Hey guys, another set of our Top 8 interviews is up! This time with Trevenant/Accelgor player, Paul Coletta! Welcome Paul, and congratulations!

Q: First of all, like all of my other interviews I have to ask about your Swiss rounds! Who did you play against and what was your record?

A: Round 1 i’m afraid I cannot remember! Round 2 however I was paired against Virizion/Genesect and although the match up is close to impossible I was able to pull away with a win in the end. Round 3 I played against a Plasma deck with Virizion EX in it, but I was able to knock it off the board with Sinister Hand and take the win quite comfortably. After this round however, I was deck checked by the judges and it was found that I only had 59 cards in my list! Which meant that I had to add a basic Psychic energy to my list for the remainder of the tournament. Round 4 was against another T/D/K and I did something that I had never done before and that was “Tree-Slam”(Trevenant’s Attack) for 3 prizes in 1 turn which was fantastic. We ended up tying that round, but that was definitely a highlight for me personally! Round 5 was against Blastoise playing only 2 Keldeo Ex’s, which makes the match up completely different than if  they run 3 Keldeo. Round 6 was against Yveltal/Garbodor and it was what I considered to be my hardest match up except for the straight Yveltal version of the deck. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to get out Garbodor in either of our matches which meant I had a much easier time with the victory. Round 7 was a win vs T/D/K who was running both Genesect and Absol to make it hard for me to do anything. The final round was against Yveltal/Garbodor and after such an incredibly long day we decided on a draw so we could get some rest and prepare for Top-Cut.

Q: Let’s talk a little bit about your Top 8 match up now, you came in at 8th seed and played against Jordan Palmer playing Yveltal/Raichu. What were those games
like?

A: From what I could tell from the get go, he had a pretty heavy investment into Darkrai EX. I saw 2 of them played in a single turn and wasn’t sure if he ever ran a 3rd or not.Game 1 he started off very poorly and was unable to capitalize on the Professor Juniper in his hand because he was also holding his only Lysandre in hand too. Although my turns were also slow, I managed to get the lock up around turn 3/4 and he scooped soon after in hopes of getting a much better start in games 2 & 3. Game 2 I had a pretty awful time of it, he managed to take prizes on 2 of my Shelmet’s and just as I was starting to get back into the game I drew into 3x DCE and a professor Juniper and was unable to do almost anything for the rest of the game. I scooped soon after and really wanted to go first in the last game. To my dismay, in the 3rd game my prizes consisted of: Dusknoir, Accelgor, Ultra ball, Level Ball, Silver Bangle & Tropical Beach. Those prizes made it incredibly difficult to set up the full lock until very late in the game. I set up a couple of tree’s in the mid game, but he eventually overpowered my set-up with Darkrai EX and I couldn’t come back from that. GG Jordan!

Q: Moving onto your deck list now, I wanted to ask you a bunch of questions about the list because I know people are going to be interested in how your deck is built. You chose to run a 3/3 line of Accelgor, did you feel that this number was more beneficial than the 3 Shelmet/2 Accelgor split?

A: I find that most of the time Accelgor & Silver Bangle was a better choice overall than playing Multiple copies of Mew EX. With Dusknoir I find that having this bonus amount of damage is incredibly beneficial to ending the game early enough to prevent my lock from falling apart. I also liked playing with single-prize attackers, as most people are way too invested in taking 2x prizes each turn and winning with 3 knock outs. Trevenant makes the game last all 6 prizes in most cases and that is something that not a lot of people are use to in this format right now.

Q: You’re also running a 1-1 line of Musharna that has become somewhat of a staple in the Gothitelle/Accelgor deck and now this one too, how helpful was this Musharna in your matches?

A: Aside from the usual reasons you’d need this card in your deck, there was a turn where I used Munna’s “Long Distance Hypnosis” and kept my opponent asleep and unable to retreat his active for a turn which was fantastic. Late in the game, Musharna helped sustain my low supporter late in the game by thinning my deck and helping me draw into my important combo pieces like DCE & Accelgor’s.

