As a follow up to my Eternatus VMAX Standard deck profile, I feel compelled to share my Expanded list. If you thought Eternatus was fast in Standard, then you haven’t seen anything yet! This list has many common counters but when left unchecked, you can punch right through your opponents.
Expanded is an extremely kind format for lovers of Dark Pokemon. So much so that almost every card shares an intrinsic synergy with the rest of the deck. Let’s dive into specific cards.
Here I am experimenting with a 3-3 line rather than a traditional 4-4 line. The main reason is space, but also since this deck is much faster and more consistent than its Standard counterpart, I feel confident cutting this line down. Additionally, Expanded lets us play the best ball search in the game – Ultra Ball which can directly search for the VMAX.
Some veteran Expanded players might question my decision to include 4 Crobat since we run Sycamore with VS Seeker, but I wanted to experiment with a count that allowed me to extend my reach into the deck. 4 copies of Crobat V gives me that added security, particularly for the Darkrai-GX/ Hypnotoxic Laser combo I will discuss later.
For fans of the older Turbo Dark builds, you might have already noticed that this list does not play any Dark Patches. Unlike previous iterations of this archetype, the “Turbo” is no longer based in the amount of energy on board. Instead, the focus has shifted to the number of Pokemon in play. For that reason, I have opted to play a high count of the recurring Darkrai-GX and a single copy of Moltres V. While Darkrai-GX has a clear role in filling the bench, the energy recurring Moltres V might seem like a strange pick. My reasoning is that both are excellent energy switch targets. The only problem is that after Darkrai-GX comes back with an energy (which you can Energy Switch to an Eternatus) you must rely on Moltres V to provide a more constant supply. In other words, from an energy management perspective, Darkrai-GX is a single use vs the multi use Galarian Moltres V.
Beyond its usefulness in filling your bench, Darkrai-GX serves yet another important purpose in the deck: Its GX attack when combined with Hypnotoxic Laser can knockout any Pokemon in the game! What’s even more exciting in this build is that with Galarian Moltres V (which compels the addition of energy switch), this 3 energy attack actually becomes more consistent.
Consider the following situation: your opponent develops a VMAX Pokemon and begins to attack your Eternatus VMAX. Instead of opting to trade blows, you can revive a Darkrai-GX with an energy attached, manually attach the second and energy switch the third off Moltres. With that sequence, simply finish the turn by playing Hypnotoxic Laser and declaring your GX attack. You will take a guaranteed knockout whilst threatening a follow up with Darkrai-GX’s main attack.
In my previous Standard Eternatus VMAX deck profile, I mentioned how Zigzagoon and Liepard V are excellent tools to help with the ADP matchup. If you read my other ADPZ Expanded deck profile, you will see that it is a similarly popular archetype in Expanded. Thus, we continue to play these options but with even more targets, especially for Liepard V. Darkrai-EX gives us the much needed flexibility in terms of free retreat and saving deck space that would otherwise be occupied with Float Stone.
The trainer choice for this build is relatively straight forward. I touched upon some of them already but I will reiterate them here with more detail.
This deck aims to be very aggressive in both its attacks but its setup. Playing 4 copies of Professor Sycamore will allow you to consistently access the contents of your deck. Guzma on the other hand is simply a mandatory inclusion in any Expanded deck and 2 copies is sufficient, especially when the list runs 4 VS Seeker.
I am admittedly unsure about the correct count for these 2 cards. I am tempted to shift towards 3 Battle Compressors and 2 Lasers. However, each subsequent copy of Battle Compressor played becomes less useful. Your first instance of Battle Compressor will be to discard as many Darkrai-GX as possible and a key supporter that you wish to access in the early game. The second copy is immediately less useful because at best, it will send a few Dark energies to the discard and thin your deck out a bit. But with 4 Crobat V, Sycamore, and Ultra Ball, your ability to access your deck should not be an issue.
On the other hand, Hypnotoxic Laser is a critical piece in the Darkrai-GX combo. Playing it at 3 copies makes this combo much more likely to happen at critical moments. Furthermore, this card is actually useful by itself. I have played many games where I flipped heads on sleep, forcing them to actually pass the turn. Considering a single Zigzagoon can make ADP a reachable knockout, the same can be said for Hypnotoxic Laser.
