“Stressed Out” — A Primer on Rayquaza-GX

I wish the Ability of Rayquaza-GX, Stormy Winds, was still called Storm and Stress, then my title would still be accurate. Stormy Winds reads: “When you play this Pokemon from your hand onto your Bench during your turn, you may discard the top three cards of your deck. Then, attach a basic Energy card from your discard pile to this Pokemon.” Dragon Break does 30 damage times the amount of Basic Grass and Lightning Energy in play. You probably see where this is going, Rayquaza-GX is an insane card, one that can pop off some big damage very quickly. Tempest GX is just icing on the cake to complete a solid card that even has some built-in draw power if you hit a wall. This deck is simple, play [card name=”Max Elixir” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] and maxed out copies of [card name=”Mysterious Treasure” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”135″ c=”name”][/card] to find Rayquaza-GX quickly and do a ton of damage.

Now enter Latias Prism Star. 130 HP is enough to take a hit or two and Dreamy Mist while not very powerful damage-wise, can really get you back into games where you fizzle out by putting a Basic Energy from your discard pile to each of your Basic Benched Dragon Pokemon. These two cards singlehandedly compile this new archetype, one that’s already been incredibly successful in Japan, which can often be a nice indication for our Worlds format, or formats to come. Historically speaking, decks like this have been successful before. [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] with Dark Pulse had its time in the sun and [card name=”Xerneas BREAK” set=”Steam Siege” no=”82″ c=”name”][/card] has had a few good runs, too. Dumping Energy on the board in order to do more damage is no new strategy, and Rayquaza-GX is going to be able to capitalize on that better than anything before in my opinion. A built-in Energy accelerator is sweet, especially when it thins your deck by discarding cards, too.

Rayquaza-GX decks can take many forms, and it will be interesting to see which one pans out to be the best. Right now I favor a list with Garbodor so you can both shut your opponent down and beat him or her down too with powerful attacks. Also tossed around are the idea of playing Ultra Beast Pokemon like [card name=”Pheromosa-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM66″ c=”name”][/card] and / or [card name=”Xurkitree-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM68″ c=”name”][/card]. If you play them, you can Beast Ring Basic Energy out of your deck and bolster the power of Dragon Break. This deck is going to be very popular at the World Championship and beyond, so let’s take a look at it…

Rayquaza-GX / Garbodor

[decklist name=”Rayquaza” amt=”60″ caption=”safasfa” cname=”Latias” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY78″][pokemon amt=”10″]4x Rayquaza-GX (Celestial Storm)2x [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Trubbish” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”56″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x Latias Prism Star (Celestial Storm)[/pokemon][trainers amt=”36″]4x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Lillie” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”122″ 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=”Mysterious Treasure” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”113″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Max Elixir” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Primal Clash” no=”122″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Wishful Baton” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”128″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”14″]7x [card name=”Lightning Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”94″ c=”deck2″ amt=”7″][/card]7x [card name=”Grass Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”91″ c=”deck2″ amt=”7″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

Four Rayquaza-GX

Rayquaza-GX is its own Energy acceleration, you’ll want four in every version of the deck to ensure that you get multiple Stormy Winds Abilities popped off. Every time you hit one that’s another 30 damage buff for Dragon Break, and again, using these guys as many times as you can in a game can only help you.

[cardimg name=”Trubbish” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”56″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Two Trubbish

You can’t go lower than this on this count since you always run the risk of discarding pieces of your Garbodor line with Stormy Winds. At a minimum in most decks that play Garbodor you’re going to want at least two Trubbish. This is the perfect count for this deck, and it doesn’t matter which Trubbish you play, really, although I would play Acid Spray for the random time that your opponent uses something like [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] to Trickster GX Stomp Off and run you out of cards… that probably won’t happen, though. I suppose the logic applies there just as much to Acid Spray, so just have at it, pick one that’s cute or something, it’s your call.

Two Garbodor

To the same tune as the Trubbish count, two Garbodor will bail you out in times of need where you discard one randomly or land one in your Prizes. In either scenario you will want an additional copy so here you have it, two Garbodor.

One Tapu Lele-GX

A single [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] is usually fine for this deck. You don’t set up Garbodor every game, so you will have access to it occasionally in the later game. You do have two [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] to pull it back and reuse the Ability if it gets Knocked Out or discarded, so I’ve found one to be fine. The very small downside to taking a Tapu Lele-GX out of the deck, or a Basic in general, is that you have a slightly higher chance of starting with Rayquaza-GX. Since it’s the centerpiece of this deck, you’re going to want to be able to use it as many times as possible without having the misfortune of starting with it and being unable to use it at all. I primarily use Tapu Lele-GX in this deck to fetch [card name=”Lillie” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] on the first turn to get an even bigger pop off with lots of Energy acceleration. I haven’t found the need to use it more than one most games, and your Bench space can be tight with so many Rayquaza-GX, and Garbodor, too.

