New Format, New Lost Box

A guide to adapting this everlasting archetype to the post-rotation format

Hello! I’m Stéphane Ivanoff and I’m honored to join Schemanske’s Corner. For those who don't know me, I'm a two-time International Champion and Regional Champion from France. I've been a regular reader of Alex's writing ever since this Substack opened, so I'm happy that I now get to contribute to it.

For my first article here, I've chosen to write about Lost Box, which I consider to be a very strong choice in the post-rotation metagame and is currently one of my frontrunners for EUIC (although, as a disclaimer, I still have a lot more testing to do!). There's always some mystery at the beginning of every format: will our metagame look like Japan's, where the cards we just get have been legal for months? Will some group of elite players, or a lone rogue deckbuilder, find a secret archetype that will break the format? How will each deck be built, which tech cards will be deemed valuable? These questions are even more relevant when rotation hits, as the changes compared to the previous format are much more significant.

Lost Box thrives in this uncertainty. You can play basically any card in this archetype, so Lost Box's opponents will need to play around a huge variety of threats: Radiant Greninja, Sableye, TM Crisis Punch, Iron Hands ex, TM Devolution, and so on. (They can also make educated guesses about which of these cards they think the Lost Box player isn't running, but being wrong can cost the game). Contrast this with a more linear archetype like Charizard ex: sure, Charizard's opponent may have to consider the three possible Ace Specs in Charizard ex (Prime Catcher, Maximum Belt and Hero's Cape), and perhaps a tech attacker like Gouging Fire ex, but for the most part, you know what Charizard ex can do: it's not going to take extra Prizes out of nowhere, for example. Its limits are well-defined; Lost Box's are very unclear.

More pragmatically, results from Japan show that Lost Box is extremely successful. In recent weeks, it's been the most successful archetype behind Charizard ex. It definitely has what it takes to compete in the post-rotation format, including a positive matchup against the Fukuoka Champions League winning deck, Lugia VSTAR.

As a side note, Giratina VSTAR has recently made a strong comeback in Japan, and seems to be a top tier deck as well. While these two archetypes share an engine and some attackers, I consider them to be different decks. At the time of writing, I haven't started testing Giratina post-rotation, so I will only discuss Lost Box.

Building Lost Box

Before I share my decklist, I want to discuss my process building it. Every Lost Zone deck starts with a core: four Comfey, four Colress's Experiment, switching cards (Switch Cart and Switch only, since Escape Rope rotated), Rescue Board, Prime Catcher, Cramorant, Radiant Greninja, and Mirage Gate.

Rescue Board and Prime Catcher are the only two new additions (besides Buddy-Buddy Poffin) from Temporal Forces to the deck, but they're invaluable. Rescue Board turns Comfey into a pivot, something that Lost Box has been wanting ever since Air Balloon rotated. (Yes, Beach Court has been used to achieve this role, but you'd rather play another Stadium most of the time.) As for Prime Catcher, it's simply the best card in the deck. It's exactly what Lost Box wants: a gust effect that doesn't use your Supporter for the turn (so it can be played alongside Colress's Experiment or Roxanne), with no condition (unlike Counter Catcher, still a good card in the deck), that also doubles as a switching card (which means one more Flower Selecting). There are many good Ace Specs, but I think every Lost Zone deck should be playing Prime Catcher.

Including Radiant Greninja and Mirage Gate in the Lost Box core warrants a (simple) explanation: the only alternative to playing these cards is SableZard, and with Klara and Raihan gone, I don't think this deck works anymore. Maybe SableZard with Roaring Moon ex (and Mirage Gate) will survive rotation, but right now, I don't really see the appeal. I also think that Radiant Greninja got better due to Path to the Peak rotating. There were situations in the past where getting Radiant Greninja out early was risky because your opponent (Giratina or Mew, for example) could play a Path to the Peak on the next turn, forcing you to find a Stadium or Lost Vacuum to get access to Concealed Cards. Now, Radiant Greninja is guaranteed to provide the deck with draw power all game long, improving the deck's resilience against disruptive Supporters (Iono, Roxanne, Judge).