Eternatus VMAX’s ability allows this deck to finally commit to a different stadium than Sky Field. Traditional “Turbo Dark” builds included Sky Field to allow you more space to revive Darkrai-GX each turn but also provide the space needed to use draw support Pokemon. Chaotic Swell finally allows us to achieve added Stadium security.
This is a flexible spot in the deck. This list only runs 9 basic energies so your odds of hitting an energy off Max Elixir are decent but not great. I included them in the list because if they do land, this deck really feels like its on fire. I will leave it to you the audience to determine its worth in the deck. What I recommend instead for those that want to see more consistency is a 4th Energy switch and additional 1-1 line of Eternatus to maximize your odds of developing the VMAX on turn 2.
The Turbo Dark archetype has been an expanded fan favorite for years. Till now, the focus has been accelerating energies and using attackers like Greninja & Zoroark Tag Team GX to secure big one hit knockouts. The Expanded format meta-game nowadays is starting to form around VMAX Pokemon with 300+ HP ceilings. The old Turbo Dark builds hit numbers in the 200-300 range allowing it to one shot the threats of those days. These days, those numbers are actually 2-shot numbers against VMAX Pokemon. Thus, why not switch to Eternatus VMAX and hide behind a higher HP number (especially if it’s the same prize card value)? Furthermore, Eternatus VMAX’s damage is much easier to maintain. I challenge my readers to give this list a shot! While it may be easily countered by certain cards (like Roadblock Sudowoodo), they aren’t very prevalent in the meta right now. What better time to play Eternatus VMAX than now?
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The expanded format has an incredibly diverse meta-game and it can be daunting to find a competitive deck. One of the more difficult things to understand is the meta-game itself. This boils down to not just to which decks are the most successful, but also which cards are the most impactful. This latter point is something that players might not tune into and can reveal an overall weakness that you can exploit. An example that I will focus on in this article is the prevalence of Dedenne-GX and Crobat V in virtually all competitive lists.
Enter the Kung-Fu Panda. Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX is a new addition to the expanded meta-game following the release of Sword and Shield: Battle Styles. This deck aims to target commonly played fighting-weak support Pokemon, like Dedenne-GX and Crobat V, on your opponent’s bench. For fans of Fighting type Pokemon, Urshifu VMAX is probably the best option printed since Buzzwole GX back in the Sun and Moon: Crimson Invasion. With two powerful attacks and being a Fighting type, this
archetype can quickly decimate your opponent’s boards. Let us examine a strategy that I have found success with.
Both the V and VMAX forms of Urshifu play a key role in this list. It is quite important to develop Urshifu VMAX as soon as possible so we play the V at four copies. Often, you will start with Urshifu V in the active spot. The strafe attack allows it to switch places with a Pokemon on your Bench. A powerful target for this effect is Wobbuffet with the Bide Barricade ability. Going second, a Strafe into Wobbuffet can potentially shut down your opponent’s next turn. Immediately after, you can then capitalize on your opponent’s lack of setup by delivering quick KO’s with Urshifu VMAX. This is particularly useful against decks like Pikachu & Zekrom, Eternatus VMAX, Zoroark-GX, and others where Abilities are central to the archetype.
Urshifu VMAX is your main attacker in the deck. At first glance, its attacks are not very damaging. Urshifu’s strongest attack can hit for up to 150 damage; this is 3-shot territory when considering the HP of VMAX Pokemon. However, the Fighting type has some of the best damage modifications in the game. Those modifications allow Urshifu to two-shot most VMAX Pokemon, and in some cases one-shot.
