Pokémon fans know to look forward to the franchise’s anniversary years, not only because it’s a wonderful time to celebrate the continuing evolution of the beloved series, but because the anniversaries always bring with them a slew of reveals and surprises. 2021 marks the 25th anniversary, and while this year’s festivities have been understandably muted, let’s look back at the celebration that marked the 10th anniversary: the Journey Across America.
The Pokémon 10th Anniversary Journey Across America was exactly as it sounds: a 24-stop tour at different American malls. It started on February 25th in Miami, Florida, then moved westward across the country, then wrapped back around through the Mid-West, finally culminating in New York City on July 22nd.
The mall pop-ups were a bonafide dream for any young Pokémon fan. They consisted of a video game section to play Generation 3 Pokémon on Game Boy Advance, as well as Pokémon Trozei on the Nintendo DS, and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness on the GameCube. There was also a TV lounge to watch episodes of the show and a preview of the upcoming Lucario, and the Mystery of Mew movie. There were mascots to take photos with, a drawing and colouring booth, a TCG battle segment, and, of course, a merch shop.
Not only was there a giveaway to attendees (an exclusive black star promo Pikachu card with the 10th Anniversary logo emblazoned on it), but video game fans could also receive any of 20 Pokémon distributions. They mostly consisted of legendaries and starters, but what’s a Pokémon anniversary without yet another Charizard? Alongside those 20, this was also the first opportunity for American players to receive the Mythical Pokémon Celebi for their games.
The piece de resistance of the tour were the competitive video game tournaments held in each city. Additional tournaments were held at Nintendo’s Rockefeller Plaza location, as well as the Houston Space Center, which featured a special Deoxys distribution, and a 10th anniversary branded Space Center TCG card. One winner would move on to compete in the national tournament in New York at the tail end of the tour.
On August 8th, 2006, Pokémon launched its biggest in-person celebration on American soil: The Party of the Decade.
The event was hosted at New York City’s Bryant Park. The party contained everything the individual tour stops did but turned up to 10: bigger spaces, more costumed mascots, pre-release demos of the upcoming Pokémon Ranger and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games, and a slightly modified selection of the 20 fan-voted distribution Pokémon.
WWE star Hulk Hogan was the party’s host, who claimed he was a big Pokémon fan (or at least was paid to say he was), and the massive Pikachu balloon featured in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade soared atop the park in its final appearance before being retired for an updated design. There was even a special Pikachu distribution that featured the move fly to commemorate the event.
You can see a lot of the event commemorated in this classic news report from The Associated Press:
The video game tournament national finals took place on the main stage in front of a huge crowd, with the two victors winning a trip to Tokyo. This was not only the most exciting presence Pokémon has ever had in the West, but a fitting celebration of the franchise’s first decade.
Sadly, Pokémon has never had a presence like this across North America ever since. None of the subsequent anniversaries have had such an elaborate event, and Pokémon’s one major American footprint – Pokémon Center New York – remodeled into the more generally focused Nintendo World in 2005.
One bright shimmer of days gone by has been the rise of Pokémon Go, which has kept the spirit of the Journey Across America alive by hosting a slew of in person Safari Zone and Go Fest events across the world. Our very own Montreal was even the host city to Canada’s first and only Safari Zone at Parc Jean-Drapeau back in September 2019.
Even without physical events to celebrate the occasion, this year is proving to be a phenomenal celebration of the series. We will be seeing a brand new Pokémon Snap game, not one but two exciting Pokémon role-playing games at the end of the year and the beginning of 2022, and some phenomenal card sets such as Shining Fates, Chilling Reign, and the upcoming aptly titled Celebrations set.
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The psychic-type king officially rides his trusty steed into the top levels of competitive play with the release of Chilling Reign. Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX is proving to be a serious contender for the best deck in the format, but he is accompanied by some familiar friends.
The king himself, Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX, is your first line of offense in this build. His Underworld Door ability allows you to set up your bench, drawing you extra cards along the way for some insane value. Thanks to his Max Geist attack, the more [P] energies you attach to your Pokémon, the harder Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX hits. This allows for amazing snowball potential with built-in support through Underworld Door to start building up your bench, as you dish out even more damage.
Everyone keeping up with the Pokémon TCG knows that Mewtwo & Mew-GX is a force to be reckoned with. This is because Mewtwo & Mew are granted access to all the moves learned by your other Pokémon-GX. The inclusion of these extra Pokemon-GX also gives you the option to freely discard them with cards such as Quick Ball and Professor’s Research since Mewtwo & Mew-GX can still access their attacks from the discard pile. This line of GX support allows you to play a more control-oriented play style and works around powerful threats to Pokémon-V such as Zamazenta V and Victini VMAX.
