Here Comes the Scoop Up Net — Ideas for the Rebel Clash Format

By: Stephane Ivanoff · Posted Apr 27, 2020 at 9:06 PM · 0 Comments

The release of Rebel Clash is approaching and it is with a total lack of originality that, like every writer, I’ll be writing my initial thoughts on what this set will bring. I will cover the most influential cards, discuss some of the most promising deck archetypes and give decklists for them, as well as some general ideas of where the metagame is headed.

Overall, Rebel Clash in not an amazing set in my opinion. There are plenty of Pokemon V in this set which are either too weak to play, or to build a deck around that won’t do anything particularly strong. Take Toxtricity VMAX, for example. Sure, you could build a deck around it alongside the new Garbodor, but is it interesting to have a Pokemon VMAX that hits for 240 damage (plus Poison)? Does it make any sense to run something like this instead of [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card]? Probably not. I’m not saying it can’t have success at the local level, but it’s not a deck that does anything unique and that doesn’t seem very competitive. I feel like I would waste both your time and mine if I spent time on every similar Pokemon in the set.

Instead, let’s start with the cards that are most likely to have an effect on the metagame: The Trainer cards. Since these can be played in any deck, powerful Trainer cards tend to shape up the metagame more than most Pokemon. Think of how [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”name”][/card] gives every deck a way to search for its main Pokemon or how [card name=”Lillie’s Poké Doll” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”197″ c=”name”][/card] paved the way for a bunch of Mill and similar archetypes.

Trainers

[premium]

Boss’s Orders

Boss’s Orders is a reprint of [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card] and finally provides an easy, universal gust effect in the Standard format. Like Lysandre, Boss’s Orders should see play in almost every deck. The exceptions are decks that are too busy playing other Supporter cards (most likely [card name=”Welder” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”189″ c=”name”][/card]) or decks with an alternate gust effect, like Nine Temptations [card name=”Ninetales” set=”Team Up” no=”16″ c=”name”][/card]. In the short period of time when Lysandre was in the format without [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”EX FireRed and LeafGreen” no=”100″ c=”name”][/card], two or three copies were included in decks and I expect Boss’s Orders to be the same.

Speaking of VS Seeker, the new Eldegoss V has an Ability that lets you reuse Supporters. It’s not as good as [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] because you need to naturally draw your Boss’s Orders (or [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”178″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Mallow and Lana” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”198″ c=”name”][/card], etc.) before you can get it back with Eldegoss V. That said, it’s a good card and an excellent Quick Ball target in the late game: being able to reuse your Boss’s Orders with a Quick Ball means you are less affected by an opponent’s well-timed [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card] play. However, it means that you need to play several copies of your Supporter cards. This isn’t Expanded where you can play only one Lysandre, access it with Tapu Lele-GX when you need it, and get it back with VS Seeker later.

Boss’s Orders’s simple presence should have an important effect on the metagame. Suddenly, no Pokemon is safe on the Bench. This should be particularly good against Mill decks. They can’t hide behind Lillie’s Poke Doll and their [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] can be brought up and KO’d. It’s worth noting that like [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card], Eldegoss V has an attack that lets it leave the board (in this case, to go back in the deck). In a very slow game, you can use that to access its Ability several times. This gives you a theoretically infinite supply of Boss’s Orders against Mill, Control and Stall decks. There is another reason to expect Mill to struggle in the upcoming metagame, which I’ll detail further later in this article.

Apart from Mill, Boss’s Orders is strong against decks that rely on Pokemon V, since these are immune to [card name=”Great Catcher” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”192″ c=”name”][/card]. Zacian V can’t be used in any deck with impunity now! This is a good thing because Pokemon V and Pokemon VMAX are about to become a bigger part of the metagame.