This cast of support Pokemon provides the right amount of protection against other competitive decks. Diancie Prism is a staple Fighting Pokemon because it boosts your damage before weakness/resistance by 20. While modest, the math works perfectly when targeting support Pokemon like Tapu Lele whose 170HP becomes within reach of Urshifu’s first attack. Sudowoodo will help stall the setup of aggressive strategies like Eternatus VMAX, Turbo Dark and other decks that require adequate bench space to pull of their full combo. This is particularly useful against decks that play Sky Field. Jirachi-GX is a very neat tech in this deck as it removes the Psychic weakness of Urshifu. This can be particularly devastating for decks like Mewtwo & Mew Tag Team variants who can’t quite take down a full HP Urshifu VMAX in one turn.
This build of Urshifu VMAX is most distinguishable by the Supporters it plays. Here, instead of using the new Rapid Strike Octillery engine, I opted to use an old but powerful Fighting-type-focused supporter: Korrina.
I like Korrina over Octillery for many reasons, mainly because I can develop more routes into my deck. Korrina can search any fighting Pokemon and an additional Trainer card. This can be anything, ranging from Quick Balls to Float Stones. This kind of flexibility allows me to play the game with a modular mindset; I can adapt to situations as they develop. For example, with Korrina, you can search 1 Urshifu V/VMAX + 1 Quick Ball. Here you can immediately develop Urshifu which you need in the early game and use the Quick Ball to search for a Dedenne-GX or Crobat V to refresh your hand. In the late game, Korrina can also help you pick out any item card in your deck including Float stone, VS Seeker, Target Whistle etc.
Guzma is the bread and butter of this deck. Not only does it allow you to access your opponent’s bench, it also satisfies the condition for added damage for Urshifu’s first attack. At full strength, Urshifu VMAX can deal 190 damage to a single Pokemon with just 1 energy and a Guzma. If they are weak to fighting, 380 damage is guaranteed to knock them out.
Since Urshifu doesn’t necessarily one-shot many targets, we run a single copy of Acerola to sustain our board state. Consider the situation where you use Urshifu VMAX to deal 190 to your opponent’s active VMAX Pokemon. They return with their own damaging attack. Provided you have another Urshifu VMAX, you can use Acerola to completely heal all that damage, promote your Benched Urshifu VMAX and attach the energy you picked up to deal another 190 for knockout. In this scenario, Acerola nullifies your opponent’s last turn.
Here, we arrive at what I consider the core of the deck. These two item cards (remember, both are easily searchable with Korrina) can decimate your opponents in just a few turns. Urshifu VMAX’s second attack does not seem too powerful at first glance; but what if you could apply weakness to benched Pokemon? Consider the fact that almost every deck plays Dedenne GX and Crobat V. With wide lens, you can deal 240 damage to 2 benched targets with GMAX Rapid Flow. This itself can result in a
multi-prize (and potentially game-winning) turn.
The most extreme example of a multi prize turn can be found against Pikachu & Zekrom decks. Imagine they have a singe benched Pikachu & Zekrom. You use Target Whistle to bring out another Pikachu & Zekrom. A single attack with GMAX Rapid Flow would deal 240 damage to each, netting you a total of 6 prizes in one turn.
A more realistic win condition might look like this: Your opponent plays a Dedenne-GX in their opening turn. You knock it out with Gale Thrust. To continue their set-up, they play another Dedenne-GX or Crobat V. You activate Target Whistle to bring back the previously knocked out Dedenne-GX, attach Wide Lens and use GMAX Rapid Flow targeting the two. You take your remaining four prize cards and win the game.
These are each extremely powerful in their own way but have special synergy with Urshifu VMAX. I’ll go over some mock scenarios to highlight ways in which they are useful.
Max Potion – Urshifu’s attacks costs are extremely low. Gale Thrust is a 1 energy attack. In the same way we use Acerola to nullify your opponent’s attacks against Urshifu, you can save yourself from using a supporter with Max Potion. Simple reattach another energy, play Guzma, and retreat back into Urshifu VMAX to deliver Gale Thrust again.
Escape Rope – my favorite use of Escape Rope is when my opponent has a damaged 3-prize Pokemon with 120 or less HP remaining. This is often the case in the early game when you exchange attacks with your opponent. While saving yourself from using a supporter, Escape Rope can forcibly bench their damaged Pokemon. Typically, your opponent’s bench will also have a Dedenne or Crobat from a previous setup turn. Simply attach a Wide Lens and launch GMAX Rapid Flow to knockout both targets for roughly 5 prizes.