The foundation of utilities included in this archetype may seem situational, but you can consider this deck the jack-of-all trades of having just the right tool to pull out at any given moment. Dedenne-GX replenishes our hand size while discarding any of our Pokemon-GX, synergizing with the Mewtwo & Mew-GX tactic of using our discard pile to our advantage. Crobat V will accomplish the same thing, however its extra 20 HP may prove to be more crucial against decks constantly looking to damage the bench.
Galarian Zapdos V is essential in covering Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX’s weakness against Eternatus VMAX. A single Thunderous Kick attack is all it takes to take down the 340HP dark behemoth. We even throw in three copies of Aurora Energy to make sure Galarian Zapdos V has the energy it needs to pull of its signature move.
Moreover, given that Galarian Zapdos V’s special ability reduces the cost of this attack for every Pokémon-V on your opponent’s bench, Galarian Zapdos V will likely be able to cover your greatest threat with a single Aurora Energy attached. We throw in two copies of this new Zapdos’ new Galarian form just because of how important it is in beating our hardest match up in the meta.
Cresselia is the go-to starting basic Pokémon any time you find yourself going second. Its Crescent Glow attack allows you attach three [P] energy cards from your deck to your benched Shadow Rider Calyrex V. Since we are usually looking to go first, we can get away with only playing one copy, especially given that Cresselia is searchable with Quick Ball, Fog Crystal, and Pokémon Communication in the scenarios where we find ourselves going second instead.
Marshadow, like Cresselia, can also be searched out through Fog Crystal and Quick Ball. Its Resetting Hole ability is extremely useful in getting rid of popular Stadium cards such as Path to the Peak or Giant Hearth.
The trainer cards in our list are staples in the competitive decks of the format. Fog Crystal allows you to search out almost any attacking Pokémon in the deck. You won’t be able to search for Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX and Zapdos V, but they are readily accessible thanks to Pokémon Communication.
Air Balloon and Switch allow you to rotate your strategy between Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX and Mewtwo & Mew-GX, as you are safely able to switch into a healthy attacker depending on the situation. Reset Stamp puts our opponent to a low hand size after they take out one of our three-prize Pokémon to prevent them from getting an upper hand in the late game.
Chaotic Swell is our only Stadium and has a role similar to Marshadow, in that it keeps other pesky Stadium cards off the board which might inhibit our big plays. Finally, our three supporters are essential to any deck of the format, with Marnie and Professor’s Research refueling our resources and Boss’s Orders allowing us to pull our opponent’s Pokémon from the bench into the active.
Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX has without a doubt established itself at the top of the current meta game. In playing the deck, it’s important not to overestimate him when energy is running low before your board is yet developed. Don’t be afraid to start off with Mewtwo & Mew-GX earlier on, with access to Horror House-GX, allowing you to evolve Calyrex. Aim to start Cresselia whenever you’re starting second to catch up to your opponent who will inevitably evolve a turn before you.
Match up is extremely important in playing Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX. Avoid dropping Mewtwo & Mew-GX in the mirror match while prioritizing Zapdos V and Mewtwo & Mew-GX. Prioritize Gengar & Mimikyu, and Trevenant & Dusknoir in the Eternatus matchup.
To conclude, this decks versatility in its ability to deal massive amounts of damage while controlling the state of the board as well as your opponent’s hand is what ranks it in the highest echelon of an otherwise complex format.
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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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With the release of Chilling Reign, the ever-changing Standard meta-game is already changing with the infusion of new cards and strategies. Chief among them is the mascot of the set – Calyrex VMAX. Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX is poised to be one of the top decks in this upcoming format. But that doesn’t mean that Eternatus VMAX is out either.
However, Calyrex VMAX has a rather inconvenient weakness – Darkness. This makes Eternatus VMAX a continued top meta-game choice for many players. In addition, Eternatus did not just gain a good match-up against a top deck, it also received its fair share of new cards and buffs. Let’s take a look at a list that I have found success with.
This is the most obvious count for any Eternatus VMAX build. The archetype is based on playing as many Dark-type Pokemon as possible to ensure that you are attacking for maximum damage. Eternatus is your main attacker and should be the focus of your set-up, so running a 4-4 line makes sense. Any extra copies can be used to populate your bench to ensure maximum damage.
Being restricted to just dark-type Pokemon is rather inconvenient. Therefore, it is necessary to run 4 copies of Crobat V. This used to make the archetype extremely inaccessible from a monetary point of view but with the number of reprints there have been, having 4 copies of Crobat V is much more common in people’s collections than before.
This is the area of the deck that truly defines the Chilling Reign era of Eternatus VMAX. Zigzagoon has effectively been used in the past to deliver extra damage while also serving as a body to populate your bench with. Most importantly, Zigzagoon was the primary tool which allowed players to fully knockout a fresh Arceus, Dialga & Palkia-GX. A single ping with Zigzagoon brought ADP’s HP down to 270 allowing for a clean one hit knockout by Eternatus VMAX and a fully loaded bench.