Tool Scapper

One card getting a reprint is [card name=”Tool Scrapper” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”116″ c=”name”][/card]. This is a welcome addition as there was no way to deal with Tool cards apart from [card name=”Lysandre Labs” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”111″ c=”name”][/card], which could be shut down by [card name=”Chaotic Swell” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”187″ c=”name”][/card]. I’m not sure how important Tool Scrapper will be, but in theory it means that every Tool, especially reactive ones that have an effect on the opponent’s turn like [card name=”Lucky Egg” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”167″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Metal Frying Pan” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card] get weaker. Will decks bother to include Tool Scrapper? It depends. For example, I assume [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] / Zacian V decks will use Tool Scrapper to get rid of [card name=”Big Charm” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”158″ c=”name”][/card], which prevents a KO in the [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] matchup. Given [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card]’s popularity, Tool Scrapper will probably find some utility in plenty of matchups to get rid of an [card name=”Escape Board” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] but I don’t think it makes sense to include it for that; you need to have a more specific goal in mind.

Scoop Up Net

Scoop Up Net is a new card with huge potential. Alongside Twin Energy, Scoop Up Net provides some help to one-Prize decks. While it’s hard to find a good use for Twin Energy right now, Scoop Up Net is fantastic and will see play.

If you’re not convinced, consider its synergy with Jirachi. Scoop Up Net essentially lets you use an additional Stellar Wish. For example, if you have two Jirachi in play and one has an Escape Board attached, you can send the Jirachi without the Escape Board to the Active Spot, use its Stellar Wish Ability, then play Scoop Up Net on it. Now you can send the Jirachi with Escape Board to the Active Spot, use a second Stellar Wish, then retreat to an attacker.

So far, Scoop Up Net basically behaves like a [card name=”Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card], but it gets better. If you have a Switch in hand, you can do the same as before, but after the second Stellar Wish you bench the Jirachi you brought up earlier, retreat to it, use Stellar Wish a third time and finally Switch to your attacker. This way, you’ve used Stellar Wish three times with only two Jirachi in play! If you think this scenario doesn’t happen, you haven’t played [card name=”Blacephalon” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”32″ c=”name”][/card]. I sometimes have to bench three Jirachi because I’m digging for a Welder or a [card name=”Fire Crystal” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”173″ c=”name”][/card].

Scoop Up Net is worth considering in every deck that uses Jirachi, but that’s not all. It lets you re-use any come-into-play Abilities! Obviously it doesn’t work on Dedenne-GX or Eldegoss V which are two-Prize Pokemon, but the next best thing is to reuse [card name=”Mewtwo” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM214″ c=”name”][/card]’s Mind Report. You can get back a Supporter card you need, then draw it with Jirachi’s Stellar Wish, [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card]’s Primate Wisdom or some other draw option such as [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card]. This makes for a nice consistency engine with only one-Prize Pokemon!

Blacephalon

I’m a Blacephalon addict by now, so let’s start by talking about this deck. As a one-Prize deck, it showcases Scoop Up Net’s power very well. The decklist below won a non-official tournament (since the official circuit was stopped) of about 100 players. As you’ll see, Scoop Up Net is the only card from Rebel Clash in this deck, but it changes the build a lot.

[decklist name=”Rebel Clash Blace” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Blacephalon” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”32″][pokemon amt=”14″]4x [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Blacephalon” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”32″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mewtwo” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM214″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Oricorio-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”95″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x Mr. Mime (DET #11)1x [card name=”Jirachi Prism Star” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”32″]4x [card name=”Welder” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”189″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Fiery Flint” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Fire Crystal” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”173″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x Scoop Up Net (RBC #165)3x [card name=”Switch” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Energy Retrieval” set=”Shining Legends” no=”59″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Escape Board” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”122″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Great Catcher” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”192″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Ordinary Rod” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Heat Factory Prism Star” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”178″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Ultra Space” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”115″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”14″]14x [card name=”Fire Energy” set=”EX Emerald” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”14″][/card][/energy][/decklist][cardimg name=”Blacephalon” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”32″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

You may have noticed some unusual Pokemon in here, namely Mr. Mime and [card name=”Jirachi Prism Star” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card]! This combination is not new. The idea is that you get Jirachi Prism Star in hand, you put it on top of your deck with [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card]’s Primate Wisdom, then you swap it with a Prize with Mr. Mime’s Ability. When you draw that Prize, you get an extra Prize!

