Hello SixPrizes readers, and welcome to your crash course on everything to know about Lucario & Melmetal-GX/Zacian V! My name is Jake Gearhart and I am delighted to finally be writing an article for a site I’ve been following for years. I’ll begin with a short introduction of myself. I’ve been playing competitively since Legendary Treasures, right before the start of the XY era in 2014. I credit my good friend Emery Taylor, a former writer for this site, for helping me into the competitive scene as he had been playing for a couple of years already at that point. It didn’t take long before I discovered my love for slower decks. From 2014–2016, I almost exclusively played Seismitoad-EX, and, the last year I played in the Senior Division, I was able to take Seismitoad/Slowking to a Regional win and attend Worlds that year. From 2017 to present, I’ve had to dedicate more time to school so I haven’t been able to attend as many in-person events as I would’ve liked. However, with the advent of online events due to COVID-19, I’ve been able to play in many more tournaments and prove myself again!

My Qualifications

Before I start, I would like to give some explanation of why you should actually read this article from me, a player you may have never heard of before. If you are hesitant about trusting me on my knowledge with this deck, I hope the following will alleviate any of that. So far, this season, in the HegsterTCG tournament series (a tournament series that has a consistent attendance of around 150 players which I will mention a few times in this article), I have achieved two first place finishes, a second place finish, a top eight, top sixteen, and two top thirty-two finishes—all with Lucario & Melmetal-GX—as well as notable finishes in many other online tournaments. These currently put me at number one on the HegsterTCG leaderboard. The time I’ve spent with this deck has given me the knowledge I have to share with you today.

Evolution of the Deck

chasekip.tumblr.com

Lucario & Melmetal-GX (which I will be referring to as LucMetal from here on out) as an archetype has gone through quite a few innovations over the course of the month of September.

The first innovation was the inclusion of two Zamazenta V. This card has become an essential card in the deck rather than a tech card like last format and that will become apparent when I talk about how much it’s used in the “Matchups” section of this article.

The second innovation was the list that won the first Players Cup. Bronzong TEU was an ingenious way to counter all of the Fire decks, and Zamazenta V was able to completely wall off all of the Eternatus lists (as well as counter Tord Reklev’s Inteleon list). The Players Cup list is important to mention but I would not consider running it now that the meta has developed significantly. Bronzong isn’t nearly as effective now that Fire decks are aware of it, and Eternatus and other VMAX decks play Zamazenta counters more often than not. The lists I did well with at the start of this season were based heavily on the Jirachi TEU engine which was something that translated well into the new meta despite the loss of Escape Board. Considering going back to this engine may very well be the next phase in the life of the deck. You can check out the pinnacle of those lists here (this one yielded me my first HegsterTCG victory):

I just won my first @hegstertcg event! :D
LucMetal, as always, is still good! ;-)

Matchups and thoughts on the list below. pic.twitter.com/gjrrR5rkyS

— Jake Gearhart (@jakekgearhart) September 5, 2020

Weakness Guard Energies were also a key innovation of the time which substituted for the rotation of Metal Frying Pan.

The most recent innovation of the deck was the inclusion of Lillie’s Poké Doll, pioneered by yours truly. Lillie’s Poké Doll is extremely useful in many situations. It’s not only the perfect wall card to sit behind, but also a way to reset Zacian V’s Brave Blade. By using a Switch or Mallow & Lana to pivot into the Doll, all effects on Zacian (most importantly the “you cannot use Brave Blade during your next turn” effect) are reset. Then you can use the effect of the Doll to put it on the bottom of your deck, promote Zacian, and Brave Blade with the same Zacian for the second turn in a row.

Mindset

When playing this deck, there are a few things you need to keep in mind above everything else.

• Don’t think of it as a “LucMetal” deck. This archetype is played as a Zacian Toolbox more than anything. You do not need to use Full Metal Wall-GX in every game. LucMetal is a tool that fixes math, can remove Energy, and reduces damage, but it is not the end-all be-all.
• Unlike other decks where you bench Dedenne-GXs and Crobat Vs without hesitation, every time you put a Pokémon on the field you have to be thinking about the Prize cards on board. For example, if you bench a Lucario & Melmetal-GX, as well as two Zacian Vs, that’s 7 Prize cards on the board. As soon as you put more than 6 Prize cards on your field, your opponent has a win condition. Always be mindful of this because controlling the possible paths your opponent can take to win is critical. I will discuss more about this in the Eternatus portion of the “Matchup” section.
• Ending your turn can happen in many ways. At the start of each turn, you should evaluate the situation and decide how you want to end your turn. Everything you do on the turn should be based on how you want your field and your opponent’s field to look. You can attack with any of the attacking options available to you, including your once-per-game GX attack, pass the turn, or Intrepid Sword. In all these scenarios, what Pokémon you leave Active is an important consideration (and don’t forget to include Lillie’s Poké Doll as an option). Sometimes building up cards with Intrepid Sword is better than taking a Brave Blade KO. Sometimes letting your opponent take Prize cards is okay. Once again, always be mindful of the path your opponent needs to take to win. For example, if you know your opponent is going to KO your LucMetal at some point and it won’t be too difficult for them to Boss it Active later, you can let them Knock it Out and build up your field with Intrepid Sword. You don’t need to remove it from the Active if it’ll waste too many resources.
• When your opponent VMAXes (evolves) one of their Pokémon V, they are effectively removing an attacker from play. If your opponent runs out of counters for Zamazenta, you can easily run them over with a single one. So whenever they are forced to VMAX a Pokémon, that is one less threat you have to deal with.

