Flames of Copper — The Meta-Changing Potential of Green’s + Welder
[cardimg name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
Much has been made about the Darkness Ablaze format, particularly with regards to the format-warping effects of [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card]. There are multiple factors that have gone into the deck’s dominance, not the least of which has been the reliance of decks on [card name=”Crobat V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]. The speed of the metagame has made it so that many decks seemingly need to utilize those cards to keep up, which plays perfectly into the Altered Creation GX + [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] strategy utilized by ADP. Other decks have also found that Boss’s Orders strategies seem to be the key to victory — after all, why waste time attacking VMAXs, when you could take two easy Prizes on a Crobat V instead? The end result is a format in which the opponent’s attacker tends to be ignored completely, in favor of finding continually faster ways to KO an opponent’s Benched Pokemon.
If nothing else, this development has made the Darkness Ablaze format into one of the most boring on record. For the Players Cup II, apathy is as much a challenge as the actual earning of Tournament Rep; if you don’t like the format, it’s hard to justify spending 50 tournaments’ worth of time playing it. If you do enjoy playing ADP or one of the other aggressive decks, then you’re probably feeling alright, but if not, then I imagine you’re looking for something a bit different. The idea of a deck that can consistently beat ADP and beat other decks in the meta has been the dream for a bit now, but it has been exceedingly difficult to find a deck that can do both. With that said, players are adaptive; whenever there’s a centralization in the meta, you can bet that someone will find a way to take advantage of it. The two decks that I’m going to talk about in this article are excellent examples of players doing just that.
No Free Prizes
One of the biggest advantages that ADP has is its ability to punish any player utilizing multi-Prize Pokemon for consistency, be that Dedenne-GX, Crobat V, [card name=”Oricorio-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Eldegoss V” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”19″ c=”name”][/card], or anything else. Those aforementioned cards have become necessities in our current format, which gives ADP an out to defeat VMAX or Tag Team decks that might otherwise be able to out-tank it. With the innovation of [card name=”Mawile-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”141″ c=”name”][/card] in ADP, it’s become nearly impossible to play around that win condition, even if you do manage to set up and match their speed without using Dedenne-GX or Crobat V.
A theoretically easy solution to this is to simply not play any of those multi-Prize Pokemon, and thus force the opponent to deal with your attackers as opposed to gusting around them. Of course, this is much easier said than done. When you give up those targets, that means you are also giving up the card advantage that comes from having access to Dedenne-GX and Crobat V. That isn’t an easy obstacle to overcome, but it is doable. If you can avoid using any of those Bench-sitting GX targets, then you can force your opponent to abandon the Boss’s Orders strategy, and fight through whatever Pokemon you want them to fight through. In that way, you can fully take advantage of the bulkiness of Tag Teams or VMAXs — Pokemon that cannot be OHKO’d by the attackers in ADP (or most other decks, for that matter).
There is certainly historical precedent for this strategy; [card name=”Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card], for example, thrived on a strategy of forcing the opponent to KO two of those Tag Teams. In our current format, there are plenty of tools to allow for this strategy to work well, it’s only a matter of figuring out how to do so, in a manner that doesn’t lead to the deck simply getting out-sped.
The solution to that “how” brings me to the titular topic of this article, which is a pair of decks that use [card name=”Green’s Exploration” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”175″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Welder” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”189″ c=”name”][/card] to effectively pull off the above strategy. To use a Green’s Exploration engine is a fairly natural extension of the idea of removing Dedenne-GX and Crobat V; for some decks that make that switch, no other changes would need to be made in order to include Green’s Exploration. The Welder aspect means that these decks can still keep up with the speed of the format, and can take advantage of some of the tricks that the Fire-type has to offer. This combination — tanky Fire-type Pokemon, Welder, and a Green’s Exploration build — seems to be the key to defeating many of the top meta decks in the format, including ADP. The success of these decks would mark an incredible change in the Darkness Ablaze metagame, from one which revolves around ADP, to one which is more balanced.