The reason why we now this combination appear successfully now is because of Scoop Up Net. Now if you start the game with Mr. Mime or Jirachi Prism Star, you can get either card back to your hand. You can use two copies of Scoop Up Net to pick up both cards and replay the combo, although this doesn’t happen often. Because of Scoop Up Net, you’re already using Oranguru and Mind Report Mewtwo (which replaces [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”172″ c=”name”][/card] as a faster way to get back Welder), so adding Mr. Mime and Jirachi Prism Star is easier!

Compared to the way the deck is played pre-Rebel Clash, this decklist is very streamlined. Plenty of one-of cards have disappeared:

[card name=”Victini V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card] was a Mill tech, but Mill isn’t expected to be a big part of the new format so it’s not needed. I’m sure someone will figure out a new way of playing a Control deck, so it might return to the deck in future, but at the start of the format cutting it seems like a safe play.
Similarly, [card name=”Phione” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] is most useful against [card name=”Lillie’s Poké Doll” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”197″ c=”name”][/card] or to avoid Tool cards like [card name=”Spell Tag” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”190″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Lucky Egg” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”167″ c=”name”][/card], but the former should see less play because of Boss’s Orders and the latter because of [card name=”Tool Scrapper” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”116″ c=”name”][/card].
[card name=”Absol” set=”Team Up” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] is less relevant now that Jirachi is paired with both Switch and Scoop Up Net. It’s far easier for Jirachi to retreat whatever its Retreat Cost.
As for [card name=”Blacephalon-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Cramorant V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card], I don’t have a strong argument for why they’re not in this list. Because the Mr. Mime and Jirachi Prism Star combo requires space on the Bench, all non-essential Pokemon are on the cutting block. Blacephalon-GX gives the deck an easy way to draw its last Prize, so I would want to include it.
[card name=”Beast Bringer” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card] loses power as more and more non Pokemon-GX decks are introduced. Dragapult VMAX plays few to no Pokemon-GX, while [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] can use Boltund V instead of Pikachu and Zekrom-GX as its first attacker. The exact strength of Beast Bringer will depend on the metagame, but it’s easy to see why one would remove it.
Lucky Egg loses power when it can be removed by Tool Scrapper, or easily circumvented by Boss’s Orders.
With [card name=”Escape Board” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] the only Tool left in the deck, [card name=”Adventure Bag” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”167″ c=”name”][/card] doesn’t make sense anymore.

In the finals of the aftermentioned tournament, Blacephalon defeated another Blacephalon deck running Mr. Mime and Jirachi Prism Star too. That list had some differences, since it was running Cramorant V and [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card], but the fact that the finals was a mirror match proves that this deck concept is solid, but can be refined.

Here’s my first attempt to make changes to the list above:

Remove One Zacian V, Add One Dedenne-GX

The argument for [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] over [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] hasn’t changed. Zacian V is only strong on the first turn, while Dedenne-GX is a much better play to get out of a bad hand. In addition, Zacian V is worse now as it isn’t safe because of Boss’s Orders.

Remove One Blacephalon, Add One Cramorant V

Replacing an attacker with another attacker, since three Blacephalon are usually enough with [card name=”Ordinary Rod” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card]. Many decks are using Dedenne-GX, so Cramorant V provides a lot of value and its Beak Catch is a strong setup attack.

Remove One Energy Retrieval, Add One Blacephalon-GX

Again, I don’t want to add too many Pokemon to the deck because I recognize that the Mr. Mime and Jirachi Prism Star combo takes space on the Bench, but Blacephalon-GX is too good not to play. Not having a GX attack in the deck when there is a great one easily available seems like a waste.