Q: Moving onto your supporter line now, you’re only running a total of 9 draw Supporters & 6 ‘support’ Supporters! Why did you decide to run the numbers that you did and more specifically, why 2 Juniper?

A: Like I mentioned earlier, I drew into a hand of 3 DCE’s and a Professor Juniper so I was really trying hard to make sure that didn’t happen at all.
You definitely don’t want to get rid of important cards in the deck because you have absolutely no way of getting them back aside from your 1 Dowsing Machine if you choose to run the card. The deck is capable of swarming its field also and the format has shifted to most decks running 4/5 Pokemon on the bench at all times, especially in Australia with lots of Plasma. I found Juniper to be my weaker option for Supporter in this case, with N/Colress/Skyla taking its place.

Q: You’ve also chosen to run 2 Lysandre in the deck, how did this addition affect your match ups in Swiss and your top 8 match too?

A: Having 2 allowed me to freely discard 1 of them if I really had to and not be so worried about not having one at the end of the game. It is a good substitute to Dusknoir if you find yourself unable to get the card for whatever reason. Also, running a slightly higher count than most people gives you the option of drawing into them in the late game and successfully taking 2 EX Ko’s in the late game.

Q: Moving onto your trainer line-up now, you chose not to play the Evo Soda as a 1-of card. What was the reason behind this decision?

A: Evosoda can’t search out my basics. I know that the answer sounds very simplistic and perhaps confusing, but I don’t like Evosoda because the chance of not drawing into my evolution line with all the tools I have at my disposal (Beach, Ultra ball, Level ball, Musharna, 4x N and Colress) is incredibly unlikely. The card feels like a much weaker option than upping the consistency of my Ultra Ball/Level Ball counts or adding in an Extra Tropical beach to compensate.

Q: You’ve also chosen to run the 2x Tool Scrapper, we have a new option for tool removal in Startling Megaphone that many people have taken to immediately. Why have you stuck with the Tool Scrapper?

A: I chose the 2x Tool Scrapper under the assumption that my opponents may be able to set up Multiple Garbodor’s in a single game if they ran 2x Lysandre. If I had one prized or I had to discard one early I found that 2 of them was always going to be the play. As for why I preferred Scrapper to Megaphone, I really liked both options but if they are forced to put a Float Stone on an Yveltal EX or a Muscle Band onto a Trubbish/Garbodor then I don’t really want them to have access to that card in the later game. It lowers their damage output and I don’t always have the luxury of going first in the match up.

Q: Now we’re right at the end of the list now, let us talk about your 1-of Trainer choices. You chose 1x Rare Candy/Silver Bangle and Switch. What purpose did these tech choices fulfil in your match ups?

A: Switch is in the deck to prevent Lysandre stalling in the late game and I really hate having to put a Float Stone onto Dusknoir/Musharna. Those Float Stones are so key to my decks strategy and I wouldn’t be able to function in the late game if I wasn’t aware of how many of them I had left. It’s quite likely that at the same time they catcher my bigger Pokemon they are going to want to Tool Scrapper/Megaphone my board and with a Float Stone on my supportive Pokemon I have one less option for Trevenant. Silver Bangle was originally going to be a 2 count, until the problem arose with my deck and had to substitute it for a Psychic Energy. Bangle gives you magic numbers on your opponents 170 hp Pokemon, with a little bit of maths and Dusknoir the extra 60 potential damage for 2 shots with Silver bangle gives you a huge advantage when it comes to taking prizes effectively. The 1 Rare Candy is only in here for the 2-1-1 line of Dusknoir and gives you the option to get it back in the later game if you lose it early and still be able to abuse it’s ability.

Q: With 100 Championship points secured for a Top 8 finish, you go to a total of 311 Championship Points. Will you be attending the World Championships this year?

A: Absolutely!

Thankyou for the interview Paul Coletta, good luck at World’s and keep an eye out for our final 4 interviews in the coming days!