Green’s Exploration / Charizard and Braixen-GX
The first of the two decks that I’ll be going over is [card name=”Charizard and Braixen-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM230″ c=”name”][/card]. This deck has been around for a bit, but it hadn’t quite found success in previous formats. In the current format, however, it seems to have found a useful niche as a deck that doesn’t fall prey to the Boss’s Orders strategy. Once it gets set up, this deck can become a bit absurd in its level of consistency control — between Brilliant Flare and Green’s Exploration, the deck can find five cards of their choice every turn. Thanks to [card name=”Volcanion” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card] and Welder, the deck can attack as early as turn two, and thus can begin utilizing that search as quickly as any opposition deck can attack it. There are a number of goals that the deck can aim for from that point, be it healing, Energy disruption, hand disruption, or a combination of those strategies. In this list, I’ve tried to make it so the deck has access to each of those so that the player can use whatever is best for the given situation.
Here is the list:
[decklist name=”Braixen” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Charizard and Braixen-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”22″][pokemon amt=”7″]2x [card name=”Charizard and Braixen-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”22″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”20″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Volcanion” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”25″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”39″]4x [card name=”Green’s Exploration” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”175″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Welder” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”189″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Sword and Shield” no=”174″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Cherish Ball” set=”Unified Minds” no=”191″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”159″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”183″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Great Potion” set=”Unified Minds” no=”198″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Energy Spinner” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”170″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Fire Crystal” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”173″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Great Catcher” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”192″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Big Charm” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”158″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Giant Hearth” set=”Unified Minds” no=”197″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Power Plant” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”183″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”14″]10x [card name=”Fire Energy” set=”Call of Legends” no=”89″ c=”deck2″ amt=”10″][/card]3x [card name=”Heat Fire Energy” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”174″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Weakness Guard Energy” set=”Unified Minds” no=”213″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/energy][/decklist]
List and Strategy Explanation
[cardimg name=”Volcanion” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”25″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
The list includes only the Pokemon that the deck needs. Since the deck revolves around early use of Flare Starter, you want to have the maximum number of Volcanion, and as few other Pokemon as possible, so that you can maximize the odds of starting with that Volcanion. Having only two Charizard and Braixen-GX can be a bit awkward if you have poor Prizes, but the added benefit of starting Volcanion makes it worth not including the third copy. With this list, you have a 66.49% chance of starting with a Volcanion, which is 5.37% higher than if you had included another non-Volcanion Basic Pokemon. Charizard and Braixen-GX is going to be your main attacker early-on, after which you have the option to switch to either Charizard and Braixen-GX or [card name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] to finish out the game. Reshiram and Charizard-GX gives the deck a way to hit higher damage numbers, as well as a way to damage Heatproof [card name=”Bronzong” set=”Team Up” no=”101″ c=”name”][/card]. In order to fully take advantage of the tankiness of the Tag Teams, a player playing this deck should never put into play more than two Tag Teams and two Volcanion (or one against [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card]) over the course of the game.
The ideal start is to go second and use Flare Starter to power up a Charizard and Braixen-GX. From there, you can start using Brilliant Flare to find whatever you need. Once you get to that point, things are golden, but before that, things can be a bit uncomfortable. With this deck, the early game is the diciest as far as consistency goes. When you don’t have [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Crobat V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card], or [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] as outlets to help turn a bad hand into a good one, it is imperative that you minimize the odds of starting with one of those bad hands (or losing your hand to a [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card]).
While you don’t need many cards to get things going with this deck, you still do need to find a few pieces, and so you have to go a bit heavier on some of the Trainers than you might think. For Supporters, [card name=”Green’s Exploration” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”175″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Welder” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”189″ c=”name”][/card] are the go-to for consistency; we also have a full four copies of [card name=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Sword and Shield” no=”174″ c=”name”][/card] to help us find those pieces early. Since we need to be able to find a Charizard and Braixen-GX as well as a Volcanion, I’ve included nearly as many copies of [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Cherish Ball” set=”Unified Minds” no=”191″ c=”name”][/card] as we have Pokemon. That may seem to be a bit overkill, but in practice, not being able to find your Charizard and Braixen-GX means that your Brilliant Flare attack may be delayed by a turn or more, which can be the difference between winning and losing. If you do go first, or start in such a way that you can’t use Flare Starter, then you’ll still want to be able to find a Charizard and Braixen-GX if possible and attach an Energy to it so that you have the option to use Welder to still use that turn-two Brilliant Flare.
