Introducing Rainbow Mewtwo — The OCIC Secret Deck!

[cardimg name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Hello! I’m very excited to present to you a new archetype I call “Rainbow Mewtwo”. It’s a deck I worked on for a long time in preparation for the Oceania International Championships and I almost played it, although I changed my mind in the end. If you’ve seen the crazy [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card] deck that Henry Brand played at the event, then you have an idea of what you’re in for today.

The Sword & Shield set brought [card name=”Aurora Energy” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”186″ c=”name”][/card] to the format, a strong card for Mewtwo and Mew-GX since it can power up any attack and discard an attacker at the same time. It’s no surprise the card is played in most Mewtwo and Mew-GX / [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Welder” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”189″ c=”name”][/card] lists. You would expect it to replace [card name=”Rainbow Energy” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”151″ c=”name”][/card] completely, but it’s possible to play four copies of both Rainbow Energy and Aurora Energy to give the deck eight multi-type Energy cards.

Why does this matter? Instead of having to limit yourself to (mostly) one type like the two main Mewtwo and Mew-GX variants (Welder and Malamar), you can use any attacker you want regardless of typing. One of the attacks you can use is [card name=”Solgaleo-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card]’s Sol Burst GX, a card that’s been in the format since early 2017! It has seen very little play so far since Metal wasn’t a very attractive type. However, thanks to Rainbow Energy and Aurora Energy, you can have eight multi-type Energy that gives good odds of pulling off a turn one Sol Burst GX. Welder is supposed to be the fastest Energy acceleration in the format, but Sol Burst GX is more explosive, since you can end your turn 1 with six Energy cards in play! This gives you an incredible amount of options for your second turn as you can copy attacks of any Pokemon-GX, from [card name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] to [card name=”Flygon-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”110″ c=”name”][/card]. You can benefit from any card that favors a specific type of Energy such as [card name=”Zeraora-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card]’s Thunderclap Zone too. The freedom you have in building the deck and in playing it is unprecedented.

Have I caught your attention yet? If so, let’s explore this concept in detail. I’ll start by explaining briefly how the idea came to be and how the deck works. Obviously, the deck has many moving parts, but there is a unique core that I’ll discuss. As much as I wish I had a perfect list to feature, I spent a lot of time moving cards around and never settled on one exact decklist. This article features the latest list I played, as well as some options for the deck.

Finally, I’ll focus on the deck in the context of the metagame: How to play the most expected matchups and why I ultimately chose not to play Rainbow Mewtwo. The deck does have some issues I’m struggling with to this day. But I’ll explain some ideas that could help to solve these issues.

Birth of an Idea

[premium]

As I was preparing for the Oceania International Championships, I looked at results from Japan’s City Leagues to get a better understanding of the Sword & Shield metagame. Japanese players had been using the new cards for months. Obviously, seeing which decks did best for them would be a strong indicator of the strongest decks in our own metagame. Indeed, the most successful decks in Japan were archetypes we’re well acquainted with: [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card], and Mewtwo and Mew-GX / Malamar were the top trio. However, there were some rogue archetypes who enjoyed occasional success.

One such deck that caught my attention featured Mewtwo and Mew-GX with a variety of Pokemon-GX attackers, including [card name=”Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Vileplume-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”4″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Raichu and Alolan Raichu-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card]. The deck had no Energy acceleration and its Energy lineup was four [card name=”Aurora Energy” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”186″ c=”name”][/card] and four [card name=”Unit Energy GFW” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card]. It included a [card name=”Quagsire” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card] line to move Energy from one Pokemon to another, two Zeraora-GX to switch your Pokemon freely (move an Aurora Energy to your Active Pokemon with Quagsire’s Ability to retreat your Active Pokemon using Zeraora-GX’s Ability) and [card name=”Venusaur and Snivy-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”210″ c=”name”][/card] to pull your opponent’s benched Pokemon to the Active Spot. In case you’re confused, Venusaur and Snivy-GX’s Shining Vine Ability does work with Special Energy that provide Grass Energy (I heard it was ruled differently by a judge at Dallas Regionals but that was a mistake). Once you have pulled your opponent’s benched Pokemon to the Active Spot, you can retreat Venusaur and Snivy-GX and move Energy to the new attacker. Unlike [card name=”Great Catcher” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”192″ c=”name”][/card], you can target any Pokemon with this Ability, which makes it closer to [card name=”Ninetales” set=”Team Up” no=”16″ c=”name”][/card]’ Nine Temptations in utility.

