awaited moment to unleash the power of my new cards. I finally got to have the usage of Fusion Energy on two Genesects, and with Judges and Psychic Leaps, my opponent could not keep up.
Game 2: My opponent went first and set up their board, although they did not have Spiritomb. The inability to one-shot me and the complexity of knocking out three Genesects before me taking six prizes resulted in an inevitable victory for me.
Round 8 (TM: Evolution Charizard, Scoop)
An unfavorable matchup against Evolution Charizard loomed in the eighth round. Having three options—scoop, play it out to potentially knock them out of cut, or take the ID—I opted to scoop. This choice ensured them to be the second seed, meaning I would not have to play them until Finals, if ever.
Top 8 (60 Card Mirror, WLW)
Game 1: I went first and both players had a fortunate setup, with my opponent using a Judge Path. However, luckily I was able to disrupt the Path without using the Forest Seal Stone, paving the way for a knockout on three Genesects and a decisive lead.
Game 2: Going second, I was forced to Judge Path, although they were able to get out of it without using Forest Seal Stone. I Judge Pathed again and the story was the same. I now know that Iono Path would be redundant, as there were three Forest Seal Stones on board and I only had two Vacuum left, so I decided to Lost Vacuum two off Genesects and kill the other Genesect. I then played my Path down and hoped for the best, but sadly my opponent was able to use Vacuum and draw the Boss for the game.
Game 3: This decisive game saw me going first. My setup wasn’t great, as I had to use Forest Seal Stone to avoid needing to just pass. Sadly though, my opponent faced a challenging start, and despite taking one knockout, their inability to disrupt me sealed their fate. The game concluded in my favor, propelling me into the next round.
Top 4 (Urshifu/Inteleon with Spiritomb, LWL)
Game 1: The Top 4 round kicked off with my opponent going first and playing two Battle VIP Passes. Even though they prized Spiritomb, the absence of Spiritomb in their setup did not matter because of my abysmal hand.
Game 2: This time with a more favorable setup, I managed to establish a good board, and had my hand ready for Spiritomb the next turn. Being able to effectively trade and disrupt, my opponent could not keep up.
Game 3: My opponent had a good setup, this time including Spiritomb. Once again, my hand was in the sewers, although a glimmer of hope flickered as I drew Cram-O-Matic, but sadly I flipped a tails. With draw-pass the rest of the game, that was all she wrote.
Conclusion
Overall, I am really happy with my deck choice and my finish. I think everyone should give this deck a try. Thank you for reading, and I hope that this helped!