If that doesn’t work, then you’ll want to do what you can to attack as soon as possible, though that may mean using Flare Starter for one Energy. Green’s Exploration is great early for finding the Pokemon you need (via Quick Ball or Cherish Ball), an Energy (via [card name=”Giant Hearth” set=”Unified Minds” no=”197″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Energy Spinner” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”170″ c=”name”][/card]), a [card name=”Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card], or a Supporter for a future turn. Once you can start using Brilliant Flare, then things become much easier as far as consistency goes — it’s hard to beat grabbing any three cards you need! This is where the [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Great Potion” set=”Unified Minds” no=”198″ c=”name”][/card], and Reset Stamp come into play. Other options for the decklist include damage modifiers, such as [card name=”Vitality Band” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”185″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Martial Arts Dojo” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”179″ c=”name”][/card], or more hand disruption cards, such as [card name=”Jessie and James” set=”Hidden Fates” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card]. At this point, if you don’t have Marnie or Reset Stamp, then you are going to be in a heap of trouble against this deck.
Matchups
[card name=”Charizard and Braixen-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”22″ c=”name”][/card]’s success will come from the fact that these first two matchups — the all-important ADP and [card name=”Eternatus VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card] matchups — are quite favorable. The idea that the deck can beat those two consistently, while still putting up a fight against the rest of the format, has pushed this deck to a level of contention rivaling any of the other top meta decks.
Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX
Against ADP, the no-free-Prizes strategy shines, and gives Charizard and Braixen-GX the advantage. Even in a worst-case scenario, the math in this matchup clearly benefits the Charizard and Braixen-GX player; to fight through two Tag Teams, the ADP player will have to attack four times following the use of Altered Creation GX, whereas you can get away with attacking only three times if they get OHKOs on GXs and Vs. Considering that Altered Creation GX uses up a turn, that’s a massive two-turn advantage for Charizard and Braixen-GX — and that’s before you factor in any prevented attacks with Crushing Hammer! Even if things aren’t going perfectly for you, you have enough built-in advantage that you should still win. Things could go ideally for the ADP player — turn one Altered Creation GX, attacks every turn following, perfect draws — and so long as you can use Brilliant Flare on turn two, your opponent will still lose the Prize race. They can opt to not use Altered Creation GX to save a turn, but if they don’t, [card name=”Volcanion” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card] becomes a threatening Pokemon, as it can OHKO both [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Mawile-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”141″ c=”name”][/card]. If it is clear that the ADP player won’t be using Altered Creation GX, you can easily start attacking with multiple Volcanion instead of the second Tag Team, and thus keep the opposing attack requirements the same.
In this matchup, [card name=”Mawile-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”141″ c=”name”][/card] can be a decisive card. You’ll want to discard the Basic Pokemon that you aren’t using as fast as possible so that they can’t be put into play; for your opponent, an early Marnie or Reset Stamp followed by benching Mawile-GX will give them the best odds to force you to bench a second Volcanion. Crushing Hammer are great against ADP itself so that you can prevent them from using Ultimate Ray — this will make any later Crushing Hammer heads hurt even more. If they can use Ultimate Ray, then a great move is to target and KO their Zacian V, while using Great Potion to heal off the damage from Ultimate Ray so that it can’t get a 2HKO.
Eternatus VMAX
Against Eternatus VMAX, the four Crushing Hammer are pivotal to success. Most Eternatus VMAX lists remain frightfully vulnerable to Energy disruption, in that you can easily prevent a turn or more of attacking with some well-timed Hammers. In this matchup, you’ll want to quickly find your [card name=”Big Charm” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”158″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Heat Fire Energy” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”174″ c=”name”][/card], so that neither of your Tag Teams can get OHKOd by Dread End. You’ll typically need one of each attached to be safe so that you can get around both [card name=”Galarian Zigzagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card] and the threat of [card name=”Dangerous Drill” set=”Team Up” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card]. [card name=”Sableye V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card] can also be dangerous, so try to heal off any chip damage from [card name=”Hoopa” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”111″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Spiritomb” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card] if you can. Because of the no-free-Prizes strategy, this turns into a 2HKO matchup, with both sides taking four attacks to get their six Prizes. If you can attack first, or prevent one of the Eternatus VMAX attacks with Crushing Hammer, then you will win.