Then comes the question of which attackers to run. I think that what makes Lost Box strong is the combination of two complementary Paradox Pokémon: Iron Hands ex and Roaring Moon ex. These two have been seen together in multiple archetypes (for example, you may recall that some players have tried adding Iron Hands ex to Roaring Moon ex decks), and this is because they cover each other's weaknesses. Roaring Moon ex can KO anything in the format with Frenzied Gouging, which makes it a great answer against high HP threats like Charizard ex. Its Calamitous Slash attack also deals well with two-Prize Pokémon with 220 HP or less, such as Chien-Pao ex and almost all Basic Pokémon V. Roaring Moon ex can put a lot of pressure on the opponent, as a turn 2 Calamitous Slash on Arceus V or Lugia V can basically end the game right there.

However, Roaring Moon ex doesn't fare well against one-Prize Pokémon, which trade well with it, especially those with more than 100 HP who can withstand Calamitous Slash if there's no Stadium to discard (Cramorant, Miraidon, Radiant Greninja...). That's where Iron Hands ex shines. It can take multiple Prizes against these smaller Pokémon, letting Lost Box keep its agressive pace.

While perhaps not 100% required, I think that Sableye and Water Energy (to allow Radiant Greninja to attack) are also key pieces of Lost Box. Sableye can be bad a lot of the time, but it can also save games thanks to its unique attack. I've won games against Charizard, Chien-Pao and Arceus / Giratina by trapping a Pokémon Active at some point and using Lost Mine to snipe around it, allowing me to get back into the game. As for Radiant Greninja, its Energy cost is higher, but it is even better at punishing opponent's misplays. Having the option to use Moonlight Shuriken forces opponents (especially Charizard decks) to bench Manaphy; even if they do, that's still one fewer Bidoof or Pidgey in play, which will slow down their setup.

One last card that I really enjoy is Iron Bundle. With no Escape Rope in the format, Iron Bundle is the easiest way to take advantage of an opponent's small board. For example, imagine a Charizard deck who opened with Manaphy and only got a single Charmander on the Bench on the first turn. It's easy to KO Manaphy with Cramorant, but you'd rather target the lone Charmander. Prime Catcher is one way to do it, but it's not easy to find and you'd rather keep it for the late game if possible. Instead, Iron Bundle allows you to bring Charmander active at a much lower cost.

Iron Bundle can also be useful in the late game, in situations where you can win the game by Knocking Out any Pokémon except the Active. For example, imagine you have two Prizes left against an ArcTina deck that has an Active Arceus VSTAR with a Mist Energy, and a board with Arceus V, Giratina VSTAR, Bibarel and Skwovet. You can either power up Roaring Moon ex to KO Arceus V or Giratina VSTAR, or Iron Hands ex to KO Bibarel or Skwovet, taking your last two Prizes in either case. The only Pokémon that you can't deal with is the Active Arceus VSTAR, and Iron Bundle lets you send it back to the Bench.

Also, Iron Bundle is a good answer to Flutter Mane, which can be a pain to deal with as it shuts off Comfey's and Cramorant's Abilities. One turn without an Active Flutter Mane can let Lost Box use multiple Flower Selecting, getting closer to the Mirage Gate threshold (after which Flutter Mane isn't a big deal anymore).

With the basics explained, I'll share my current decklist and explain its more unusual choices.

Decklist and choices

Decklist: see footnote¹

Hoopa ex: This is a Fighting-type Pokémon that uses the Darkness Energy that are already in the deck. It fits two roles: first, it is a nice answer to Iron Hands ex (no matter what deck). Most decks will be able to KO it back, although against Miraidon / Iron Hands ex, if you Lost Vacuum the Heavy Baton off an Iron Hands ex, the opponent might not have enough Energy to revenge KO your Hoopa ex on the next turn. Still, Iron Hands ex is a big threat for Lost Box, so being able to KO it in one attack is useful. Hoopa ex's second role is to counter Arceus VSTAR. It's a great card to KO an Arceus VSTAR (or anything else) after it's used Trinity Nova. Against ArcTina, there will often be situations where the opponent has multiple Arceus and a Giratina VSTAR powered up. If you can Lost Vacuum away the Maximum Belt and KO Giratina VSTAR with Hoopa ex, the ArcTina player will generally not be able to answer it, and you can take another two Prizes with it on the next turn.

