Rainbow Road Redux — The Resurrection of Rainbow Road in Standard

[cardimg name=”Xerneas” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”107″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Hello PokeBeach fans and subscribers! I am excited to be back to talk about a deck that’s been one of my favorites since dual-types were re-introduced in Steam Siege. I’m talking about none other than Rainbow Road! Although I’ve only done well at a tournament with the Expanded version of Rainbow Road, I always try it out every format because I just enjoy the concept that much. I’m always a big fan of decks that can take OHKOs, especially if the main attacker is non-EX/GX. I also love the aesthetics of the deck because of all the different types; it makes for a pleasant playing field of critters. Now let’s look at some of the tournament experiences I’ve had with the deck and how it’s done at some bigger tournaments.

My Experiences

I started testing Rainbow Road when the format shifted to Primal Clash and the sets that followed. I tested it for some time, then eventually took it to a League Challenge and won it. There weren’t any League Cups at the beginning of the season, so Challenges were all I had until Fort Wayne Regionals. I began to test the deck a ton and convinced my friend and fellow PokeBeach writer Caleb Gedemer that Rainbow Road was the play for Fort Wayne. We both were having very good testing results so we finalized the list and were ready to go. Unfortunately for me, I had some poor luck and ended up dropping the tournament; however, Caleb ended up taking it all the way to a Top 4 finish which I’ll talk more about below! Here’s the deck list that we both played.

[decklist name=”Rainbow Road” amt=”60″ caption=”More than 8 Basic Energy and Fighting Fury Belt would have helped.” cname=”Xerneas” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”107″][pokemon amt=”15″]4x [card name=”Xerneas” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”107″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Xerneas BREAK” set=”Steam Siege” no=”82″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Galvantula” set=”Steam Siege” no=”42″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Joltik” set=”Steam Siege” no=”41″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Hoopa-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”36″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Flygon-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY61″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Genesect-EX” set=”Fates Collide” no=”64″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Volcanion-EX” set=”Steam Siege” no=”26″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”33″]4x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”78″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Olympia” set=”Generations” no=”66″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Max Elixir” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Supreme Victors” no=”140″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”135″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”149″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Exp. Share” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”118″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]3x [card name=”Sky Field” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”89″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”12″]8x [card name=”Fairy Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”99″ c=”deck2″ amt=”8″][/card]4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”90″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

Big Tournament Finishes

As I stated above, Caleb made Top 4 which, in hindsight, was somewhat surprising only because we realized the flaws of the list afterwards. The biggest one was running only eight basic Energy; it’s best to have at least nine if your deck’s Energy acceleration is based off [card name=”Max Elixir” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card]. We also didn’t realize how tough the [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY150″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] matchup was without having [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] in the list which helps it out more than we realized at the time. The other big finishes it has are Top 8 at Liverpool Regionals, first place at Dortmund Regionals, and Top 4 at the Dutch Open Special Event. It also recently made Top 8 at Curitiba Regionals in Brazil. As you can see, it’s done quite well at some high end events!

What Makes It Good?

[cardimg name=”Sudowoodo” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”66″ align=”right” c=”custom”]You can’t stop me![/cardimg]

There are a few things that make Rainbow Road better right now than it has been in a while and it has a lot to do with the introduction of Guardians Rising. The two main cards that make this deck better are [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card]. Choice Band makes your KOs even easier and makes the deck less reliant on having [card name=”Sky Field” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card] out. Tapu Lele makes the deck more consistent and lets you play [card name=”Brigette” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”134″ c=”name”][/card], which helps you set up early game much easier. Another card that isn’t in the deck but directly affects why the deck is better is [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card]. Now you might be thinking, “Wouldn’t Field Blower make it worse because now [card name=”Exp. Share” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”118″ c=”name”][/card] isn’t guaranteed to work?” That may be true, it does make your Exp. Shares weaker, but more importantly it’s caused Fighting Fury Belt to almost cease to exist. It’s rare that you still see anyone play it because there’s a chance that it gets no use, and Choice Band will always do something if you’re using it on a Pokemon that’s attacking. So, with the lack of Fighting Fury Belt, most Pokemon-EX or -GX are much easier to KO.