Mewtwo and Mew-GX
This matchup can be somewhat tricky, as [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card] has a number of GX attacks that it can copy in order to achieve a OHKO. After being attacked, it can use [card name=”Incineroar-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card]’s Darkest Tornado GX to get a KO; it can also use [card name=”Charizard-GX” set=”Hidden Fates” no=”9″ c=”name”][/card]’s Flare Blitz GX to hit for 300, or, if you don’t have a Switch, can get a KO through [card name=”Muk and Alolan Muk-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”197″ c=”name”][/card]’s Nasty Goo Mix GX. Likewise, you can use Reshiram and Charizard-GX’s Double Blaze GX to get a OHKO on your end, to turn the Prize trade back in your favor. Overall, this is a pretty close matchup, but there is one crucial combo that lends this matchup to be positive for you and that is Reset Stamp plus [card name=”Power Plant” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card]. If the Mewtwo and Mew-GX player fails to draw out of that, then there’s nothing they can do — not even attack. Crushing Hammer can also be helpful to stave off some of their higher-Energy attacks, but it is best left saved for use with that end-game Reset Stamp disruption combo.
Blacephalon
[cardimg name=”Oricorio-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”95″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
[card name=”Blacephalon” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”32″ c=”name”][/card] is admittedly a tough matchup for Charizard and Braixen-GX — probably the toughest non-Water matchup that the deck has. Blacephalon can OHKO either Tag Team rather easily, and it isn’t affected by Energy disruption. Volcanion barely can’t OHKO Blacephalon either, so there isn’t much to do in this matchup but to use [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card] and hope things go well. Likewise, the Blacephalon player here will want to do whatever they can to thin their deck and maximize the chances of drawing out of the Reset Stamp — if they do, they should win. Power Plant is useful in that it can shut off their [card name=”Oricorio-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card], and so can greatly increase their odds of bricking off of the Reset Stamp. Volcanion may not be able to OHKO Blacephalon, but it can KO both [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] and (if they put it into play) [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card]. If you can, you should force them to hit into Volcanion whenever possible; this will cause them to both use up some resources, and to take an extra Prize, which means they will get one less card off of Reset Stamp. This matchup does require some luck, but it isn’t an auto-loss.
Lucario and Melmetal-GX
Whether this matchup is difficult or not largely depends on whether they are playing the [card name=”Bronzong” set=”Team Up” no=”101″ c=”name”][/card] variant or the [card name=”Weakness Guard Energy” set=”Unified Minds” no=”213″ c=”name”][/card] variant. Against the former, things can be tricky, as this deck only has one way to attack into it — and can only do so once. You’ll want to use [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] to attack any [card name=”Bronzor” set=”Team Up” no=”100″ c=”name”][/card] you see, with whatever you can. If you can KO one, then you can use a boosted Double Blaze GX to KO the second; I have yet to see a list play more than a 2-2 line of that Pokemon. From there, even if they do play an [card name=”Ordinary Rod” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card], you should be able to win by KOing their other Pokemon in play. Thanks to Weakness, your GXs will be able to OHKO any of their Zacian V, [card name=”Zamazenta V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card], or [card name=”Lucario and Melmetal-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card] without any difficulty. If they do play [card name=”Weakness Guard Energy” set=”Unified Minds” no=”213″ c=”name”][/card], then your route to victory will come through [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card]. Either way, this matchup is quite favorable.
Green’s Centiskorch VMAX
As good as the [card name=”Green’s Exploration” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”175″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Charizard and Braixen-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”22″ c=”name”][/card] is though, this next deck might be even better!
[premium]
The second deck that I am going to talk about is Green’s Exploration / [card name=”Centiskorch VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”34″ c=”name”][/card], with [card name=”Magneton” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”69″ c=”name”][/card]. This concept has been an excellent new addition to the meta, having been created and popularized by Tord Reklev. It follows the same two-tanky Pokemon path as Charizard and Braixen-GX, but there are a few new innovations with this list in particular that pushes it to yet another level. Before I get into those, let me share the list. This is the one that I’ve seen going around the most, and so it is the one that you should expect to encounter most often. Having played around with it myself, I can say that there is little that I would want to change about it — it already comes incredibly well-optimized. Any potential changes to it I would want to make in the context of a meta that is adapting to it. For now, though, this is the one that I would recommend testing against, and would certainly recommend trying out yourself!