Field Blower – Consider the situation I described above. Your opponent is forced to switch something into the active zone. They may choose a Pokemon with a Float Stone attached. This provides them with the possibility to freely retreat into their main attacker; or if it is knocked out, they can just promote their main attacker likewise. You can use Field Blower to discard their Float Stone and trap that Pokemon in the active spot.
Enhanced Hammer – with all the special energy decks around, Enhanced Hammer felt like a necessary inclusion in the list. Often, you may have the opportunity to knockout a Pokemon but your opponent has another attacker partially set-up on their bench. Unanswered, they could continue to attach energies to it and threaten a revenge knockout. You can use Enhanced Hammer to remove those energies to discourage a retaliatory attack. You would be surprised by how many times your opponent simply passes the turn back to you simply because they are 1 energy short.
While this article focuses on the powerful synergies between Wide Lens and GMAX Rapid Flow, Urshifu VMAX can hold its own without it. A constant barrage of Gale Thrust and Guzma can, in many cases, completely stop your opponent from developing anything meaningful.
Often, I use GMAX Rapid Flow to knockout single prize Pokemon that represent key pieces for my opponent (e.g. Zorua, Mincinno, Remoraid, Diancie Prism, Tapu Koko Prism, Ditto Prism). This kind of early game disruption is not easily answerable. Also, Target Whistle in this deck alongside 4 copies of Guzma can make for some depressing games for your opponent. If your opponent plays a multi-prize, fighting-weak Pokemon, they will often discard it. You can exploit that with Target Whistle and knock it out to immediately gain a prize card advantage or even close out a game.
Excitingly, this archetype also gains even more support with the release of Chilling Reign. The new
Passimian boosts your damage done to benched Pokemon V and GX by Rapid Strike Pokemon allowing you to further exploit your Wide Lens combos. For fans of the Rapid Strike Octillery engine, Echoing Horn is an exact copy of Target Whistle except it has the Rapid Strike Tag. This allows you to search it at any time from your deck with Octillery.
To conclude, Urshifu VMAX is an archetype that highlights how you can be successful by targeting a specific aspect of the meta-game rather than specific archetypes. The current reliance on fighting-weak support Pokemon is already balanced by making them two-prize liabilities, but they usually hide on the bench and are targeted one at a time. Hopefully I have convinced you that this paradigm can be broken and form a win-condition entirely.
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One of the fundamental strengths of a good deck is consistency. This is what made Zoroark-GX such a dominant archetype in both Standard and Expanded meta-games. The consistency enabled by the “Trade” ability gave players the feeling that their games would be rather stereotypical, even in best-of-1 environments.
Today, Zoroark has struggled to stay relevant in the top levels of competitive gameplay but every now and then a variant breaks through. I will go over a list that manages to completely ignore recent and possibly future power creep and seriously give Zoroark-GX a fighting chance in the meta-game.
Historically, Zoroark-GX served as both the main attacker and draw engine. With Sky Field active, Zoroark-GX with a Choice Band threatened 210 damage, where 210 was about the highest HP Pokemon you would encounter. Nowadays, Zoroark-GX takes a backseat role in terms of attacks since it will not be one shotting your opponents Tag Team nor VMAX Pokemon. Instead, Zoroark-GX will use its Trade ability to set up the Raticate one-shot combo.
Raticate’s attack for three colorless energy (provided by Triple Acceleration Energy) will place damage counters on your opponent’s Pokemon until they have just 10HP remaining. While the attack itself does not fully knockout your opponents Pokemon, you can precede your attack by playing Hypnotoxic Laser. In effect, you opponent will become Poisoned and take 10 damage in between turns. With Raticate’s Super Fang attack, the remaining 10HP will be dealt via poison damage which is a one-shot knockout combo. All you must do is repeat this combo to close out the game and win.