Something else that may seem concerning for Rainbow Road is [card name=”Sudowoodo” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card], but I assure it’s not hard to deal with when you have three different dual-types. If your Bench consists of [card name=”Bisharp” set=”Steam Siege” no=”64″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Galvantula” set=”Steam Siege” no=”42″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Volcanion-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY173″ c=”name”][/card] and a back-up [card name=”Xerneas” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card], you can still hit for 220 and even 250 damage with Choice Band! Sudowoodo can be annoying, but it isn’t something to fear. With the introduction of Sudowoodo, another card has almost completely disappeared off the map and that would be [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card]. Parallel City can be a nuisance for you, but luckily most decks currently don’t run any. This deck’s engine used to run on [card name=”Hoopa-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] but both of those are easy Prizes for any [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] deck right now, and with Tapu Lele and [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card] you don’t really need it, either. One copy of Shaymin wouldn’t be bad in the deck still, but it’s a tight list and I’m not sure what I would cut for it. Here’s the list I’ve been playing which is a one card difference from the list that made Top 8 at Curitiba Regionals; the change I made was I cut the [card name=”Xerneas BREAK” set=”Steam Siege” no=”82″ c=”name”][/card] for another basic Fairy Energy because I felt hitting Max Elixirs more often was more important than extra HP. Also, [card name=”Jolteon-EX” set=”Generations” no=”28″ c=”name”][/card] is not highly played in this format because a lot of decks currently play Evolution Pokemon.

[decklist name=”Rainbow Road” amt=”60″ caption=”Possible additions are Hex Maniac, Olympia, Xerneas BREAK, Second Galvantula, Mewtwo EVO” cname=”Volcanion-EX” set=”Steam Siege” no=”26″][pokemon amt=”15″]4x [card name=”Xerneas” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”107″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Bisharp” set=”Steam Siege” no=”64″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Pawniard” set=”Steam Siege” no=”63″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Galvantula” set=”Steam Siege” no=”42″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Joltik” set=”Steam Siege” no=”41″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”113″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Volcanion-EX” set=”Steam Siege” no=”26″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”32″]4x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Teammates” set=”Primal Clash” no=”141″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Brigette” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”134″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”78″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”135″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Supreme Victors” no=”140″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Max Elixir” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Exp. Share” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”118″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”149″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Sky Field” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”89″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”13″]9x [card name=”Fairy Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”99″ c=”deck2″ amt=”9″][/card]4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”90″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/energy][/decklist][premium]

How Does It Fare Against the Meta?

Alolan Ninetales-GX

This matchup shouldn’t be too tough because you can easily OHKO an [card name=”Alolan Ninetales-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”22″ c=”name”][/card] and you are generally faster. They do play Sudowoodo sometimes which can be a slight annoyance, but I wouldn’t worry about it too much. You even can take the time to KO if you need to since you should easily be able to get ahead because of the prize trade. Another thing that makes this matchup a cinch is Bisharp. If your opponent knocks out a Pokemon, you can respond with Bisharp’s Retaliate attack and if you have a Choice Band you can OHKO an Alolan Ninetales due to Weakness! [card name=”Teammates” set=”Primal Clash” no=”141″ c=”name”][/card] makes pulling off this combo easy.

Darkrai-EX / Yveltal and Darkrai-EX / Dragonair / Giratina-EX

Either version should be a good matchup for you because you are faster and trade a non-EX/GX for their EXs. The [card name=”Dragonair” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card] version gives you easy Prizes if they Bench down a [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] since it’s weak to Fairy. They also can’t start taking KOs until the third turn because they need to evolve into Dragonair and use Dragon’s Wish before they can start loading up their Pokemon with Energy. This gives you a couple turns to take some early KOs and set up two to three Xerneas. These decks don’t typically play Field Blower either so you can keep your energy rolling with Exp. Share.