The List

****** Pokémon Trading Card Game Deck List ******

##Pokémon - 8

* 4 Zacian V SSH 138
* 2 Zamazenta V PR-SW 19
* 1 Galarian Stunfisk SSH 132
* 1 Lucario & Melmetal-GX UNB 120

##Trainer Cards - 38

* 4 Switch
* 1 Cynthia & Caitlin CEC 189
* 4 Metal Saucer SSH 170
* 2 Mallow & Lana CEC 198
* 4 Metal Goggles TEU 148
* 2 Chaotic Swell CEC 187
* 4 Quick Ball SSH 179
* 3 Lillie’s Poké Doll CEC 197
* 4 Professor’s Research SSH 178
* 2 Tag Call CEC 206
* 4 Marnie SSH 169
* 1 Tool Scrapper
* 3 Boss’s Orders RCL 154

##Energy - 14

* 11 M Energy GEN 82
* 3 Weakness Guard Energy UNM 213

Total Cards - 60

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This is the LucMetal list that I use in any standard PTCGO online tournaments I attend. I will briefly go over some card counts as well as edits to the deck you need to make based on the format you are playing in.

0 Dedenne-GX, 0 Crobat V, 0 Eldegoss V

DO NOT play multi-Prize draw support Pokémon. Benching one will lose you the game significantly more often than it will help you win a game. The only one of the three that you could consider is Eldegoss V specifically because it can be used as a tech for DeciGoon or Altaria/Goon, which I will discuss in that portion of the “Matchups” section. Because of the low amount of Basic Pokémon in the non-Jirachi engine lists, Eldegoss V becomes even more of a liability because you can start it.

1 Lucario & Melmetal-GX

As I mentioned before in the “Mindset” section of the article, don’t think of this deck as a “Lucario & Melmetal” deck when you are playing it. This is a Zacian Toolbox deck. You don’t use Lucario & Melmetal in many of your matchups, it’s optional in many of the matchups you do use it in, and starting it can often be detrimental (against Blacephalon UNB and Centiskorch VMAX specifically) so playing more copies in order to not prize it will punish you just as often as it will help you.

4 Zacian V

Intrepid Sword is the ideal way you want to end your early turns. Being able to get a Zacian early greatly increases the odds of you winning.

2 Zamazenta V

As I mentioned in “Evolution of the Deck” section, multiple Zamazenta V are now necessary in order to gain good matchups against fast VMAX decks.

1 Galarian Stunfisk SSH or Galarian Stunfisk V

Galarian Stunfisk SSH, popularized by my lists, is the Ultimate Tech Card. It’s got a variety of uses but primarily acts as a tech for the DeciGoon matchup (as well as an out to a tricky Psychic-type Pokémon that is the subject of the challenge at the end of the article). I will discuss more about this guy in my DeciGoon portion of the “Matchups” section.

If you’re playing in a no-ADP tournament, you should highly consider cutting the regular Galarian Stunfisk for Galarian Stunfisk V. This will become apparent when I discuss some of the matchups that are much more common without ADP in the format (Mad Party, Spiritomb, and AeroPod).

4 Metal Goggles

This Tool card allows the deck to function. Surviving hits or forcing your opponent to do awkward things in order to get 1HKOs allows this deck to gain ground even if it’s not nearly as fast as other top decks.

2 Chaotic Swell

I’m confident in saying that Chaotic Swell is the best Stadium for this deck. It’s extremely versatile and essential in Welder-based matchups. Being able to prevent your opponent from getting Giant Hearth down can stop your opponent from getting the full effect out of a Welder as well as an attachment for turn. Swell can also limit a Dark deck’s pivoting options if they play Dark City, and can occasionally slow your opponent from being able to achieve an early Altered Creation-GX via Viridian Forest.