Exeggcute is another key component of this strategy. Zoroark’s ability requires you to discard a card in order to draw two cards. When Exeggcute is discarded by Zoroark’s ability, its own Propagation ability allows you to return it to your own hand. What this means is that anytime you need to discard a card for any card effect or ability, Exeggcute makes it free. This includes discarding cards with Ultra Ball. Using this synergy will allow to conserve all resources in your deck without having to compromise for additional draw.
Finally, one copy of Ditto Prism is necessary as it will allow a more consistent setup of both your Zoroark and Raticate lines.
This ratio of support Pokemon is what I have found much success with. We run many single copies of supporter cards and while Zoroark may be able to use Trade to draw into them, sometimes immediate access is necessary. Playing two copies of Tapu Lele-GX buffs your deck with added consistency when you want to search for specific supporters. Similarly, during your early turns where Zoroark-GX is not in play, we rely on Dedenne-GX and Crobat-GX to draw additional cards. They become less useful in the late game so we only play one copy each.
These Pokemon are your techs against the current expanded meta-game and significantly improve your odds of surviving your opponent’s attacks. Sudowoodo’s Bench Barrier ability makes it one of the most popular Expanded meta-game answers to decks like Eternatus VMAX, Turbo Dark, and even opposing Zoroark-GX Decks. Denying your opponents bench space while having an extended one yourself (via Sky Field) often hinders both your opponent’s ability to set up their board and mitigate their overall damage output. This is especially the case when facing decks like Eternatus VMAX.
In match-ups where your opponent threatens your bench, this can significantly hinder your ability to develop Raticates. In particular, Pikachu & Zekrom and Garchomp & Giratina Tag Deam decks are notorious for being able to clear threats rather easily on their opponent’s bench. Mew serves as a single prize buffer between these threats and can often buy you the single turn you need to safely pump out Raticate and access your one-shot combo.
This is a brand new Pokemon V that has already been making waves in the current Standard Format. For two colorless energies, Libra Horn (like Super Fang) is an attack that places damage counters on your opponent’s active Pokemon – until they have 100HP remaining. This may seem less useful than Raticate’s attack but consider this: Raticate involves a multi card combo that can often be difficult to assemble even with the tremendous draw power of Zoroark-GX. Rapidash can close out a game simply by offering itself as a two prize bait after it uses Libra Horn on a three prize Pokemon. You simply clean up the remaining HP with Zoroark-GX’s Riotous Beating. The inclusion of Galarian Rapidash V simply allows for a more consistent path to victory.
This deck runs eight unique supporters. This may seem completely random and inconsistent. However, Zoroark-GX with four copies of VS Seeker allows you to access any one of them rather conveniently throughout the game.
These are your main draw supporters. Colress is particularly useful when you and your opponent have capitalized on Sky Field. Colress can draw yourself up to sixteen cards.
N and Marnie together provide the much-needed hand disruption this deck needs to survive. Before Marnie, N was the main form of hand disruption. In the late game, when your opponent has 1 prize card remaining, N is a fantastic supporter to significantly disrupt your opponents ability to access game-ending pieces.
However, N has it’s downsides. For one, using an emergency N in the early game can sometimes help your opponent. You never know when your opponent also has a bad hand and using N can seriously help them. Marnie offers an alternate route to disruption. An early Marnie, unlike N, does not refresh your opponent with a six card hand. Instead, Marnie resembles the now banned Marshadow with the Let Loose ability. This forces your opponent to start with a four card hand while refreshing your own can often win you the game.
Guzma deserves little explanation. It allows your to take down threats on your opponent’s bench, often used to close out a game. In other scenarios, a well timed Guzma can trap a Pokemon in the active spot forcing your opponent to commit resources to retreat it.
In my play-testing, these are cards that are constantly useful. Guzma & Hala has the ability to search any energy in the deck, a Float Stone and the Sky Field. All of which are key consistency cards that are often required in your early game set up. During the late game, Guzma & Hala can be used simply to search out that Triple Acceleration Energy you’re digging for to close out the game with Raticate.
Professor’s Elm’s Lecture is, in my opinion, better than Bridgette. Both options are used to search out a Raticate, Zorua and Ditto Prism during your early turn setup, but Elm lets you search the Exeggcutes into hand. This added flexibility makes me prefer Elm of Bridgette.