I only saw this deck once when looking at Top 8 results from Japan’s City Leagues (although not all Top 8 decks were known in most cases), but it did win the tournament it was played in so I was intrigued. What made me very interested was that unlike most decks, this one had the potential to get better when transposed to our own format. In the current Japanese format, Rainbow Energy is not legal (since it is flagged as a “Sun & Moon” card, and rotated out along with other cards from the original Sun & Moon set). This means that we could actually play up to 12 Energy rather than eight that can activate Shining Vine, be moved with Quagsire and power up many different attacks.

I had to try this deck. Most rogue concepts didn’t have my attention because I figured if they were good, they would have been played in Japan. This can be wrong of course; as much as I look to the Japanese metagame for inspiration, it would be ridiculous to claim their knowledge is absolute. To give an example, [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] decks with [card name=”Triple Acceleration Energy” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”190″ c=”name”][/card] was popular last season but they never included [card name=”Naganadel-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card] for Stinger GX. That idea came from the Western world with Henry Brand and Tord Reklev coming up with it independently at the North America International Championships. However for this specific deck, there was a good reason why it wouldn’t be played much in Japan but could be better outside of it.

Soon after Sword & Shield was released on PTCGO, a friend of mine told me Joe Bernard had been playing a similar concept on his stream including Sol Burst [card name=”Solgaleo-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card]. I realised this was another card that was absent from the Japanese format that we could include. It solved the issue of having no Energy acceleration (an issue against an opponent with multiple [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card]) and allowed us to take advantage of playing more Energy. A perfect fit for this deck!

The Sol Burst Engine

[cardimg name=”Solgaleo-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”89″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

With Solgaleo-GX added to the deck, the game plan tended to look like this: If you’re going second, use Sol Burst GX on turn 1 to get plenty of Energy in play. Get Quagsire as soon as possible, then use whatever attack you need depending on the situation. To make Sol Burst GX a reality, it was necessary to build the list around it. I started by including four [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card] and four [card name=”Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card]. Playing both Switch and [card name=”Zeraora-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card] might seem redundant but it’s actually fine. Switch lets us deal with Special Conditions (such as Raichu and Alolan Raichu’s Tandem Shock’s Paralysis) and it’s better for Venusaur and Snivy-GX. It’s possible to Switch into it, attach an Energy, then manually retreat into a better attacker.

Although Sol Burst GX is a fantastic attack going second, you may not need it if you go first. There are good attacks to use if you have two Energy like Vileplume-GX’s Massive Bloom. 180 damage on the second turn is powerful and it’s an OHKO against an opposing Mewtwo and Mew-GX. As long as you can conserve Energy by switching to another attacker when your Mewtwo and Mew-GX gets damaged, then you don’t need the explosive Energy acceleration of Sol Burst GX.

However, that does bring two questions to mind. First, how can we guarantee saving our Energy? If you’re attaching one Energy per turn, any KO is very dangerous so you need to make your deck defensive. For this reason, [card name=”Big Charm” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”158″ c=”name”][/card] becomes an important part of the deck. At 300 HP, it is much harder for your opponent’s Pokemon like Zacian V or Raichu and Alolan Raichu-GX to OHKO Mewtwo and Mew-GX. [card name=”Chaotic Swell” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”187″ c=”name”][/card] completes the picture, since it prevents the opponent from playing [card name=”Lysandre Labs” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”111″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Shrine of Punishment” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”143″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Power Plant” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card] (although the latter is not seen much anymore).