Decidueye-GX / Vileplume / Other Variants

[cardimg name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ align=”right” c=”custom”]You give me headaches![/cardimg]

[card name=”Decidueye-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”12″ c=”name”][/card] with [card name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card] will be one of your worst matchups because being under Item lock really hurts you. It gives you no access to your Max Elixirs, Choice Bands, and Exp. Shares and makes it harder to set up a decent Bench. Tapu Lele and Brigette help mitigate that, but it’s still hard to set up without access to Ultra Ball. Another problem in this matchup is requiring Volcanion-EX on your Bench to get enough damage to OHKO Decidueye-GX. Without a Float Stone on it, it becomes an easy target to bring up with Lysandre and then it’s stuck there while you end up wasting time trying to manually retreat it. Now you could play something funky like [card name=”Fairy Garden” set=”Fates Collide” no=”100″ c=”name”][/card] to try and help this problem, but you probably can’t fit enough to make it matter and if you do, you sacrifice consistency for other matchups. If you get to go first, your chances are a bit better, but otherwise it’ll always be an uphill climb. Now any other version of Decidueye isn’t so bad because you can have access to your items and don’t need to worry about things being stuck as easily. Other Decidueye variants should be even to favorable.

Drampa-GX / Garbodor

I was having good results against this even with the older Hoopa-EX version, but I’m pretty sure that was a bit on the lucky side. This version of Rainbow Road makes it easier to play less Items because of Brigette and Tapu Lele. Dealing with [card name=”Drampa-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] can be annoying because of Righteous Edge, but it’s pretty easy to play around. You can start by attaching one Basic Fairy to either a Benched or Active Xerneas, and on the following turn do the same to a different Xerneas. This now means that if they either KO the first Xerneas you can just get a Double Colorless and return KO it with minimal item usage and they shouldn’t really have a response besides a Righteous Edge. You can also try to build up a couple on the Bench with just basic energy and Max Elixirs, but you need to be wary of your Item usage. If you go too hog wild with Items early on then you will most certainly be doomed. If Garb starts taking OHKOs before you’ve taken at least three Prizes, you’re going to struggle to pull out that win. Them being able to attack for one Energy just makes it too easy for them to trade effectively.

Espeon-GX / Garbodor

This matchup is even worse than Drampa / Garb and that’s for a few reasons. [card name=”Espeon-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”61″ c=”name”][/card] is a little harder to KO because of higher HP, but more importantly it’s harder to deal with because of Psybeam. Being Confused is annoying to deal with, even with three Float Stone in the deck. Typically, you want to have Choice Band or Exp. Share on a Xerneas and save [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] for the Bench sitters. Now you can add cards like Olympia or Xerneas BREAK to help deal with that, but that can cause you to use more VS Seeker or Ultra Ball, which just fuels Garb. Espeon makes you burn more Items to get around and it can also OHKO your Xerneas even if it’s BREAK evolved, and that’s why it’s a bigger pain to deal with. You can add a copy of [card name=”Mewtwo” set=”Evolutions” no=”51″ c=”from”][/card] to help deal with Espeon since it will OHKO a fully powered Espeon if you have a Choice Band, but then you sacrifice a spot that will decrease your overall consistency in one way or another.

Gallade / Octillery

I would say that [card name=”Gallade” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”84″ c=”name”][/card] could actually be somewhat of a tougher matchup once they get set up. That’s because once they get going their deck is more consistent and guarantees that they’ll get to attack with the use of Premonition, Abyssal Hand, and Mallow. You should get a one to two prize lead because they need to take a turn or two to evolve into Gallade, but after that you can’t miss a beat if you want to win. If you play the BREAK you can force them into having [card name=”Professor Kukui” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card] for a KO, but it’s honestly not too hard for them. There isn’t really a Pokemon you can just splash in easily to deal with Gallade unfortunately, but luckily Gallade isn’t one of the more popular matchups because it has a tough time with Metagross, Decidueye, Espeon/Garb, and [card name=”Greninja” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card].