Red’s Challenge is the exact same as Computer Search, except it’s a supporter. Its inclusion in the deck and essentially free cost when used with Exeggcute basically means that this deck runs two Ace Specs.
Pokemon Breeder’s Nurturing is a spicy little inclusion in the list because it can often save you resources and kick start your early game. Immediately evolving Pokemon from your deck not only saves you the time and energy you would otherwise spend to search those cards out, it also provides a nice boost to consistency. Consider a scenario where you really need to evolve a Pokemon but you don’t have a reliable route into your deck. Instead, you can use Breeder to solve that problem.
The two item cards that deserve an explanation are Target Whistle and Great Catcher. Zoroark-GX decks often arrive at the late game with 12+ cards in their hand. Chances are, you will be holding onto these cards as you attempt to take the last 2-3 prizes. Your opponent will probably recognize this and try to not develop any game-ending liabilities on their bench. You can bypass this by bringing back a previously multi-prize basic Pokémon onto their bench and target it with Great Catcher and knocking it out to win. With Dowsing Machine, even if you lose either of these pieces, you can recover them during the late game.
Zoroark-GX in general is a rather difficult deck to pilot. It involves several micro-decisions and sequences that need to be executed perfectly. Despite this, Zoroark-GX paired with Raticate is a surprisingly consistent strategy that has the capability to take down some of the top threats in the Expanded meta-game. Furthermore, the overall cost of the deck (compared to others) is rather low. This archetype would make for an excellent competitive investment that has the ability to stay competitively relevant for years to come; no matter how high Pokemon HP’s become in the future.
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Perhaps the most infamous Pokemon card to ever be printed is Arceus, Dialga & Palkia Tag Team GX or ADP for short. For some, playing the deck means you love torturing your opponents with a despised archetype and/or are just capitalizing on the most powerful strategies in the meta-game.
The two energy Altered Creation GX attack is one of the most powerful attacks in the entire game to date. Once resolved, you can take an extra prize card per knockout and all your Pokemon have their attack’s damage increased by 30, which is nothing short of a monstrous buff. This has led to faster games and even saltier losses (“What do you mean I lost because you KO’d two of my Dedenne-GX!?”).
For those reasons, its existence in the competitive meta-game has been a topic of fierce division, particularly in the Standard format. Games with ADPZ seem to ignore your entire deck’s strategy/identity by punishing you for playing universally used/required two-prize support Pokemon like Crobat V and Dedenne-GX. But what about in Expanded?
Ironically, despite the clear power it has in the Standard Format, ADP does not hold the same meta share in Pokemon’s alternate competitive format, nor the same degree of “gatekeeping” against single prize decks. This is largely due to the robust buffering effect of the Expanded legal card pool. Cards like Pokemon Ranger (a card usually considered to be a ‘bulk box’ trainer) and Pyroar are few among a long list of techs that answer a turn 1 Altered Creation, but also serve other niche uses without interfering too much with deck consistency. This then begs the question: Is ADP Zacian a good deck in Expanded?
The simple answer is that ADP Zacian is indeed an incredibly powerful deck in Expanded and you will usually see a few in the top cut of almost every major Expanded tournament. While it might not always win a tournament, players still view it as an extremely safe pick to top a tournament with. Let’s look at a typical list to find out what makes it so successful.
2 Arceus & Dialga & Palkia
3 Zacian V
1 Cobalion GX or 1 Mawile GX
ADP is played at two copies to ensure that you will have ample opportunities to pull off a turn one Altered Creation Attack. Once resolved, ADP is far from useless. Ultimate Ray is another insanely powerful attack that does 150 damage and accelerates 3 energies of your choice from your deck. Keep in mind that after Altered Creation, Ultimate Ray does 180 damage in total and possibly 210 with a Choice Band or 200 with a Muscle Band. With these numbers, you are not only able to immediately set-up a benched Zacian V with 3 energies from deck, you are also able to knockout many Pokemon GX and V for an immediate 3 prize advantage.