Second, is there a good GX attack to use if we’re not using Sol Burst GX? We have access to basically any GX attack in the game thanks to our Energy lineup! There are plenty of situational options (you can use Vileplume-GX’s Allergic Explosion GX to donk an 80-or-less-HP Pokemon), but one of the best attacks in the game is Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX’s Altered Creation GX. You shouldn’t use it all the time on turn 2, but it makes sense in plenty of matchups.

Let’s take a classic matchup: Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX / Zacian V. My testing group focused on that deck as it was the best performer in our testing and one we expected to face a lot of (shoutout to Bert Wolters, who played the Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX side of this matchup far more than one should be expected to). If you go first as Rainbow Mewtwo, you can win with the following line of play: Use Altered Creation GX on turn 2 and they’ll use Altered Creation GX on turn 2 as well. Then, use Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX’s Kaleidostorm to KO Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX on turn 3 for four Prizes, moving the Energy to safe targets on your Bench. If Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX has a Big Charm, Kaleidostorm is a KO thanks to the extra damage from Altered Creation GX. The opponent can retaliate with Brave Blade to KO Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX for four Prizes but you can KO Zacian V by copying [card name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card]’s Flare Strike or Solgaleo-GX’s Sunsteel Strike and win the game. There can be some complications if Zacian V can KO whatever has the Energy on your Bench instead of Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX but overall, this plan works well.

Against [card name=”Cinccino” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card] Mill, you can use Altered Creation GX as well. Then, use Venusaur and Snivy-GX’s Shining Vine Abilty to bring up Cinccino or [card name=”Magcargo” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card] from the opponent’s Bench and take a KO with any attack. You only need to do this three times to win. If Crushing Hammer delays you in the beginning, you should have enough time to do so. [card name=”Galarian Obstagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card], a pain for many Basic Pokemon decks is no issue at all. Use Altered Creation GX, then copy [card name=”Greninja-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM197″ c=”name”][/card]’s Mist Slash for 160 damage to KO a Galarian Obstagoon. Again, you only need to KO three Pokemon to win.

Overall, having access to a variety of options including some of the best GX attacks in the game makes Rainbow Mewtwo a fantastic deck to play against any unexpected deck. And yet…

Fear of the Unknown

Here’s the issue with the deck. In theory, you can deal with anything. But you can’t prepare against every potential opponent because there’s not enough space in the deck. Even decks you have a clear plan against can counter you if they play some techs. This doesn’t make Rainbow Mewtwo bad but it means that it was a very risky choice for the first Sword & Shield format event. When you don’t know what people’s lists will look like, it’s much easier to find yourself surprised by an inclusion you didn’t anticipate. For example, a Zacian V equipped with a [card name=”Metal Frying Pan” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card] can survive Reshiram and Charizard-GX’s Flare Strike if you haven’t used [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card]’s Altered Creation GX (if you went second and used Solgaleo-GX’s Sol Burst GX on turn 1). If you know that most people don’t play Metal Frying Pan in Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX / Zacian V, then no problem! But if you’re not sure or if you think pure Metal variants will be played (more likely to include Metal Frying Pan), then it complicates matters since you now need to include some way to deal with it.

Perhaps a better example is Shadow Box [card name=”Mimikyu” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card], a well-known threat to Mewtwo and Mew-GX. Mimikyu can be played with [card name=”Shrine of Punishment” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”143″ c=”name”][/card] to activate its Ability. But Mimikyu is a problem for this deck because we play [card name=”Rainbow Energy” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”151″ c=”name”][/card]. When you have no choice but to attach Rainbow Energy on the first turn, the damage counter from Rainbow Energy will activate Mimikyu’s Shadow Box Ability.