Greninja BREAK

This matchup can go either way and I would say is pretty close to 50-50. Some cards that can really help swing it in your favor are Xerneas BREAK, [card name=”Hex Maniac” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card], and Galvantula. If you were worried about seeing Greninja a lot, I would make sure to add a BREAK, a Hex, and a second Galvantula over the second Bisharp. Early Galvantula can get you two easy Prizes if your opponent Benches two Froakie. They won’t do this if they realize you have Galvantula, of course, but if they don’t see it at first, it’s possible. Sometimes late game Galvantula can snag a free Prize if there’s a Benched Froakie, which isn’t uncommon after a couple Greninja get Knocked Out. The nice thing about this matchup is you’re going to get an easy prize lead because they probably won’t get a KO until they’ve gotten a [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] out. That means you should get at least three KOs before they get one. Now they may use [card name=”Ace Trainer” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”69″ c=”name”][/card] to try and slow you down after you start taking KOs, but as long as you have enough Benched Pokemon you can keep taking KOs. Oranguru helps from you drawing completely dead if that happens, at least until they are able to use Shadow Stitching. Shadow Stitching used to hurt you immensely when the deck relied on Shaymin; this is because you needed it to keep attacking later game. Now with more dual-types in the list, you don’t need to Bench Volcanion-EX and maybe only one GX and that would be Tapu Lele. You can have Bisharp, Galvantula, Xerneas, and Oranguru or Tapu Lele on the Bench and you’re hitting for 190 which will KO everything in the deck. It’s much easier now to have an established board state for longer, so you don’t need Shaymin to fish for things as often and don’t need to have Sky Field out.

Metagross-GX

[cardimg name=”Metagross-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”85″ align=”right” c=”custom”]Your high HP and type advantage mean nothing![/cardimg]

Although Xerneas is weak to Metal, that doesn’t matter in this matchup because [card name=”Metagross-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”85″ c=”name”][/card] hits for 150 anyway which is more than enough to take out a Xerneas. This matchup is favorable, however, because just like in many other matchups, you outspeed them, trade better because it’s one Prize for two, and even with 250 HP on Metagross you don’t struggle to hit that number. Adding a Hex would make this matchup almost free. You don’t really have to worry about [card name=”Mimikyu” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card] either because if they copy Rainbow Force it will do 100 damage at best because they only play three different types of Pokemon. They could use it in conjunction with Kukui to hit the perfect 120, but it’s not always easy to have that specific combo.

Vespiquen / Zoroark

This matchup used to be harder because it’s much easier for them to attack for a Double Colorless than it is for you to with three Energy, but it’s a lot better with the addition of Bisharp. Bisharp can return KO a [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] for one energy and with a 2-2 line, Rescue Stretcher, and Super Rod, it’s easy to stream it two to three times. You also generally get the first KO because it’s easier for you to do enough damage early on than it is for them. You could always play a direct counter like [card name=”Oricorio” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Karen” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY177″ c=”name”][/card], but I honestly don’t think it’s necessary because it’s already a pretty even match up. Just try your best not to Bench an EX or GX, which isn’t too hard with Oranguru. It’s also incredibly helpful that Vespiquen doesn’t play Field Blower because that means you’ll be guaranteed to get full use out of your Exp. Shares.

Vikavolt / Tapu Bulu-GX

This matchup is favorable because you start attacking a little faster, and you trade a one-Prize attacker for a two-Prize attacker most of the time. They can attack you with Vikavolt sometimes, but then they risk giving up one of their Energy accelerators – which is risky if they only have one or two out. Adding a Hex would make this match up even better, but I don’t think I would bother. As long as you can keep the attacks rolling you should win no sweat, but do be weary of the double Field Blower when it comes to using your Exp. Shares. They typically play at least two copies of Field Blower so if possible, wait until they’ve used at least one before you start using your Exp. Shares.

Zoroark / Drampa-GX

This matchup might seem bad at first, you might think “Rainbow Road, big Bench, easy KOs with Mind Jack, etc.” But it’s really simple with dual-types to keep your Bench limited to four and under which prevents Mind Jack from taking a OHKO on a Xerneas unless they use Professor Kukui. The only way they can use Foul Play to copy Rainbow Force for a KO is also if they use Kukui and have Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Zorua/Zoroark/[card name=”Zoroark BREAK” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card], and Oranguru or Shaymin on the field which can be a lot to ask for sometimes. You can also keep your Bench limited to three with two dual-types out so you can hit for 160 while preventing them from knocking you out with Zoroark or the BREAK. If they decide to go Drampa at you, you can still hit for 190 with Choice Band and only three Benched. So, you don’t need to worry about over-Benching if they try to get you with Drampa. Now if you are forced to over Bench for whatever reason — maybe you need to us Lele to get a Supporter — it can get a little rough. They only need a Double Colorless to attack and you need either three Fairy or a Fairy and a Double Colorless so it is easier for them to get an attack off. If you are having trouble with this matchup, you can always add the BREAK back in for extra HP which will help against Zoroark but not Drampa.