In some instances, ADP simply adapted by playing a few copies of Big Charm, increasing their HP by an additional 30HP. It was still possible to take that full knockout with Eternatus VMAX, but it required all 4 Zigzagoons to be played. Thus, many Eternatus builds included a Tool Scrapper or Dangerous Drill to remove Big Charm. This, however, was a non-searchable resource and your chances of seeing it at the precise moment it was needed was based purely upon chance.
Enter Liepard V. In many ways, Liepard V fixes the issue of dealing with tools in Eternatus VMAX decks. As a Basic and Dark-type Pokemon, it has the ability to remove a Pokemon Tool when it is played. This gives Eternatus searchable tool removal which can deal with annoying hindrances like Big Charm and even disrupt your opponent’s board state by removing Air Balloons.
Galarian Moltres V is another addition to the Eternatus VMAX archetype. Its ability allows it to attach a Basic Dark energy from your discard pile to it. This has the potential when combined with Energy Switch to completely nullify the effects of Crushing Hammer as well as being able to instantly load up a fresh Eternatus VMAX. This level of energy acceleration and resistance to energy removal allows Eternatus to not only set up both easier and faster, but also sustain it’s damage output each turn.
For readers of my previous articles, you may notice that I have not bothered to explain the trainer choice in this list. The honest reason is that the list is so simple, and the Trainers are incredibly straight forward both in their purpose and their counts. This archetype continues to be popular for this exact reason.
Eternatus VMAX was already a top deck prior to Chilling Reign but with the addition of tool removal and energy acceleration in the form of Liepard and Galarian Moltres V, this archetype gains both speed and consistency. Many of you might challenge this list and even the archetype with the mention of Galarian Zapdos V. This is an irrefutable threat to Eternatus VMAX. The energy cost and ease of inclusion into any deck can be a frustrating thing to deal with. After all, why build a deck that gets donked by a two-prize Pokemon with a single energy attack? To this, I offer several pieces of advice: Galarian Moltres V, Weakness Guard Energy, Big Charm and managing your bench.
Firstly, Galarian Moltres V is not weak to Fighting and can similarly deal one shot knockout to many Pokemon GX and even the new Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX. Secondly, sacrificing 2 basic dark energy for 2 Weakness Guard Energy can provide the security necessary to survive against decks that tech Galarian Zapdos V; although it is not a searchable energy. To that end, Big Charm can also be used to compliment Weakness Guard Energy. Zapdos will hit exactly 340 HP after applying weakness and a Big Charm can prevent that knockout all the same. In the future, it may be necessary to find ways to include Big Charm if Galarian Zapdos proves to be too consistent of a threat.
Lastly, managing your bench can be an easy way to avoid Galarian Zapdos attacks. Its energy reduction is based on the number of Pokemon V that you have in play. If managed correctly, you can deprive your opponent of a discounted attack by controlling the number of Pokemon V you play.
Consider this – against Shadow Rider decks, you only need to deal 180 damage with Eternatus VMAX to secure a one hit knockout. You can try to fill your bench with non-V Pokemon to both secure that damage total and prevent your opponent from returning with a Galarian Zapdos V. The list I provide admittedly only runs 3 non-V Pokemon but as we’ve seen in the past, Eternatus builds are very diverse and have included Pokemon like Spiritomb, Yveltal, and Hoopa. One thing remains the same though – Eternatus continues to be a top tier deck and I don’t see it going anywhere anytime soon.
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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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It’s the Fossil Maniac here, coming at you with another Pokémon TCG Top Ten list. This time, we celebrate the arrival of the latest Pokémon set Chilling Reign.
Zeraora V adds a new flavor to the Rapid Strike deck with its powerful lightning typing. With the arrival of powerful water-type support, lightning coverage might be crucial now more than ever. Stick this Pokémon in a Rapid Strike Urshifu build and reap the benefits.
Echo horn is an extremely versatile item card that is sure to see play in the ever-popular Rapid Strike archetype. Searchable with Octillery from Battle Styles, Echo Horn’s strength is reinforced by its synergy with Urshifu Rapid Strike VMAX. Simply return an opponent’s Pokémon from their discard pile onto their bench and use Urshifu’s G-Max Rapid Flow to slap 120 damage onto that newly benched creature. Because it’s an item card, you aren’t limited to using a single copy per turn either. Using two in a single turn lets you hit multiple targets with Urshifu’s powerful attack to collect multiple prize cards at once.
As the bird trio returns in their Galarian forms, their brand-new typing allows them to support some of the most powerful Pokémon in the format. The darkness typing of Galarian Moltres V is notable for its ability to power up your Eternatus VMAX. This powerful phoenix can attach Darkness energies from your discard pile onto itself. Follow through with an Energy Switch to attach this energy onto your Eternatus VMAX and accelerate into its Dread End attack. With this classic bird by its side, Eternatus VMAX may even be able to stand up to its greatest fighting-type threats.