The usual solution to this is [card name=”Stealthy Hood” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”186″ c=”name”][/card]. However, [card name=”Big Charm” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”158″ c=”name”][/card] seems more important in the deck for reasons I explained above so it’s hard to find space for another Tool. There’s another solution: [card name=”Indeedee V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card]. Indeedee V can heal residual damage from Rainbow Energy or Shrine of Punishment to protect your Pokemon from Mimikyu. It’s a decent attacker against other Mewtwo and Mew-GX decks too. It’s Psychic attack OHKOs a Mewtwo and Mew-GX with three Energy and deals with [card name=”Latios-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card]. Indeedee V doesn’t have Psychic weakness and isn’t a Tag Team Pokemon-GX, so it’s pretty good in the Prize trade. The downside is that it takes a spot on the Bench. Since you want [card name=”Quagsire” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card], Zeraora-GX, [card name=”Venusaur and Snivy-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”1″ c=”name”][/card] and obviously [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] in most situations, your Bench tends to be pretty full. For this reason, I’d rather not include Indeedee V, but can I afford to make this choice? This depends on whether I expect a lot of Mimikyu. It’s hard to predict in an unknown metagame. For the Oceania International Championships, I’d err on the side of caution and include it, but you can’t do that for every possible threat to the deck.

Overall, Rainbow Mewtwo is a dangerous deck to play if you’re not sure what you’re going to face. But in a theoretical environment where you know what everyone is playing, there is no deck in the Standard format that would be better to play because you can tweak it to adapt to exactly what you expect. That makes it much stronger towards the end of the format when lists tend to become standardized.

The Rainbow Mewtwo & Mew-GX List

Thank you for making it so far in to the article (or if you skipped to this section)! I will now reveal my Rainbow Mewtwo decklist. Again, I wish to stress that this is not the perfect decklist as I don’t think there is one (or I haven’t found it yet). It’s one I felt comfortable with and I think embodies the strengths of the deck. However, if you plan to play this deck you must be prepared more than with any other deck to change it to adapt to the environment.

[decklist name=”Rainbow Mew3″ amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Quagsire” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”26″][pokemon amt=”19″]4x [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM191″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Quagsire” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”26″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Wooper” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”96″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Zeraora-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”86″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Venusaur and Snivy-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”1″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Solgaleo-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”89″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”20″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Vileplume-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”4″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Greninja-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM197″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Kingdra-GX” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”18″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”30″]4x [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”178″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Guzma and Hala” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”193″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Cherish Ball” set=”Unified Minds” no=”191″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Pokémon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”152″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Evolution Incense” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Tag Call” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”206″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Switch” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Big Charm” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”158″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Air Balloon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Chaotic Swell” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”187″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”11″]4x [card name=”Aurora Energy” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”186″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Rainbow Energy” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”151″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Unit Energy GFW” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Weakness Guard Energy” set=”Unified Minds” no=”213″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

First, you might be surprised about the amount of Pokemon searching Item cards. There are four [card name=”Cherish Ball” set=”Unified Minds” no=”191″ c=”name”][/card], four [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”name”][/card], two [card name=”Tag Call” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card], two [card name=”Pokémon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”152″ c=”name”][/card] and two [card name=”Evolution Incense” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card]. The deck needs to set up a lot of Pokemon and it helps with the goal of a turn 1 [card name=”Solgaleo-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card] Sol Burst GX (as for Quagsire, it’s not needed on turn 2 but it’s good to have by turn 3). Getting Solgaleo-GX into the discard pile can be difficult, which is why I play two copies of Evolution Incense. Once you have Solgaleo-GX in your hand, you can use Quick Ball, [card name=”Aurora Energy” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”186″ c=”name”][/card] or Dedenne-GX to discard it. In addition, there are plenty of targets for Evolution Incense in the deck so it’s not a dead card afterwards.

Tag Call can grab any of the Tag Team Pokemon-GX in this deck (there are four of them including [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card]) and [card name=”Guzma and Hala” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”193″ c=”name”][/card], which can be used to search for an Energy card. Guzma and Hala is the reason why I replaced one [card name=”Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card] with an [card name=”Air Balloon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card]. You can use Guzma and Hala to find Air Balloon to retreat a Pokemon with a Retreat cost of two or less that you started the game with. A single Tag Call potentially gets you Mewtwo and Mew-GX, Aurora Energy and Air Balloon — that’s everything you need except for Solgaleo-GX!

11 Energy is a good amount for the deck. That’s enough to use Sol Burst GX and have enough Energy to attach one copy every turn of the game. The deck has one [card name=”Weakness Guard Energy” set=”Unified Minds” no=”213″ c=”name”][/card] that can be searched with Sol Burst GX, which is enough to offer protection in the Mewtwo and Mew-GX mirror match.