Remove One Fire Energy, Add One Stadium Nav

[card name=”Stadium Nav” set=”Unified Minds” no=”208″ c=”name”][/card] doesn’t seem important, but every time I remove it from my list the deck seems to suffer a slight drop in consistency and I start losing games. I do like the 14th Energy and maybe it’s more important now that there are Pokemon with more than 300 HP in the metagame, so it’s a change I could see myself reverting. But at the same time, since the deck now has a mechanic to take extra Prize cards you need less Energy over the course of a game.

Dragapult VMAX

If there is one strong new archetype to come out of Rebel Clash, it’s Dragapult VMAX. The deck doesn’t have anything revolutionary going on, Dragapult VMAX is an efficient attacker that deals powerful damage to the Active Pokemon while spreading damage to the Bench. Since it’s Max Phantom attack effect involves damage counters, it can’t be stopped by [card name=”Mew” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card]. In addition to Dragapult VMAX, Horror Energy and [card name=”Shrine of Punishment” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”143″ c=”name”][/card] can add more damage counters to the board. Horror Energy synergizes well with Dragapult VMAX’s 320 HP. Most attackers will need to hit into it several times to KO it, which means they’ll take more damage from Horror Energy.

Dragapult VMAX is the other reason I alluded to that spells doom for Mill decks. You can’t hide behind a [card name=”Lillie’s Poké Doll” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”197″ c=”name”][/card] when Max Phantom puts damage counters on your Bench anyway, removing a [card name=”Cinccino” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Magcargo” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card] in two turns. Since Mew, Mill’s usual answer to Bench damage doesn’t do anything here, there’s little it can do once Dragapult VMAX is set up. And it doesn’t require a lot to set up.

Dragapult VMAX will hurt [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card] decks. They hit for Weakness (Max Phantom is an OHKO if there is a single extra damage counter, say from Shrine of Punishment), while Dragapult VMAX is weak to Darkness-type instead so Mewtwo and Mew-GX has no easy answer to it. We should see a sharp decline in Mewtwo and Mew-GX decks when Rebel Clash is out.

After the cancellation of the Japanese circuit, an exhibition invitational tournament called the “Special League” was held featuring eight players, either pro players or Pokemon celebrities. Takuya Yoneda ended up winning the event with Dragapult VMAX, so if you heard about “Yoneda’s winning decklist”, it was only from an eight-player tournament, some of them not especially competitive. Here is the decklist:

[decklist name=”Rebel Clash Draga” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Dragalge” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”86″][pokemon amt=”18″]4x Dragapult VMAX (RBC #93)4x Dragapult V (RBC #92)3x [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mewtwo” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM214″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mew” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”76″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Phione” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”57″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Marshadow” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”81″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Galarian Zigzagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”117″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”33″]4x [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”178″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x Boss’s Orders (RBC #154)2x [card name=”Team Yell Grunt” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”184″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Mysterious Treasure” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”113″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x Scoop Up Net (RBC #165)3x [card name=”Switch” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Giant Bomb” set=”Unified Minds” no=”196″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Escape Board” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”122″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”9″]4x Horror Energy (RBC #172)5x [card name=”Psychic Energy” set=”EX Emerald” no=”105″ c=”deck2″ amt=”5″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

The deck uses [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] to set up and it can be played with Scoop Up Net, so you can see a similar engine to [card name=”Blacephalon” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”32″ c=”name”][/card]: Jirachi, [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card], Scoop Up Net, [card name=”Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Mewtwo” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM214″ c=”name”][/card]. This deck includes [card name=”Galarian Zigzagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card] whose Ability can be reused with Scoop Up Net as well.

The list includes [card name=”Giant Bomb” set=”Unified Minds” no=”196″ c=”name”][/card] to add more damage counters, but I’m not a huge fan of it. It’s not useful in every matchup (most notably, it doesn’t do anything in the mirror match) and it can be countered by Boss’s Orders or [card name=”Tool Scrapper” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”116″ c=”name”][/card]. Maybe Tool Scrapper won’t be a big part of the metagame, but in a blind meta it wouldn’t be a priority for me.

