Worlds 2008 Report - Karl's Magmortar LV.X / Leafeon LV.X Deck (HP-on)

Hey everyone! Over the course of the past few weeks, I spent some time to rebuild interesting and successful decks from the past. With the help of Cardmarket’s awesome Wants Lists feature, I managed to get my hands on the missing cards in almost no time. The previous article featured my Regigigas LV.X list from the 2008-09 season. Today’s deck is even older – it is Karl’s Magmortar LV.X / Leafeon LV.X deck from Worlds 2008!

Worlds 2008 were played in the 2007-08 Modified Format with expansions legal from EX Holon Phantoms to Majestic Dawn. The most dominating decks at that time were Gardevoir SW / Gallade SW (often referred to as GG or Plox) and Empoleon in multiple variants.

Karl travelled to Orlando with a solid plan: to find a deck that wins most of its matches against the Tier 1 decks. Earlier in the season, Magmortar decks took away some dominance from Gardevoir / Gallade, but they were pushed back by Empoleon with the release of Majestic Dawn.

Karl found counterplay against Empoleon by including Leafeon MD in his list. Leafeon plays two important roles: provide a barrier with its Water resistance and Leaf Guard’s damage reduction, and accelerate Energies with Leafeon LV.X’s Energy Forcing Poké-Power.

The Trainer lineup was centered on heavy disruption. 4 Crystal Beach and 4 Energy Removal 2 should delay the opponent’s attacks until Karl finished setting up his heavy hitters. 4 Warp Point and 3 Cessation Crystal locked the opponent out of their Poké-Powers and Poké-Bodies. A well-timed Team Galactic’s Wager with Claydol’s Cosmic Power or Gardevoir’s Telepass being locked often decided the outcome of a game.

Karl made a great run in Swiss of Worlds 2008, finishing 8th (6-1) on Day 1. Two dead hands marked the end of his winning streak in Top 32.

R1 L vs. John Silvestro (Empoleon/Bronzong) 0-1
R2 W vs. Daniel Cohen (Infernape/Gallade) 1-1
R3 W vs. Takeshi Tosa (Empoleon/Tech) 2-1
R4 W vs. Con Le (Gardevoir/Gallade) 3-1
R5 W vs. John Kettler (Gardevoir/Gallade) 4-1
R6 W vs. Jason Klaczynski (Gardevoir/Gallade) 5-1
R7 W vs. Tomi Sjoblom (Honchkrow/Palkia) 6-1
T32 WLL vs. Jimmy O’Brien (Empoleon/Bronzong)