As for the Pokemon, I’ve already covered the core of the deck. [card name=”Greninja-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM197″ c=”name”][/card] offers a safe attack against any deck that tries to play defensively like [card name=”Galarian Obstagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Lucario and Melmetal-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card]. [card name=”Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] can be used against [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] because of the latter’s weakness to Fairy type, but Kaleidostorm is a good attack to use in general to save your Energy by moving it to your Pokemon on the Bench (and can be moved by Quagsire next turn). [card name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] has two strong attacks. Outrage is very efficient, especially in combination with [card name=”Big Charm” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”158″ c=”name”][/card]. Zacian V can’t OHKO Mewtwo and Mew-GX so there’s a good chance it has to hit you, so you can return KO with Outrage. Flare Strike deals a solid 230 damage with a negligible downside. Note that you can use Reshiram and Charizard-GX itself to attack if needed, it’s especially useful against Shadow Box [card name=”Mimikyu” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card].

This is a good time to mention an unexpected weakness of the deck. For all the options you have at your disposal, there’s no great way to deal super-high damage. In normal circumstances, Flare Strike’s 230 damage (or 260 damage after Altered Creation GX) is the ceiling. That’s why [card name=”Kingdra-GX” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”18″ c=”name”][/card] is included as the “unlimited damage” option. Kingdra-GX lets you deal more damage if you need to close out the game. However, this requires you to commit many Energy cards to Mewtwo and Mew-GX. To KO Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX, you need six Energy. That’s perfectly doable after Sol Burst GX and it’s actually a solid option if you go second against Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX / Zacian V because they shouldn’t have a way to KO you back), but it’s risky.

Matchups

Let’s talk a little bit about how to play the deck against some popular matchups.

Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX / Zacian V

[cardimg name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Going first is better in this matchup. You should be good if you can use Mewtwo and Mew-GX to copy Altered Creation GX on turn 2 and Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX’s Kaleidostorm on turn 3 to KO your opponent’s Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX. It’s ideal if you can move your Energy to a safe target, such as a Mewtwo and Mew-GX with Big Charm. If you move them all to a non-safe target, there’s a risk your opponent KOs it with [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card]. If you spread the Energy around, they could KO [card name=”Quagsire” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card] to prevent you from moving them back. Count your opponent’s [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card] to know if there’s a big risk they KO a non Pokemon-GX on your Bench. If you feel confident, you can move the Energy cards to Quagsire and hope they don’t have a pair of Custom Catcher to KO it. [card name=”Heatran-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card] is a cool tech to deal with this situation. You can spread your Energy cards around and if Quagsire is KO’d, you can use the Burning Road Ability to move all your Energy to Heatran-GX and KO your opponent’s Zacian V. If they have a [card name=”Metal Frying Pan” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card], you can use Venusaur and Snivy-GX’s Shining Vine to bring up a [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] or something on your opponent’s Bench to take your last two Prizes on an easy target.

If you go second, go for Solgaleo-GX’s Sol Burst GX. Ideally, you can use Kingdra-GX’s Hydro Pump to take a big KO on Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX on turn 2, then ride the momentum to a victory. Otherwise, try to target Zacian V as it will be the main threat. In my experience, I would consider this matchup favored if you go first and unfavored if you go second. But in both cases, it’s pretty close.

Mewtwo & Mew-GX

Go second and use Sol Burst GX on turn 1. Don’t forget to attach a Weakness Guard Energy to your Active Mewtwo and Mew-GX. We didn’t practice against the [card name=”Welder” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”189″ c=”name”][/card] version of the deck for the Oceania International Championships, so I’ll focus mainly on the [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] variant. Your opponent’s Mewtwo and Mew-GX shouldn’t be an issue since you can KO it with many attacks. The main threat are the deck’s secondary attackers such as [card name=”Trevenant and Dusknoir-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM217″ c=”name”][/card] and especially [card name=”Ultra Necrozma-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card]. There’s no secret to this matchup, just take KOs faster than your opponent. If you go first, be mindful of a turn 1 [card name=”Gengar and Mimikyu-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] Horror House GX. Play your Item cards as much as possible and try to end your turn with a [card name=”Rainbow Energy” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”151″ c=”name”][/card] or Aurora Energy attached to Mewtwo and Mew-GX and a Solgaleo-GX in the discard pile. Now if your opponent uses Horror House GX, you can use Sol Burst GX and attach the Weakness Guard Energy to protect yourself for the next turn.