1 Tool Scrapper

This card is definitely cuttable, but I prefer to keep it in my lists. Big Charms and other HP-increasing Tools can cause you to struggle in matchups where you otherwise wouldn’t.

2 Tag Call, 1 Cynthia & Caitlin

I am running with a Tag Call package currently because of the consistency it adds. It is worth considering removing these cards and adding Oranguru SSH, Mewtwo UNB, and 1 Scoop Up Net as well. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. Oranguru can increase Intrepid Sword’s effectiveness, Mewtwo can act as a Supporter card off of a Quick Ball, and the 1-of Scoop Up Net allows you to remove these single-Prizers from play in order to manipulate the Prize trade. This does sacrifice your ability to find LucMetal but the increased Intrepid Sword effectiveness may be worth it depending on the meta.

2 Mallow & Lana

These cards not only turn 2HKOs into 3HKOs all the time, but are also incredibly useful as a pivoting option to reset Brave Blade or move LucMetal out of the Active after it Full Metal Walls.

3 Lillie’s Poké Doll

As mentioned previously, this card has so many uses in the deck. 3 of them allows you to find one early to put in the Active and ensures that you’ll always have one to reset Brave Blade with.

3 Weakness Guard Energy, 11 M Energy

I believe Weakness Guard Energies are an essential part of the deck. Weakness Guard Energies will win you many more games than you will lose because they are not basic M Energies, so they are always worth it to me. 12 basic M Energy was the optimal number last format, and 3 Weakness Guard Energies make up for the loss of one of them.

Players Cup II Tips

In the closed-decklist, limited-time format, you are going to need to play differently than you would in an open-decklist, normal-time format. Unless you know what your opponent is playing, you should choose to go second. Even though in most of your matchups going first is preferable, how important it is to go second in many matchups (such as vs. ADP—which I will discuss in the “Matchups” section) overwrites the small advantage you may get for going first in other matchups.

If the Players Cup qualifiers continue to be the ADP-fest that they are currently, I would also run this alternate list by Daniel Altavilla (@daxptcg on Twitter) that focuses on improving that matchup with Crushing Hammers. (I’m not normally a fan of Hammers in LucMetal in this format, but they do give you the edge over ADP.) I cut the Galarian Stunfisk in Altavilla’s list for the Tool Scrapper and I’ll discuss both of those decisions when I cover ADP and DeciGoon.

****** Pokémon Trading Card Game Deck List ******

##Pokémon - 7

* 4 Zacian V SSH 138
* 2 Zamazenta V PR-SW 19
* 1 Lucario & Melmetal-GX UNB 120

##Trainer Cards - 39

* 4 Switch
* 1 Cynthia & Caitlin CEC 189
* 4 Metal Saucer SSH 170
* 4 Crushing Hammer
* 2 Mallow & Lana CEC 198
* 4 Metal Goggles TEU 148
* 1 Chaotic Swell CEC 187
* 4 Quick Ball SSH 179
* 2 Lillie’s Poké Doll CEC 197
* 4 Professor’s Research SSH 178
* 1 Tag Call CEC 206
* 4 Marnie SSH 169
* 1 Tool Scrapper
* 3 Boss’s Orders RCL 154

##Energy - 14

* 11 M Energy GEN 82
* 3 Weakness Guard Energy UNM 213

Total Cards - 60

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Differences from the First List

• -1 Galarian Stunfisk SSH
  -1 Lillie’s Poké Doll
  -1 Tag Call
  -1 Chaotic Swell
• +4 Crushing Hammer

Matchups

The primary reason I can continue to play LucMetal without getting bored of the deck is because of how diverse its matchup spread is. Every game with the deck is different. Every matchup has an optimal gameplan or multiple optimal gameplans and every game involves working toward that plan given the cards you’re dealt. Here, I’m going to lay out the optimal gameplan for the most common decks you’ll run into. Whenever a matchup can be improved with a tech card, I will be sure to mention it and discuss the gameplan involving that tech card. It’s up to you to predict the meta of the day and decide whether or not it’s worth teching for! (Note, again, I am not considering Weakness Guard Energies as tech cards because I feel that they are an essential part of the deck so all these numbers will be based on having Weakness Guard Energies.)

Eternatus VMAX: 60/40

One of the archetypes you are most likely to see out of any in a tournament is Eternatus. Due to the nature of Eternal Zone, it’s very difficult for an opponent to play many strong counters to Zamazenta V because they’re limited to Dark Pokémon.

• Go first when you know you’re playing vs. Eternatus. It gives you the most options for how to carry out your turns one and two.
• If you start LucMetal, Full Metal Wall-GX for a single Energy ASAP. Don’t worry about the second effect of the attack. You need to get value out of LucMetal before it gets KO’d.
• If you start Zacian V, d