[decklist name=”centi” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Centiskorch VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”34″][pokemon amt=”17″]4x [card name=”Centiskorch V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”179″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Centiskorch VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”34″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Magnemite” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”242″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Magneton” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”69″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Volcanion” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”25″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Victini V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”25″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”33″]4x [card name=”Green’s Exploration” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”175″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Welder” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”189″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Kabu” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”186″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Lt. Surge’s Strategy” set=”Hidden Fates” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ 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=”Evolution Incense” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”183″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Fire Crystal” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”173″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Hyper Potion” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”166″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Big Charm” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”158″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Giant Hearth” set=”Unified Minds” no=”197″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Power Plant” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”183″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”10″]10x [card name=”Fire Energy” set=”Generations” no=”76″ c=”deck2″ amt=”10″][/card][/energy][/decklist]
The idea here is once again to force your opponent to fight through two different Centiskorch VMAX in order to win. What this deck does excellently in addition to that, is that it fully takes advantage of the two other Prizes that such a strategy allows you to give up. Charizard and Braixen-GX does so with [card name=”Volcanion” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card], with the idea that if any of those Volcanion give up any Prizes, it isn’t detrimental to you. This deck takes it a step further and utilizes Magneton — a Pokemon that actively gives your opponent a Prize every time you use it. Magneton is an excellent solution to the consistency problem that naturally arises when using a Green’s Exploration engine, and it further allows the Centiskorch VMAX pilot to control the flow of the game even beyond what they might be able to do otherwise.
Unlike in Charizard and Braixen-GX, the goal of this deck isn’t so much to control the opponent once set up, as much as it is to take advantage of the natural strengths of Centiskorch VMAX. You can heal some damage with [card name=”Hyper Potion” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”166″ c=”name”][/card], but there isn’t much healing, and there’s no [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card] to control the opponent’s Energy (though you can early on with [card name=”Centiskorch V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card]’s Radiating Heat). In most cases though, you won’t need that — you can instead rely on the high damage output of Centiskorch VMAX — which gives the deck more room for consistency. This deck also can struggle in the early-game, or against early hand disruption, but it is less susceptible to those struggles, thanks to the additional consistency focus and Magneton.
Decklist and Strategy Explanation
[cardimg name=”Magnemite” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”242″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
The Pokemon lines here are heavier than in Charizard and Braixen-GX, but the reasoning for why is similar. Ideally, the only Pokemon you ever will want in play over the course of a game are Centiskorch VMAX and Magneton, with the occasional use of Volcanion if the early-game calls for it. Since you need to find both Centiskorch V and [card name=”Magnemite” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”68″ c=”name”][/card] and get them into play right away (so that they can evolve on turn two), the decklist plays the maximum amount of each. While you might think that the deck would want more Volcanion to increase the odds of starting with it (as we’ve done in the Charizard and Braixen-GX list), the reality is that in many cases, you don’t actually want to put Volcanion into play. If you do use Volcanion, you’ll get Energy on the field faster, but that also means you can only use Magneton’s Call Signal once, as opposed to twice if you don’t use Volcanion. This can seriously hurt late-game, or against an opponent who enjoys using hand disruption. Were it not for the safeguard Pokemon of [card name=”Decidueye” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”13″ c=”name”][/card] and Altaria, I would be tempted to remove the Volcanion entirely (or at least reduce it to one), and focus solely on Centiskorch VMAX and Magneton; the added benefit of being able to use Magneton twice can easily outweigh the benefits of Flare Starter in most matchups.
As it is though, you do need some way to hit through those Pokemon’s abilities, and Flare Starter is strong enough to be useful if you do happen to start with the Volcanion. This deck also plays a copy of [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card] to pick up the Volcanion after it uses Flare Starter; do that, and you can then safely use the second [card name=”Magneton” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”69″ c=”name”][/card] anyway. If you are going second, and know that you’ll have access to Scoop Up Net, then absolutely feel free to use Flare Starter — it does set up your attacks quite well. However, don’t try to force the Volcanion if not — you may find that doing so actually lowers your chances of winning. The [card name=”Victini V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card] is included in this deck almost solely as a way to beat [card name=”Zamazenta V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card]; while you can KO Zamazenta with Centiskorch V, that can be a bit harder to pull off. Victini V is also great in matchups where you might need to recover Energy, such as control matchups. Depending on the metagame, Victini V can be replaceable, but for now, I would expect to see it in this list.
