Big Pikachu — A Review of Vivid Voltage

Hello PokeBeach readers, and welcome back to your favorite strategy article website!

[cardimg name=”Pikachu VMAX” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”44″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

I am back today with yet another article on the state of the Standard format, as I have been trying my absolute best to cover current events and happenings. This time, though, it is going to be a little bit different — and possibly more exciting — than some of my recent articles. In earlier articles, I have covered some of the strongest decks in the Standard format, most of which were surprises to come from events like the Players Cup II, that went on to see great success. If you haven’t checked those out already, I definitely recommend doing so, as you have the potential to gain interest in a deck or at least learn about the Standard format.

With that being said, this article is going to be different thanks to the newly released Pokemon set; Vivid Voltage! While the collectors hunt for the [card name=”Pikachu VMAX” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card] secret rare, also known as “Big Pikachu”, players are scrambling to figure out all of the strong cards to come out of the set. There are a lot of interesting effects, new rarities, and some strong cards to come out of Vivid Voltage, but I am going to focus on the competitive value of the cards. Sorry to all of the Amazing Rare fans out there, since (spoiler!) they are not great for the most part. Despite that, I am confident this article will cover all of the strong cards in the set and bring something to the table for everyone. If you plan to play any Standard format games in the near future, this article is for you. It feels like it has been a while since I covered a newly released set, so I am excited to do so.

Best New Cards

While this set does have a lot of cards with interesting effects, even ones not seen before, I have focused on cards I feel have some level of immediate potential. Once more sets go on to release in the future, other cards could gain playability value or increase in popularity, however, I believe I have covered cards with immediate potential pretty well. I will also note that some older cards will become more playable immediately thanks to the release of Vivid Voltage, and I will try my best to touch on those below.

Charizard and Leon

I lumped these two together because [card name=”Charizard” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card]’s attack is fully based on [card name=”Leon” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card], meaning that Leon is an absolute requirement in Charizard decks. I will start off by saying that Leon is not a great card for most decks, as doing thirty extra damage is not a great effect for a Supporter to have these days. It does not draw you cards, and on average [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] is going to be a better option if you don’t need to find any cards for the turn.

With that being said, Leon still must be included in Charizard decks at the maximum count of four, but I highly doubt Leon will see play outside of Charizard. Charizard’s attack does fifty more damage for each Leon you have in your discard pile. Once you have all four in there, Charizard is hitting for a whopping three hundred damage!

Leon is not a Supporter you want to be using each turn simply to get it in the discard pile, but it does offer a way of doing some additional damage in the early game, where all of your Leon might not be in the discard pile yet. In the late game, an interesting combination is to put a Leon back on top of your deck with [card name=”Mewtwo” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card], and then use it immediately. This keeps all four Leon in the discard pile for your attack and also increases your damage output to three hundred and thirty damage, which one-shots many VMAX Pokemon. VMAX Pokemon such as [card name=”Centiskorch VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”34″ c=”name”][/card] will still be out of range, so if you find yourself struggling in that matchup you could include an additional damage boost options such as [card name=”Vitality Band” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”185″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Galarian Zigzagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card] to give you OHKO potential.

In terms of the build of this deck, in my mind, you should be focusing on max consistency. The deck will have built-in ways to discard Leon, such as [card name=”Giant Hearth” set=”Unified Minds” no=”197″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”name”][/card]. [card name=”Welder” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”189″ c=”name”][/card] will be the main Supporter of the deck, as it sets up your attackers and draws you cards. beyond that, you can use utility Pokemon such as [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] or the new [card name=”Snorlax” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card] to improve the deck’s speed.

Talonflame V

[card name=”Talonflame V” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”29″ c=”name”][/card] is a Fire Pokemon, which opens up the opportunities for it to be used as yet another tech attacker in decks that rely on Welder. While its second attack is not bad, dealing 160 damage for three Fire Energy (but being forced to discard a Fire Energy as a drawback), I think this card as the potential to shine in a different way.

I believe that Talonflame V has much greater potential to see play as a consistency card, and it can be splashed into any deck that deems it valuable enough. For only one Colorless Energy, you get to discard your hand and draw six cards, and the attack can be used even if you go first! This can bail you out of a terrible hand, or instead, dig through your deck and set you up for a strong turn two. This would be easiest to pull off in decks that play a large number of switching effects so that the Talonflame V can find its way into the Active position. Decks looking to burn through their hands and that don’t mind discarding cards have an even greater appeal for this bird.

In addition to the consistency and safety net that Talonflame V’s attack provides, it has the additional benefit of being a free retreater, which is never a bad thing to have.

Coalossal VMAX

[cardimg name=”Coalossal VMAX” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”99″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

[card name=”Coalossal VMAX” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] has got to be the most hyped card in the set, so I am excited to go over it.