Pikachu & Zekrom-GX

Unfortunately, this matchup is unfavored with the current list. There’s no easy way to KO the big Tag Team Pokemon-GX and [card name=”Electropower” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”172″ c=”name”][/card] means they can take a big KO on you. You’re defenseless against [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card]’s Tag Bolt GX, which can KO a [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] on your Bench or your Quagsire. You can try adding [card name=”Mega Lopunny and Jigglypuff-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card] to help take KOs quickly, but your opponent can play around it with Big Charm on Pikachu and Zekrom-GX or by playing minimal Pokemon-GX. The coolest tech would be the Fighting-type [card name=”Quagsire” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] but it does not KO Pikachu and Zekrom-GX with Big Charm attached.

Blacephalon

This is another bad matchup. As with any non Pokemon-GX deck, you need to use Altered Creation GX to make the Prize trade more favorable but [card name=”Blacephalon” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”32″ c=”name”][/card] is fast enough to KO you after Altered Creation GX. Plus, you won’t have time to reattach Energy cards and take KOs especially without [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card] in the list. [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card] helps to disrupt your opponent’s hand, but it’s not reliable enough. If you can, use Altered Creation with Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX itself and attach a Big Charm to it. Having to discard seven instead of six Fire Energy is sometimes too much for Blacephalon. Otherwise, the best tech to use is [card name=”Alolan Persian-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”129″ c=”name”][/card] (and replacing a [card name=”Wooper” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”96″ c=”name”][/card] with [card name=”Ditto Prism Star” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card]). Alolan Persian-GX’s Ability makes it immune to Blacephalon and [card name=”Blacephalon-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card]. Other attackers can’t deal enough damage to OHKO Alolan Persian-GX. I’m not sure whether the big cat is enough to win the matchup, since Blacephalon can snipe targets with [card name=”Cramorant V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card] or use [card name=”Phione” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] to bring up other Pokemon.

Cinccino Mill

This is a favorable matchup. Altered Creation GX and Shining Vine are fantastic tools against [card name=”Cinccino” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card] Mill. Set up Venusaur and Snivy-GX and Quagsire as fast as you can and you should be good. [card name=”Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card] protects you from defensive manoeuvers like [card name=”Mareep” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card] combined with [card name=”Slumbering Forest” set=”Unified Minds” no=”207″ c=”name”][/card] .

Galarian Obstagoon

Use Altered Creation GX and [card name=”Greninja-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM197″ c=”name”][/card]’s Mist Slash to KO [card name=”Galarian Obstagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card] without any issue, just be careful about [card name=”Yveltal-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card]. You can use Rainbow Energy to screw with the math to protect against Yveltal-GX’s Doom Count GX — if your opponent puts a damage counter on Mewtwo and Mew-GX, put a second one with Rainbow Energy. That way, they can’t use Galarian Obstagoon’s Ability to reach four damage counters.

Ability Reshiram & Charizard-GX

This is another matchup where it’s better to go second. Overall, Ability [card name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”20″ c=”custom”]Zard[/card] is not the best matchup but it is winnable. You can’t play Venusaur and Snivy-GX in this matchup (unless your opponent fills their board without a [card name=”Vulpix” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”22″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Ninetales” set=”Team Up” no=”16″ c=”name”][/card]) so you’ll have to deal with whatever is in the Active Spot. Try not to play down too many Pokemon to protect yourself from Mega Lopunny and Jigglypuff-GX.