The Rapid Strike archetype adds a new basic Pokémon onto its roster in the form of Passimian. Passimian’s ability allows his fellow Rapid Strike Pokémon to deal an additional 30 damage onto your opponents benched Pokémon-V and Pokémon-GX. This ability is extremely powerful in decks tailored for damaging the opponent’s bench. It also combos great alongside Echo Horn and Urshifu Rapid Strike VMAX.
Another one of the classic birds reimagined in a new form is Galarian Zapdos V. This card can be splashed into any deck which uses Aurora Energy to easily take down an opponent’s Eternatus VMAX. Since its Thunderous Kick attack costs [C] less for each of your opponent’s Pokémon-V in play, a single [F] energy is all you need to one-hit-KO your opponent’s Eternatus VMAX or Crobat V.
It’s no secret that the psychic type is making its most impactful return since the release of Dragapult VMAX all the way back in Rebel Clash. Fog Crystal is a powerful item card which allows you to add a Basic [P] Pokémon or a [P] energy from your deck to your hand. This will help you quickly filter out your most powerful cards in the early game. You will be able to establish and accelerate a Shadow Rider Calyrex V or Cresselia onto the board right away.
Melony is the best the archetype-specific supporter in Chilling Reign, if not in the entire Sword & Shield TCG series. Comparable to the Welder trainer card for Fire-type decks, Melony has the ability to accelerate a [W]-energy onto your powerful Pokémon-V right from your discard pile, while drawing you 3 cards from your deck. This supporter undoubtedly has the potential to carry any Water-themed deck to victory and allows them to compete at top tables with ease.
Cresselia is an all-new Psychic-Type incarnation of Volcanion from Unbroken Bonds. Every Shadow Rider Calyrex V player will want this absolute unit of a basic Pokémon as their starter at the beginning of each game. For just a single [P] energy you can attach three additional [P] energies onto your Shadow Rider. Search it out with a Fog Crystal on your first turn to make sure that your Shadow Rider Calyrex V is accelerated and ready to knock out any Pokémon in its way as soon as turn 2!
Path to The Peak is one of the strongest stadium cards introduced in the modern Pokémon TCG. Though it may be impervious to your opponent playing their own stadium cards, Path to The Peak stops all abilities from any Pokémon with a rule box. This includes reliable draw cards such as Crobat V and Dedenne-GX who can individually replenish an opponent’s empty hand. Path to The Peak is the ultimate anti-meta stadium card, stopping even the all-powerful Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX in its tracks.
#2: Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX
Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX is the Water-type superstar of Chilling Reign, using your opponent’s numbers to your advantage. Its Ride of the High Kings attack deals 30 additional damage for every one of your opponents benched Pokemon. If you have Melony in hand, you can also freely use its Max Lance attack to inflict 120 damage for each energy you discard from it. Follow through with Melony to attach your discarded energy right back onto it or simply attach two more using Frosmoth’s (Sword & Shield) ability!
Much to the dismay of its Water-type counterpart, Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX rides to the number one spot of our Chilling Reign Top Ten list. The advantage of running a deck centered around this regal rider is its fantastic typing which puts it in a position to hit weakness on Urshifu Rapid Strike VMAX. Combined with Cresselia and Fog Crystal, Shadow Rider Calyrex V and VMAX are introduced with a complete psychic-type package.
This Pokémon also comes with built-in acceleration. Its ability lets you attach a [P] energy from your hand to a benched Pokémon while drawing you two cards. This allows you to build up a devastating attack which deals 30 additional damage for every [P] energy you have in play, knocking out any Pokémon your opponent can throw at you.
That’s all for today everyone. As always, we appreciate you tuning into The Bag of Loot’s very own Top Ten Pokémon TCG list. Catch you at the pre-release!
Advice from a fossil: Learn from the past, don’t fall apart under pressure, and make a good impression!
Chilling Reign comes out June 18th!
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The Galarian rule has arrived! Chilling Reign is coming soon to your nearest board game shop!
Lean into the mystery and ghostly world of winter, utilizing brand new strategies to the Pokemon Standard meta! Chilling Reign will see the arrival of the Galarian Legendary Birds variants, as well as the introduction of Calyrex V and VMAX!
However, it’s not just the Legendary Birds getting a Galarian upgrade. Numerous cards are getting an Galarian boost in this upcoming set! Check out Sirfetch’d, Slowking, and Runerigus!
Pokemon: Sword & Shield – Chilling Reign comes out on June 18th!
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Get your copy of Chilling Reigns at Three Kings Loot! www.threekingsloot.com