Yoneda didn’t play any Stadium card, relying instead on [card name=”Marshadow” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”81″ c=”name”][/card] to remove any important Stadium cards from his opponent (mainly [card name=”Heat Factory Prism Star” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”178″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Thunder Mountain Prism Star” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”191″ c=”name”][/card]). Other players chose to add Shrine of Punishment. While the value of one damage counter is less and less as Pokemon get higher HP, it can whittle down a [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] on the Bench to make it easier to KO with Max Phantom’s effect to place damage counters on your opponent’s Benched Pokemon.

You may be surprised to see [card name=”Team Yell Grunt” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”184″ c=”name”][/card] in the deck. Team Yell Grunt might become one of the most important Supporters in the upcoming metagame. Dragapult VMAX doesn’t have Energy acceleration. The way it achieves a turn 2 Max Phantom is by attaching an Energy card on turn 1 and attaching another on turn 2. In other words, playing Team Yell Grunt delays the whole deck by one turn. It can potentially remove a Horror Energy so you take less damage when you attack into Dragapult VMAX.

Another card affected by Team Yell Grunt is [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card]. It needs two Energy on turn 2 for Altered Creation GX, and Team Yell Grunt can be devastating to its strategy. That’s two very important archetypes that are hurt by Team Yell Grunt. You can remove a Mewtwo and Mew-GX’s [card name=”Weakness Guard Energy” set=”Unified Minds” no=”213″ c=”name”][/card] too.

In the finals of the Special League, Takuya Yoneda defeated Shintaro Ito in a mirror match. Despite the fact that Shintaro went first, Yoneda managed to get two consecutive Team Yell Grunt which let him take the lead in the game. Shintaro Ito was playing [card name=”Mallow and Lana” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”198″ c=”name”][/card] instead, which was useful later in the game but not enough to give him the win.

Dragapult VMAX isn’t the only deck that can run Team Yell Grunt. In fact, if any Mill or Control deck were to make a surprise appearance in the metagame, I’d expect them to play a high count of it. There are other cards that have a similar effect. Clefable can be used to deny Energy to the opponent, while [card name=”Giratina” set=”Unified Minds” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card] can remove Special Energy (such as Horror Energy) — unfortunately, both effects only work on the opponent’s Active Pokemon. Both Clefable and Giratina can be searched by [card name=”Mysterious Treasure” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card] and their Abilities can be reused via Scoop Up Net, so they could both make an appearance in Dragapult VMAX for the mirror match. Clefable is too slow to prevent an opponent from attacking, but if they have to reattach a Horror Energy several times to the Active Dragapult VMAX, they aren’t setting up another.

How can decks counter Team Yell Grunt and its imitators? Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX usually uses [card name=”Energy Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”162″ c=”name”][/card] to move Energy from Zacian V to Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX itself to power up Altered Creation GX in one turn. Dragapult VMAX has no form of Energy Acceleration, but it could run a thin line of [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] to have some as a tech. The addition of Malamar can power up [card name=”Blacephalon” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] in one turn, which seems like a pretty good attacker to use after the first Dragapult VMAX is KO’d since it can finish off several damaged Pokemon.

Taking all of this into account, I would suggest the following changes to the list above:

Remove three Giant Bomb, Add 1-1 Malamar, and One Psychic type Blacephalon

This may not be necessary, but I can see players trying to prey on Dragapult VMAX users by using Team Yell Grunt and similar cards, so the little Energy acceleration matters.

Remove One Galarian Zigzagoon, Add One Jirachi

With Scoop Up Net, you can make cool plays with two Jirachi (I explained above how to use three Stellar Wish with two Jirachi), so in my opinion, it’s better to run a full playset of Jirachi. Zigzagoon doesn’t seem impactful enough to play.