Now with three energies attached, Zacian V has one of the highest damage three energy attacks on a basic Pokemon. With Altered Creation, Brave Blade does 230+30 damage. Toss a Muscle Band or Choice band onto that and you’re now reaching 280-290 – this is one shot territory for Tag Team Pokemon.
Cobalion GX is something that I have found success with. There are a handful of annoying status conditions that can affect your ADP and Zacian, preventing them from attacking and slowing down your game plan. Cobalion’s ability allows you to protect your Pokemon with metal energies attached giving you an added layer of protection. Furthermore, Cobalion’s attack can also serve as a damaging attack. Consider this: with Altered Creation and a Choice Band, Cobalion can hit 170 damage – enough to knockout a Tapu Lele GX for 3 prizes.
If you’re not a fan of Cobalion, consider Mawile GX. Often times, your opponent will recognize that playing a Dedenne GX, Crobat V or Tapu Lele GX will become a 3 prize liability on their bench and hold it in their hands, out of reach from your attackers. Mawile GX has the ability to force them onto your opponent’s bench, making them easy targets to pick off.
4 Professor Sycamore
4 Guzma
2 Guzma & Hala
For many decks, this might seem like a very high number of supporters in a format that has VS Seeker. You often see these many copies of these because the deck does not plan to play past turn three or four. Thus, VS Seeker can be a dead card in many situations, especially when you desperately want to access your first copy of Guzma in the game.
Four copies of Sycamore and Guzma will allow you to reliably access their effects in the early turns of the game and give you a sense of comfort knowing that during the mid game, you will have ample opportunity to see additional copies, making your deck perform extremely consistently.
Finally, to bridge the gap between all the pieces that are required to pull of your turn one Altered Creation, two copies of Guzma & Hala are included. This Tag Team Supporter allows you to pull a Double Dragon Energy, Tool, and Stadium from your deck. Seeing this in your opening hand is extremely favorable.
4 Trainers’ Mail
4 Metal Saucer
3 Max Elixir
3 Tag Call
1 Great Catcher
1 Target Whistle
As if it wasn’t already easy to setup multiple attackers with Ultimate Ray, Expanded gifts ADPZ with the most powerful energy acceleration items in the game. Metal Saucer is particularly versatile as you can use it to re-establish an attacker after losing one. To improve your consistency and card access, 4 Trainers’ Mail are in my opinion pseudo-mandatory in the deck. In a deck that typically accesses its resources consistently, Trainers’ Mail extends your reach that much more.
To complement this even further, play 3 copies of Tag Call. I mentioned how incredibly useful Guzma & Hala is above, and since it has a Tag Team tag, it can be the target of a Tag Call search alongside ADP. In effect, a single copy of Tag Call can route into 4 cards in your deck.
The ADP Zacian game plan is not a particularly hidden or malleable concept. It typically follows a rigid sequence of Altered Creation to KO to KO, where each KO is against a two prize Pokémon which you will take three prizes for. You may find your opponent actively starving you of two prize Pokemon to attack by discarding them out of their hand or on their bench.
Target Whistle can force your opponent to bench a Dedenne from their discard that can subsequently be the target of Guzma or Great Catcher. In fact, you can KO 1 Dedenne for 3 prizes, then follow it up with a Target Whistle to get Great Catcher sequence to KO the same Dedenne and close out the game. Insane, right?
With the release of Chilling Reigns on the horizon, you may be wondering if it will affect ADPZ’s postion in the meta-game but I think it is relatively safe. Keep in mind, Fairy Pokemon have been discontinued, so there is a finite list of fairy type Pokemon that can KO ADP before it gets to use Altered Creation. VMAX Pokemon with HP totals higher than 300 have been a problem for ADPZ but then again, two shotting a VMAX pokemon nets you 4 prizes which is not a bad trade.
Furthermore, VMAX Pokemon must evolve on top of two prize Pokemon V. And lastly, most decks still run Dedenne, Crobat and Tapu Lele. So long as your selection of prey remains constant, ADPZ will also be in a position to capitalize.
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