One Latias Prism Star

The backup attacker for this deck, Latias Prism Star can get you back into a game you fall out of very quickly. By accelerating Energy to your Rayquaza-GX on your Bench (unless you play any other Basic Dragon Pokemon), you can kick up your Dragon Break attacks once more to the range you want to be hitting for: one-hit Knock Outs. While Dreamy Mist only does 30, that math can be relevant if you need to soften up something before finishing it off. Rayquaza-GX can only do so much on its own with its Ability and Max Elixir hits varying so much, Latias Prism Star is great insurance. As a side note, when you have two search cards in hand ([card name=”Mysterious Treasure” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card]), it is correct to get the Latias Prism Star out of your deck before getting a Rayquaza-GX and using it, just so you don’t accidentally discard the Latias Prism Star in the process, that loss can be brutal.

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Four Professor Sycamore

The best draw Supporter in the game, [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card] can also get your Energy into your discard pile so that you can consistently hit your Stormy Winds Abilities. Ripping through your deck is the name of the game for this archetype, and Professor Sycamore thins out junk and draws you more cards. What’s not to love about a new hand of seven?

Four Guzma

[cardimg name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Rayquaza-GX wants to deal OHKOs as much as possible, and for two Prizes as often as possible, also. Guzma can get you those big Pokemon-EX/GX off your opponent’s Bench that you might be looking for, and playing four of them is going to maximize your chances of still having some in the late game since you do have the variance of discarding random cards from the top of your deck. Guzma recovery is part of the reason I am somewhat fond of [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”132″ c=”name”][/card] in this deck, but it’s hard to fit it in. Perhaps you could do three Guzma and a Pal Pad? I still need to test that.

Two Cynthia

Maybe the second best draw Supporter in the game, [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card] nets you six while putting your old hand back into the deck. That’s not always what this deck wants, but there are certainly times where you have a dicy hand, perhaps consisting of a Max Elixir but no Bench target, and you want to put that hand back into your deck while saving your resources. I always look to play as many draw Supporters in my decks as possible, so there’s no reason in general not to play a couple of these.

One N

You take Prizes quickly with this deck so N isn’t that great for yourself, since you do still want to keep up a steady stream of Energy attachments across your turns. N can be debilitating for your opponent, but here’s where I think [card name=”Red Card” set=”Generations” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card]  could be better on average, and that’s a card I’ve been trying to fit in here. N is still great, I’m just not sure if it’s the right fit for this deck. Maybe [card name=”Judge” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”143″ c=”name”][/card] would be better, even?

One Lillie

Your turn one can be launched to full potential with [card name=”Lillie” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card]. Getting upwards to eight new cards off the top of your deck is quite literally insane, and this card makes it all happen. Fetchable with a variety of cards you play, including but not limited to Mysterious Treasure, Tapu Lele-GX for Lillie is just a heartbeat away and you’ll have a huge hand in no time. You might even have a Garbodor in hand in some cases that you want to hold on to, and then Lillie becomes quite strong in that since you can not only hold onto that Garbodor but get more hands to supplement the rest of your hand on top of it.

Four Ultra Ball

You would play even more ways to fetch Rayquaza-GX aside from Mysterious Treasure and Ultra Ball if more ways existed. It goes without saying that four Ultra Ball are going to be staples in this deck, and what’s nice is that you can even get Energy into your discard pile with them to get some Abilities popping off with your Rayquaza-GX.

Four Mysterious Treasure

To the same tune as Ultra Ball, a maxed out set of these is going to get you more Rayquaza-GX going and help you get some big Dragon Break attacks off. There’s no reason not to play a full set because you want to absolutely maximize your chances of seeing as many Rayquaza-GX on your first turn as possible, not to mention they also get every card in your deck in general…

Four Max Elixir

More Energy, max these out so you can make it rain! With 14 total Basic Energy cards in this deck you have very likely chances of hitting every one of these unless you get super unlucky. I believe you would never go lower than this as far as counts are concerned.

Four Float Stone

When you start with quite literally anything besides Latias Prism Star you’re going to want to have a [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] to get that original Active Pokemon out of there. In Garbodor decks in general I like to have a maxed out set of Float Stone to make sure that Garbotoxin gets online quickly.

Four Acro Bike

Plowing through your deck is always the goal for Rayquaza-GX and [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Primal Clash” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] can only improve your prospects of doing just that. In the process you can get more Energy into the discard, too, which is going to fuel your Stormy Winds. I believe this deck wants to optimize its chances of popping off on the first turn as much as possible and Acro Bike is simply a card that will only boost those percentages.

Two Wishful Baton

[cardimg name=”Wishful Baton” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”128″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

This gimmicky card is something I’m undecided on. I started with four and have cut some of them to make room for more consistency like the Acro Bike count. [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] is so prominent right now that it doesn’t make [card name=”Wishful Baton” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card] that great of a card. When it works it’s great, I’m just not sure if it’s worth the space commitment right now.

Two Rescue Stretcher

Rayquaza-GX can get discarded with Stormy Winds. You will want some extra recovery for those and Garbodor pieces, too. Rescue Stretcher is almost always a great card in general and I would highly recommend playing two to make sure that discarding an important Pokemon doesn’t hurt you as much.