2 Roxanne: It might be a little redundant to play two copies of Roxanne, but it gives you more flexibility. Roxanne is a card that often ends up in the Lost Zone since it's unplayable for most of the game, and you need other cards more. Having two copies lets you keep one to disrupt the opponent. It allows for comebacks, especially combined with, for example, Lost Mine on a Bibarel.

2 PokéStop, 1 Artazon: Most Lost Box decklists I've seen don't play PokéStop, and I'm convinced they're wrong. Artazon is a decent search card, but PokéStop is a fantastic Stadium to draw cards and advance your game plan, especially now that Gust effects are Item-based and can't be discarded by PokéStop. Yes, the card was initially only played in Kyogre lists, but plenty of other Lost Box variants have used it successfully since then.

I also want to point out that Stadiums are less ubiquitous after rotation. Without Path to the Peak to counter, many decks don't really need to play multiple Stadium cards. Most Charizard decks run only one Collapsed Stadium, Chien-Pao ex can decrease their PokéStop count to three or even two, many Giratina decks only run one Stadium, etc. This means that PokéStop is much likely to stay in play for multiple turns, giving it great value (compare with Artazon, where having it in play all game yields diminishing returns because after a point, there's not much to grab with it). Having PokéStop in play also makes Lost Box much less vulnerable to a late-game Iono or Roxanne.

Lastly, the fact that there's generally fewer Stadiums in decks means that Roaring Moon ex's Calamitous Slash is harder to use, which is why I want to run three Stadiums in this list.

2 Lost Vacuum: Lost Vacuum combines very well with PokéStop. PokéStop finds Lost Vacuum, and Lost Vacuum can, if necessary, be used on PokéStop to add two cards to the Lost Zone. This kind of combination can be very helpful to get to seven cards in the Lost Zone on turn 2 in order to use Moonlight Shuriken or Calamitous Slash. Beyond that, I've found that there are a lot of relevant targets for Lost Vacuum in this format: Heavy Baton on Iron Hands ex, Maximum Belt on Arceus VSTAR, Rescue Board on Comfey, annoying Stadiums like Pokémon League Headquarters and Lost City, etc.

4 Super Rod, Pokégear 3.0, Pal Pad: All these cards are good additions in Lost Box in general, but they make even more sense in a PokéStop build. Super Rod ensures that you never run out of attackers and Energy (remember, you can use Concealed Cards every turn, there's no Stadium to stop you), and Pal Pad recovers discard Supporters. Pokégear 3.0 is cuttable, but I like having one more way to find a Supporter card.

Other options

Obviously, this decklist is still a work in progress, and it will likely evolve again in the upcoming weeks. I want to discuss some other options for Lost Box.

Raikou V + Forest Seal Stone: I was running this combination at first. Raikou V is a decent attacker that hits some relevant Pokémon for Weakness (Pidgeot ex, Lugia VSTAR), and Forest Seal Stone can be used to search out any card.

Why I'm not playing it: I've found Raikou V to not be very useful overall. It's frail and is very rarely the best attacker. Even against Lightning-weak attackers, Iron Hands ex can usually fill its role with Arm Press if needed. Forest Seal Stone with only one Pokémon to attach it to (that you don't want in play in most matchups) was also very underwhelming. Unfortunately, other relevant Pokémon V like Dragonite V and Galarian Moltres V rotated, so it's hard to make Forest Seal Stone relevant. When I switched to a PokéStop build, I felt like Forest Seal Stone was even more likely to get discarded, so I cut it, and Raikou V followed soon afterwards.

Manaphy: Great tech card against anything that can attack with Radiant Greninja. It's also the only Pokémon in the deck, besides Comfey, that can be grabbed with Buddy-Buddy Poffin.

