Hello readers! Since Isaiah Bradner’s recent NAIC victory, there has been a large uptick in Gardevoir across the meta. Not only has there been a large uptick in play, but also a large uptick in success. Isaiah’s list features no copies of Drifloon, and has a heavy focus on Munkidori with four dark energy, Technical Machine: Turbo Energize, and Energy Switch. This adaptation is incredibly powerful when multiple Munkidori hit the field, making Mind Bend an incredibly powerful tool for the deck to buy time and attach additional Dark energy. In today’s article, I’m going to be writing about Munkidori, but more specifically I’ll be writing about Mind Bend and when you should flip for Confusion, or play it safe and retreat and/or pass.
Before I cover the factors that will make up the final decision in these moments, let’s do a brief overview of the situations in which a Gardevoir player may use Mind Bend.
There are two main positional factors that can make Mind Bend a strong play. Mind Bend is at its strongest when there is an immobile attacker in the active (something like a Charizard ex or a Grimmsnarl ex) and/or no additional attackers on the bench. This configuration is the most likely to force out a coin flip, or retreat and pass off the turn. Therefore, the best counter-play to Mind Bend is to have multiple attackers ready to go.
However, we will not always have access to such a robust setup. Quite often, it is more important to be aggressive against Gardevoir, than to wait for the perfect setup before going in. This is how you end up in situations where your attacker is Confused in the active and you’re forced to make a decision. Do you flip for the attack? Or do something more passive? To make this decision, there are four questions you should ask yourself.
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