The Supporter line in this deck is similar to the one in [card name=”Green’s Exploration” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”175″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Charizard and Braixen-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”22″ c=”name”][/card], with the major difference in that the PokeGear 3.0 have been removed (not needed when you have Magneton), and [card name=”Lt. Surge’s Strategy” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”178″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Kabu” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card] have been put in. Kabu is great for the early-game, in that it helps prevent the deck from bricking on turn one, and late-game since you’ll typically only have one Pokemon left in play at the end. As in other Green’s Exploration decks, the early-game is the rockiest part of the ride, so having three extra-strong Supporters to help smooth things over is invaluable, making this card a brilliant addition to the Green’s Exploration / [card name=”Centiskorch VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”34″ c=”name”][/card] concept. The rest of the Trainer line is quite similar as well, though there aren’t any Crushing Hammer for Energy disruption — again, the advantages of Centiskorch VMAX make it so that Energy disruption isn’t as necessary. Likewise, this deck doesn’t play any [card name=”Heat Fire Energy” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”174″ c=”name”][/card] — Centiskorch VMAX already has enough HP to where you can leave them out.
When playing this deck, you’ll want to go second every time. Even if you don’t want to use Volcanion, you’ll still have access to Green’s Exploration or Kabu to get set up for the second turn. From the start, you want to plan out your opponent’s Prizes. Based on your start, figure out what you want to bench, what you want to attack with (will you use Volcanion, Victini V, or neither?), how many Magneton you can use, and so on. Against [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card], you can give up one Magneton (but make sure that you are the one who knocks it out); against anything else, you can give up two single-Prize Pokemon. Always try and use Magneton to get behind and set up your plays. Magneton into Lt. Surge’s Strategy, Green’s Exploration, and [card name=”Welder” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”189″ c=”name”][/card] is typical, but you have other options in that you can get a second Green’s Exploration or a [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] if the scenario calls for it, or if you already have one of the other Supporters you need in your hand. Prize checking is important with this deck in particular, as it lets you know what options you have to use in the deck, and which ones are inaccessible. This deck does take a fair amount of practice to play properly, due to the high number of decisions that you have to make when playing it — so I recommend giving it a few test runs before jumping into a tournament queue with it. Likewise, when playing against it, be sure to capitalize on any mistakes your opponent might make. The most common that I’ve seen are not properly planning the opponent’s Prizes, playing into [card name=”Mawile-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”141″ c=”name”][/card], playing into [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card], playing into [card name=”Chaotic Swell” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”187″ c=”name”][/card], or telegraphing future plays with Green’s Exploration. Even so, the deck is strong enough that you can still win while making those mistakes, though it does naturally make things more difficult.
When playing against this deck, there are a few things that I’ve found to be effective. Well-timed disruption is strong against Centiskorch VMAX, especially if you can disrupt their Magneton play. They’ll be setting up for it on turn one, so your second turn is a great time to use Marnie. If you can, you’ll also want to KO their Magnemite early — if they have an otherwise awkward opening hand, then they may be delayed for a turn or more as a result of that KO. Chaotic Swell can also be obnoxious for the Centiskorch VMAX, since [card name=”Giant Hearth” set=”Unified Minds” no=”197″ c=”name”][/card] is one of the few ways that they can find Fire Energy. Finally, you absolutely want to play as best you can to thin your deck and hand of useless cards, in anticipation of a Reset Stamp.
Matchups
For the most part, the matchup spread and strategy is the same as it is for Charizard and Braixen-GX, though with a few differences in approach. Like Charizard and Braixen-GX, the deck is quite weak to Water decks, but it is strong against most other things. The biggest difference is that the Centiskorch VMAX deck is more consistent, has a potentially higher damage cap, and does not play [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card].
Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-FX
Everything that I’ve said about the Prize trade in the ADP vs Charizard and Braixen-GX matchup applies here as well, so there isn’t much to add. The biggest difference is that Centiskorch VMAX is less prone to bricking than Charizard and Braixen-GX, and so it has an even better win rate in the matchup. Centiskorch VMAX may not have Crushing Hammer, but it doesn’t need it here — simply set up a pair of Centiskorch VMAX quickly, and the game will be all but over.