Why I'm not playing it: In theory, you can KO Radiant Greninja back with Iron Hands ex for two Prizes, which deters the opponent from attacking with it. You can also play around Moonlight Shuriken to a certain extent by having only one Comfey in play. These are not fantastic reasons, and maybe Manaphy should be added to the deck if Chien-Pao ex / Baxcalibur is popular.

Boss's Orders: A good card that can be recovered with Pal Pad if it gets discarded or played. Lost Box decks need to take Prizes every turn, and Boss's Orders can bring an easy target Active for whichever attacker is best suited to it.

Why I'm not playing it: It's hard to find a turn to play Boss's Orders, as Colress's Experiment is much more important for most of the game and Roxanne is usually preferred in the late game. Counter Catcher, Prime Catcher, Iron Bundle and Sableye generally provide a good amount of ways to deal with opposing Benched Pokémon.

Mew ex: A card with great attributes. It can be used to OHKO Giratina VSTAR, Charizard ex (if they only have one Prize left) and Great Tusk. Its versatility makes it valuable in all sorts of scenarios.

Why I'm not playing it: Honestly? I haven't tested it yet. I don't think it's needed for Charizard, and I haven't tested against Giratina or Great Tusk yet. That said, in theory, Mew ex is probably the key to the Great Tusk matchup, so there's a decent chance it finds its way to the list at some point. I do want to point out though, that the more Pokémon ex (or V) are added to the deck, the higher the odds of a bad start, so you should always consider carefully if the value of one more attacker outweighs the risk of opening with it rather than Comfey.

TM Crisis Punch (and possibly 2nd Cramorant): Crisis Punch is an excellent attack that can find a lot of uses in the post-rotation meta, since Pokémon VSTAR with at most 280 HP (Arceus, Lugia, Giratina, and I'm sure Palkia will find its way to relevance at some point as it always does) are common, and they can be hard to deal with otherwise.

Why I'm not playing it: PokéStop makes running Pokémon Tools harder, especially ones that we don't really want to draw for most of the game. If there's one reason to reconsider running PokéStop, I think it's Crisis Punch, but overall, the value of PokéStop seems too good to pass on.

Conclusion

Lost Box is a great deck with lots of options, and even if you don't plan on playing it, you should be prepared for it. There are good news for you if you're a Comfey hater, though: Lost Box has some new weaknesses that various decks can exploit. Flutter Mane slows down the game while also (unlike Klefki) being able to attack for significant damage. A well-timed Eri is also very dangerous if it discards key cards like Mirage Gate. Also, with the amount of one-of Pokémon in the deck, Lost City can be very damaging to Lost Box. Will Charizard and other decks run these techs? We'll have to see, as the meta is wide open and there are many different decks to prepare for.

Thanks for reading -- it's good to be writing again. If you have any comments about this article, please let me know so I can take them into account for the next one!

Stéphane

1. Pokémon (11)

4 Comfey LOR 79

1 Radiant Greninja ASR 46

1 Cramorant LOR 50

1 Sableye LOR 70

1 Iron Bundle PAR 56

1 Iron Hands ex PAR 70

1 Roaring Moon ex PAR 124

1 Hoopa ex PAR 98

Trainer (39)

4 Colress's Experiment LOR 155

2 Roxanne ASR 150

4 Mirage Gate LOR 163

4 Nest Ball PAF 84

3 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144

1 Hisuian Heavy Ball ASR 146

4 Switch Cart ASR 154

3 Switch SVI 194

4 Super Rod PAL 188

2 Lost Vacuum LOR 162

1 Pokégear 3.0 SVI 186

1 Pal Pad SVI 182

1 Counter Catcher PAR 160

1 Prime Catcher TEF 157

1 Rescue Board TEF 159

2 PokéStop PGO 68

1 Artazon PAF 76

Energy (10)

3 Darkness Energy SVE 7

3 Water Energy SVE 3

2 Lightning Energy SVE 4

2 Psychic Energy SVE 5