Hey everyone! We’re coming up on the final events of the 2016-2017 season so it’s a very exciting time in Pokémon. And even better — we just got a brand new set! Many players, myself included, are excited to see the Format shake up in the coming weeks.

Although I have voiced my concerns with how the game might change, other players have helped assuage my fears. It seems that the format will simply slow down as we build our decks in ways to beat oppressive cards like Garbodor and Sylveon. Tapu Lele-GX will also introduce some much needed consistency to the game. I would certainly welcome a slower and more consistent format, but only time will tell if that’s what actually happens.

So far, most of the major new players such as Garbodor, Sylveon, Greninja, and Alolan Ninetales have been discussed by myself and other writers. Instead, I’ll mostly be going over existing archetypes and how you can update them to see if they’re still viable in the PRC-GRI format.

Let’s jump right in!

Old Faithful: Decidueye/Vileplume

Decidueye/Vileplume is easily my favorite deck of the past 3 seasons. While it can be a tad inconsistent, almost every matchup is winnable and even the wildest comebacks can be achieved.

I finally feel comfortable cutting the Tauros-GX with the expected decline in play of Turbo Dark. Darkrai decks thrived on burning through Item cards (which now makes them very weak to Garbodor’s Trashalanche) and Field Blower neuters both their sustainability and damage output. I still found Tauros to be useful in other matchups, but Tapu Lele serves a much better purpose in that spot now.

This article — “Old Kicks, New Tricks” – A Look at Decidueye, Lycanroc, and Rayquaza, Plus Tips for beating Sylveon — was originally published on SixPrizes.