2016 Italian National Championship

Dates: 
Location:
Attendance:
Format: Standard BLW-FAC

This was the first major tournament to feature Fates Collide as a legal set.

Top 8 final standings
  1. Kevin Ponthieux, Trevenant BREAK/Wobbuffet/Bursting Balloon/Weakness Policy/Eco Arm
  2. Simone Zucchelli, MetalBox
  3. Nicolò Castignoli, Greninja BREAK
  4. Simone Soldo, Greninja BREAK/Hard Charm
  5. Riccardo Maganza, Greninja BREAK/Hard Charm
  6. Simone Canziani, Yveltal/Vespiquen
  7. Vincenzo Gerardi, WaterBox
  8. Gianluca Cipriano, Night March/Vespiquen

Decklists and analysis
View Top 8 decklists on Pokemon.com

Streamed matches

Top 4: Kevin Ponthieux (Trevenant BREAK) vs. Nicolò Castignoli (Greninja BREAK) watch

Top 4: Simone Soldo (Greninja BREAK) vs. Simone Zucchelli (MetalBox) watch

FINAL: Kevin Ponthieux (Trevenant BREAK) vs. Simone Zucchelli (MetalBox) watch

Notable decks and techs
  • Four new cards from Fates Collide made an immediate impact on the meta. Three of them - Genesect-EX, Bronzong, and Bronzong BREAK - were clearly meant to revive the MetalBox archetype with Aegislash-EX and Bronzong PHF, and found their way to a second place finish in Simone Zucchelli's deck. Genesect-EX and Bronzong BREAK serve as strong attackers with Bronzong PHF; the 1-of Bronzong FCO protects against attacks such as Trevenant BREAK's Silent Fear and Greninja BREAK's Shadow Stiching. 
  • All three Greninja BREAK decks in Top 8 played at least 1 copy of Jirachi XY67 (Castignoli and Maganza played 2). Hard Charm was the Tool of choice for Soldo and Maganza, effectively giving Greninja BREAK 190 HP as a one-Prize attacker; Castignoli took a more aggressive approach with Bursting Balloon
  • An unusual combo at first sight, Simone Canziani's Yveltal/Vespiquen deck was actually a genius choice for the metagame. Yveltal-EX could hit Trevenant for Weakness while Vespiquen could hit Greninja, and Jirachi XY67 offered a solid Night March counter.

Trivia
  • There were three players named Simone in Top 8...

More links