What Tournament Should I Play This At?

This is a awkward spot in the season where there aren’t many tournaments until Worlds. Last season there was only League Challenges and no Cups yet, but hopefully this season there will be at least some Cups this time. There also should be some ARG and local events going as well. I think Rainbow Road is a great deck for any League Challenge or Cup because it’s a deck that goes well for a best-of-one format. I’m not saying it can’t do well in best of three, I’m just saying that it works very well in best of one because it’s kind of a “run hot” deck: with only one game to win it’s easier to run hot one time then two out of three times. The deck isn’t as reliant on running hot like it used to be — you have fall back attackers now like Bisharp, Tapu Lele, and Oranguru — but it’s a force to be reckoned with if you draw well.

Things to Remember

Turn one Brigette is your best friend in this deck. You want to do it almost every game if you can, except if you won’t have an Energy attachment to a Xerneas to go along with it. Getting a turn one Energy attachment onto a Xerneas is more important than a turn one Brigette. You won’t lose if you don’t get it, but it makes it a lot harder to get ahead and get Energy spread out to a couple Xerneas early on. If possible, never attack with a Xerneas if you don’t have one with an Energy or Exp. Share attached on the Bench unless you are absolutely certain they can’t revenge KO your Xerneas. If you attack with your only thing with Energy you can falter fast if your opponent knocks it out and you’re left with no attacker; it’s sometimes better to just let something take a hit or get Knocked Out then to attack and leave yourself with no back up. It’s also important in general to know when to attack in this deck, and when to sit back and establish your board state better. It’s mostly an aggressive deck that you want to keep on attacking right away with, but sometimes that can leave you susceptible to N if you don’t have a solid board state and Oranguru down.

[cardimg name=”Wailord-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”38″ align=”right” c=”custom”]Even your HP isn’t high enough![/cardimg]

Never forget that this deck can easily donk just about any Pokemon on the first turn (assuming you’re going second) of the game minus a [card name=”Wailord-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”38″ c=”name”][/card] with a Fighting Fury Belt, which you can KO if you have another turn to evolve some dual types. While trying to get a donk, you also need to be careful of how many resources you burn through and figure out if you can still win the game if you miss the donk. If you can, then you definitely go for it; in the instance that you might lose the game because you have to discard too much, like all four [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Supreme Victors” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card] or something crazy like that, you might need to consider it harder. It all depends on how much more of the puzzle do you need. Do you need one more Pokemon, a Max Elixir, or a Double Colorless? After you figure that you need to try and figure out the odds of hitting that last piece and if the odds are in your favor you definitely go for it.

Something that’s cool about this deck is you can build it in any way you would like, whether it be an all-Basic version with Hoopa-EX, or a mixed version with some Evolutions, or the version which I talked about most in this article. They all have their benefits and it really depends what you expect to face that might determine how you want it built. Overall, I think the Evolutions version is the best and has the best overall matchups though. You can always switch certain Pokemon and cards in and out though like playing [card name=”Carbink” set=”Fates Collide” no=”49″ c=”name”][/card], Sudowoodo, or Shaymin-EX even. You can also up the Energy count and go straight Max Elixirs if you think most decks you face will play multiple copies of Field Blower. There’s so much versatility to the way you can build it.

Conclusion

Rainbow Road is a ton of fun and when it gets rolling it’s practically unstoppable. It’s a great deck to try out at a League Challenge or Cup and if I ever perfect a list I’ll probably try it out at a big tournament again. My record with it on PTCGO right now is actually quite good — it’s 16-3, I’m also always hoping each set will bring something new to make the deck even better and I still have hope. If there’s ever a Fairy Patch card you know what I’ll be testing for Expanded!

I hope you have as much fun playing the deck as I did writing about it! I hope this article was informative and gave you some better insight into Rainbow Road. As always it was a pleasure writing for you and I hope any tournament experiences you have with Rainbow Road are positive ones.

See you next time

-Ryan

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