A Paradox to Solve

Did something strike you as odd when you read the above section? There’s something that bothers me about the deck, something that ultimately stopped me from playing it and that I think becomes apparent when you write down how each matchup goes. Turn 1 [card name=”Solgaleo-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card] Sol Burst GX is amazing. In one turn, you get all the Energy you need in one game and it justifies playing the Energy line we have.

And yet… While there are plenty of matchups which are won thanks to [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card]’s Altered Creation GX, there’s no matchup where I feel like Sol Burst GX helps me a lot. It lets me attack on turn 2 and not worry if a Pokemon gets KO’d. But having six Energy in play on turn 1 isn’t the game-changer it sounds like. There’s no perfect attack to use against [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card], Ability Zard or [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card] even with six multi-type Energy in play. There’s no OHKO attack apart from [card name=”Kingdra-GX” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”18″ c=”name”][/card]’s very risky attack. [card name=”Blastoise-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”35″ c=”name”][/card]’s Rocket Splash is another slightly more Energy-efficient option, but is using Sol Burst GX to put six Energy in play worth it if you’re going to shuffle them back in the deck?

There are other attacking options. [card name=”Flygon-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”110″ c=”name”][/card] can deal 240 damage if there’s a Stadium in play but too often it’s not enough and its anti-synergic with the way Chaotic Swell works. That’s my issue with the deck. We’re using something that should be super-powerful but we’re not actually winning that much with it. This is the paradox of Rainbow Mewtwo.

Unfortunately at this time of writing I don’t have a solid answer to that paradox. I’ve tried to focus the deck on Sol Burst GX by adding a second Solgaleo-GX and I’ve tried not to focus on it too much (but play cards that help to get it on turn 1). I haven’t found the right answer. However, there’s one more idea to explore.

The original Japanese player (I don’t know her real name, but she goes by Be) whose list I took inspiration from didn’t have access to Solgaleo-GX or [card name=”Rainbow Energy” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”151″ c=”name”][/card]. As a result, she built her list to save Energy cards as much as possible and prevent KOs or losing Energy. That’s why she uses [card name=”Big Charm” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”158″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card]’s Kaleidostorm. Since she plays less Energy cards and has no way to accelerate them, she focuses on low-Energy efficient attacks such as [card name=”Vileplume-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”4″ c=”name”][/card]’s Massive Bloom, Reshiram and Charizard-GX’s Outrage,[card name=”Umbreon and Darkrai-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card]’s Black Lance (in another version of her deck) and [card name=”Raichu and Alolan Raichu-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card]’s Tandem Shock.

Maybe that’s the best way to play the deck. The benefit is we don’t have to focus on Mewtwo and Mew-GX and use other Tag Team Pokemon-GX attackers directly so [card name=”Mimikyu” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] isn’t a threat. Of course, this approach has its own problems. [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Faba” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”173″ c=”name”][/card] can set us back a lot if we don’t have the option to put a bunch of Energy cards in play in one turn. Can we include Solgaleo-GX in a defensive-minded list? It’s not as easy. You need to add [card name=”Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card] and more Energy cards to make it work.

I don’t have all the answers but the deck is good and has a lot of potential. Henry Brand played a similar concept to a Top 64 finish at the Oceania International Championships. His list was pretty different since he didn’t play [card name=”Quagsire” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card]. That freed space on the Bench and made the setup easier, but it was harder to recover from a [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card] or use [card name=”Venusaur and Snivy-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”1″ c=”name”][/card]. His Pokemon lineup was different too but that’s a topic for another day! For what it’s worth, I tried his take on the deck as well and ultimately preferred the Quagsire version.

I’ll keep working on this deck. Hopefully, in a few weeks, I’ll have a new and updated version to post! Don’t hesitate to experiment with it as well. I spent a lot of time working on this deck and I would love to see anyone doing well with it. Do try your own changes to the list.

Finally, I would like to thank my friend Antoine for his help on the deck. Since he lives in Japan, he helped me find information on the original Japanese list including an article by Be, which he partially translated for me. I would probably have given up on this deck sooner without his help accessing the secrets of the Japanese metagame! Of course, I’d like to thank Be as well for writing about her deck.

Thanks for reading!

–Stéphane

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