Eternatus VMAX
Without Crushing Hammer, this matchup is somewhat trickier than it is for Charizard and Braixen-GX, though the additional HP of Centiskorch VMAX does make it easier to force them to attack four times. This matchup will often come down to who can attack first. Even if they want to soften you up with [card name=”Hoopa” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”111″ c=”name”][/card], it still takes them (and you) four attacks to win. The first player to get those four attacks off should come out victorious. However, there are a few tricks that Centiskorch VMAX can pull off to put this matchup in its favor. If you can ever manage to get eight Fire Energy on a Centiskorch VMAX, then you can OHKO an opposing [card name=”Eternatus VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card], thus giving you the lead, even if you weren’t the first to attack. This is one matchup where Flare Starter is strong, as it can potentially lead to that eight Energy scenario. Another possible trick is to use Lt. Surge’s Strategy, followed by two Welder, to get a surprise five Energy attachments; this does require you to have the Energy in-hand, but that’s doable if you’ve managed to stick a Giant Hearth in play.
Lucario and Melmetal GX
[cardimg name=”Kabu” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”163″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
This is a matchup that is certainly more difficult for Centiskorch VMAX than for [card name=”Charizard and Braixen-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”22″ c=”name”][/card], as Centiskorch VMAX plays neither of the tricks to get around their walls. Since this deck uses VMAXs as its attackers, it can be walled by a [card name=”Zamazenta V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card] — hence the inclusion of [card name=”Victini V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card] as a counter. Centiskorch VMAX also doesn’t play Crushing Hammer, so any [card name=”Weakness Guard Energy” set=”Unified Minds” no=”213″ c=”name”][/card] will be here to stay. The good news is that Centiskorch VMAX’s damage output is still high enough to get a OHKO in most cases, though it does take quite a few Energy attachments against the tangier Pokemon. If worst comes to worst, you can use [card name=”Centiskorch V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card]’s Radiating Heat to remove the Weakness Guard Energy; this can be a useful play against Zamazenta V.
If the opponent plays [card name=”Bronzong” set=”Team Up” no=”101″ c=”name”][/card], then this matchup becomes a lot grindier. This list doesn’t actually play any ways to damage the Bronzong, so if the opponent does get one into play, your only chance to win will be to gust around it, or to deck out your opponent. There is a strategy you can use in this scenario: you can use Radiant Heat over and over again to prevent them from attacking with Bronzong. Thanks to Victini V, you will have more Energy than them to work with, and thanks to [card name=”Kabu” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card], you can ensure that your opponent will run out of ways to recycle their hand before you do. This strategy takes a long time to work, but it will eventually. If they do try to counter said strategy by attacking your Centiskorch V with something else, then they can inadvertently give you enough Prizes to win. This matchup may be more difficult, but it is still favorable.
Mewtwo and Mew-GX and Blacephalon
Like with Charizard and Braixen-GX, both of these matchups will typically come down to whether or not the opponent can draw well off of a [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card]. The biggest difference here is that [card name=”Centiskorch VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”34″ c=”name”][/card] does have the ability to force the opponent to take Prizes off of [card name=”Magneton” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”69″ c=”name”][/card], and thus, you can force them to go down to one Prize — and thus only draw one card off of Reset Stamp. This makes these matchups a good bit more favorable than they are for Charizard and Braixen-GX, even if the underlying strategy is the same.
The Future Meta
In addition to the decks themselves, I do want to briefly note the impact that they can and are having on the Darkness Ablaze metagame. These decks are incredibly strong against the top decks of the meta, and against [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] in particular, but also have the capability to beat many of the other decks in the format. This means that not only will these be new top-tier decks that players will have to prepare for, but also that going forward, you won’t be able to assume that ADP will be the dominant deck. This development might have all sorts of ripple effects. For example, this might cause decks like ADP to focus less on speed, and more on anti-Centiskorch VMAX techs, which could then allow slightly slower decks to re-establish themselves in the meta. A heavy anti-ADP shift could even allow more single-Prize decks into the meta. Water-type decks, which counter the [card name=”Green’s Exploration” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”175″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Welder” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”189″ c=”name”][/card] decks well, could start to see much more play, and could even put us into a triangle format of Centiskorch VMAX / Charizard and Braixen-GX > ADP / Eternatus VMAX > Water > Centiskorch VMAX / Charizard and Braixen-GX. While it may be a touch early to tell how exactly things will change, I have little doubt that the meta a few weeks from now will be clearly different than the meta prior to the emergence of these decks as anti-ADP threats. Finally, after a long spell of staleness, the Darkness Ablaze meta is appearing fresh!
With that, we’ve come to the end of this article! As always, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to message me, ask in the comments, or ask all of us writers in our PTCG Subscriber’s Hideout! Best of luck in your games, and stay safe!
Thanks for reading!
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