Seven Lightning Energy and Seven Grass Energy

I’ve found that 14 total Energy is the right call for this deck. Since Rayquaza-GX doesn’t favor Grass or Lightning within its typing it doesn’t matter much with the counts. I like an even split because of the randomness of which you’ll get at specific times. Tempest GX is always accessible with Grass Energy, so perhaps an argument could be made to prioritize that, but in almost twenty games with this deck I have never used Tempest GX once… so I don’t think it even matters.

Options

In short, there are some rather obvious things to think about putting into this deck. This is obviously not an all-encompassing list but only the things that come to mind the quickest.

Pheromosa-GX and / or Xurkitree-GX with Beast Ring

I’ve tried this package with lackluster results. The idea is to have a backup plan for when you fall behind with Beast Ring and a beast of accelerating Energy. This obviously requires playing an Ultra Beast or two which is kind of off putting for this deck since it wants to focus on Rayquaza-GX, but it’s a necessary evil. I don’t like this any more than just playing more consistency cards like [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Primal Clash” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card].

Pal Pad

Supporter recovery can be important when you frequently discard them with Stormy Winds. I could see replacing a [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] with one of these but that’s about it. I think its use is fringe as well and not very likely when you’re banking on finding it at the right time. I just don’t think it’s needed.

Red Card

Now we’re talking, something to spice it up. I’m entrawled with the inclusion of this disruptor in this deck since it can completely cripple an opponent before the game really begins. A Rayquaza-GX loaded and ready to go with the combination of Garbotoxin and [card name=”Red Card” set=”Generations” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card] can end a game just on its own. Standard isn’t necessarily meant to be able to hand a powerful combination like this and this could be the missing piece for Rayquaza-GX to cement itself amongst the best, it’s certainly seemed very nice in my testing.

Matchups

Rayquaza-GX is incredibly linear and can win games by running hotter than blazes, so some of these descriptions may seem a little vague, unintentionally. Once you play the deck a little you’ll know what I mean, it’s just incredibly powerful and fast, you can do 180 on your first turn sometimes… it’s pretty insane!

Buzzwole: Slightly Favorable

You’re favored slightly right off the bat since you can hit for one-hit Knock Outs just like your opponent but you’re faster and also play Garbodor to slow your opponent down. The only issue is dealing with a potential OHKO from a baby [card name=”Buzzwole” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card], but that’s less likely when your opponent doesn’t have access to Abilities and the all important [card name=”Diancie Prism Star” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card]. Wishful Baton is very good in this matchup unless your opponent plays Field Blower, something that Buzzwole decks should start including to counter this deck, and other Garbodor decks.

Malamar: Even to Slightly Favorable

[cardimg name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Your [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] is super important to this matchup as is popping off, as per usual. Malamar won’t have many Pokemon that can take you down in one hit aside from [card name=”Necrozma-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM58″ c=”name”][/card] or the occasional GX from [card name=”Dawn Wings Necrozma-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM101″ c=”name”][/card]. I’ve found that your raw speed alone is enough to win this matchup outright on average.

Rayquaza-GX: Even

The mirror can be won consistently with a tech like [card name=”Jolteon-EX” set=”Generations” no=”28″ c=”name”][/card] to stop your opponent’s Rayquaza-GX from even doing damage, but on paper this matchup is just a slugfest of who runs hotter, and fast. Whoever gets the first Knock Out is usually going to win and Wishful Baton use can be pretty big too since most Rayquaza-GX decks don’t play Field Blower to get rid of it and slow an opponent down.

Zoroark-GX: Even to Slightly Favorable

Similarly to Malamar, your Garbodor is super important in this matchup and you might need to get lucky a little bit. [card name=”Sylveon-EX” set=”Radiant Collection 2″ no=”RC21″ c=”name”][/card] or the Fairy [card name=”Tapu Lele” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card] should find themselves in most Zoroark-GX decks so you should expect a response from your opponent. Garbodor is where you get an advantage by limiting your opponent’s options and preventing him or her from chaining a counter with [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] recovering it and using it again to one-shot a Rayquaza-GX. If you can quickly one-shot your opponent’s Pokemon you shouldn’t have a problem with this matchup.

Rayquaza-GX Math

My friend Cory Koehler made some Rayquaza-GX math widgets on a spreadsheet. Here are some images of his work. They don’t really need explaining, but if you’re new to the deck you might find them useful in your decision making regarding use of Stormy Winds!

Conclusion

Rayquaza-GX can beat anything when it runs hot. That’s attractive, but also concerning when you want to expect consistent results. I view this deck as a fallback option when you’re not feeling it with other decks for a tournament because it’s just so easy to pilot. The biggest thing I’m excited to test more is the inclusion of Red Card, I can really just see it defeating opponent after opponent. It’s lived up to the hype in my testing so time will tell how great it will be. This is the deck to beat coming out of Celestial Storm so be sure to check it out. Thanks for reading, take care.
~Caleb

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