I see two more significant tweaks that can be made to the deck.

First, we could include the Mr. Mime and [card name=”Jirachi Prism Star” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] combo. Like in Blacephalon, we run Scoop Up Net and Oranguru already so the two cards fit very well in there. The main issue is the lack of space on the Bench. Unlike Blacephalon, Dragapult VMAX is an Evolution Pokemon so we can’t put it on the Bench and attack immediately with it. This means that one spot on the Bench (in addition to the Active position) will be taken by a Dragapult VMAX. In Blacephalon, we don’t need to Bench a backup attacker, since it’s possible to attack with a Blacephalon we just benched. If we have one Jirachi in play, this means that the last three spots on the Bench need to be exactly Oranguru, Mr. Mime, and Jirachi Prism Star; there can be no space for Mewtwo, Bench Barrier Mew, Dedenne-GX, or a second Jirachi. You could get these Pokemon back to your hand (except Dedenne-GX) with Scoop Up Net, for example you can have two Jirachi on your turn, use two Stellar Wish but not Bench the Jirachi you used Scoop Up Net back to your hand in order to make space for your combo. Bench management is a major issue here.

The other possible variant is adding [card name=”Yveltal-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card]. As I said in the Blacephalon section, not having a GX attack in a deck feels like a waste of potential. Yveltal-GX combines very well with Dragapult VMAX. You can easily get four damage counters on a Benched Pokemon (an opponent’s Dragapult VMAX, for example) with Max Phantom, then use Yveltal-GX’s Doom Count GX to take three Prizes! Doom Count GX is an attack that increased in value when three-Prize Pokemon made an appearance in the game (since it can KO anything regardless of its HP), and they’re about to be more common now that Pokemon VMAX are becoming good. The only issue is that Yveltal-GX requires a Darkness Energy, so the Energy line needs to be changed by adding [card name=”Aurora Energy” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”186″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Rainbow Energy” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”151″ c=”name”][/card] in addition to Horror Energy.

The Meta Breaker

I might be getting ahead of myself since there isn’t a metagame to break yet, but there is a new deck that could be a very good fit for the Rebel Clash metagame: [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Spiritomb” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card]! Ross Cawthon brought this archetype to a Top 4 finish in the first qualifier of a recent major PTCGO tournament series. It’s an archetype which couldn’t be played in Japan since Rainbow Energy is not in their Standard format, but it makes a lot of sense: Spiritomb can accumulate power (aka damage counters) in the first few turns while you’re powering up Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX, then deal big damage afterwards. With [card name=”Big Charm” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”158″ c=”name”][/card], Spiritomb can hold up to eight damage counters, which means it can hit for 280 damage with Anguish Cry (after Altered Creation GX), enough to KO an opposing Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX.

Unlike [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card], Spiritomb is a one-Prize attacker so you can trade favorably against other decks, especially [card name=”Blacephalon” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”32″ c=”name”][/card]. The deck is not as consistent as Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX / Zacian V (since it lacks Zacian V’s amazing Ability) but it has a lot going for it.

The reason why I’ve mentioned it here is that Spiritomb hits Dragapult VMAX for Weakness. With three damage counters (one from Building Spite, one from Rainbow Energy and one moved from elsewhere using [card name=”Jynx” set=”Unified Minds” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card]) and a [card name=”Hustle Belt” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”134″ c=”name”][/card], Spiritomb deals enough damage to OHKO Dragapult VMAX without Altered Creation GX. It will easily get OHKO’d in response and you need to be careful not to bench several Spiritomb and putting damage counters on them, as they can easily be KO’d by Max Phantom. But in theory, this archetype should have a great matchup against Dragapult VMAX — better than Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX / Zacian V, which doesn’t deal enough damage.

Right now, I’m working on testing this archetype and building a list I enjoy, but hopefully I’ll be back soon to discuss this archetype in detail! In the meantime, I recommend you give it a try as well, because I think it has a lot of potential.

–Stéphane

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