I will start by saying that I believe it is a strong card that has a place in the metagame, but that can mainly be contributed to it’s typing. It hits some of the better decks for Weakness, and Grass Pokemon are pretty non-existent at the moment, which is a great place to be. Beyond that, it does have a solid attack — one that hits for 130 damage if the top card of your deck is an Energy card. This can easily be achieved with things such as [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Rotom Phone” set=”Champion’s Path” no=”64″ c=”name”][/card]. I am not sure which is better, but one or both of those will end up being a necessary inclusion in the deck.

Oranguru is easy to get on the field but requires you find an Energy at a time in your turn where it is acceptable to use Primate Wisdom and then attack. Rotom Phone does not require you to have an Energy in your hand, and it has further reach than Oranguru, but it is not as easy to use since it is a Trainer card that you have to find. When it comes to discarding Energy, any Energy works, but I believe the deck should play [card name=”Recycle Energy” set=”Unified Minds” no=”212″ c=”name”][/card] as well as Fighting Energy and [card name=”Stone Fighting Energy” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card]. Recycle Energy is the ideal target to have on the top of your deck when you use Coalossal VMAX’s attack because it can eventually make it’s way back to your hand and then be placed on top of the deck for a future Eruption Shot. Stone Fighting Energy is discussed below, but in this deck, it is simply a free damage reduction. This can make a difference for a Pokemon with such high HP, especially because I believe the deck should play [card name=”Hyper Potion” set=”Champion’s Path” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card], which can heal some of the damage that the opponent does do. This would also put the Recycle Energy into your hand, meaning you can get them back on top of the deck without having to retreat or get Knocked Out.

On top of the damage reduction and healing, [card name=”Buff Padding” set=”Team Up” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card] is going to see the light of day as it further increases Coalossal VMAX’s already massive HP. [card name=”Tool Scrapper” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”168″ c=”name”][/card] has become more popular as of late, so tools such as Buff Padding have lost a little bit of value. The deck should aim to include as many consistency cards as possible, other than those I have already listed. Notice; I did not mention [card name=”Coalossal V” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”98″ c=”name”][/card], as it is honestly terrible and only needed so that Coalossal VMAX can start doing its thing.

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Jirachi

In my mind, this is the only Amazing Rare that has true playability potential at the moment. Even then, I do not think this [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card] will be played nearly as much as the other [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card], mainly because this Jirachi has to compete for space with the other Jirachi card. While it definitely has long term potential as well, I think this Amazing Rare will see play in some decks right off the bat. I am not sure which ones, but any deck that does not have space for a Team Up Jirachi package should at least take a look at including one or two of this Jirachi. It provides a small boost whenever it can become Active, whether that be from a switching effect or having your Active Pokemon Knocked Out, so any deck that plays [card name=”Air Balloon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”U-Turn Board” set=”Unified Minds” no=”211″ c=”name”][/card] can get value out of it.

Snorlax

[card name=”Snorlax” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card] lets you end your turn and draw until you have seven cards in your hand if it is your Active Pokemon, which should remind everyone of the infamous [card name=”Tropical Beach” set=”Black and White Black Star Promos” no=”BW50″ c=”name”][/card]. This card won’t be played in speedy decks, but it does have potential in slower decks and in those that require more early set up in order to win the game. Not only does Snorlax have incredible potential in Expanded, where stall decks are far more prevalent and some Stage 2 decks exist, I believe it has potential in the Standard format as well. As I said, it needs to be in decks that require a large number of cards in the early game, but the deck also needs to not mind having the extra Basic Pokemon and decent mobility so that Snorlax can get into and out of the Active Spot.

This description definitely fits the new [card name=”Charizard” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card], where I am confident at least one Snorlax will be played, but decks such as [card name=”Frosmoth” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”64″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Galarian Obstagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Altaria” set=”Champion’s Path” no=”49″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Decidueye” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”13″ c=”name”][/card] come to mind as well. I am sure there are other decks that can benefit from Snorlax too, but I wanted to list the ones that came to mind.

Circhester Bath

This card has the potential to benefit a large number of decks thanks to how many now consist of high counts of Basic Pokemon, but one deck comes to mind in particular; [card name=”Lucario and Melmetal-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card]. This deck is a pretty defensive one that already focuses a lot on damage reduction, so [card name=”Circhester Bath” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”150″ c=”name”][/card] simply plays to its strengths. Don’t forget though that this Stadium does also benefit the opponent’s Basic Pokemon, so in some cases it does have the potential to hurt you as well.

On top of that, it will be competing with [card name=”Chaotic Swell” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”187″ c=”name”][/card] as the Stadium of choice for the deck, but that debate depends greatly on the other decks in the meta and what Stadiums they are using. If other decks aren’t using Stadiums, or ones that don’t hurt you too much, Chaotic Swell loses a lot of value. With that being said, Chaotic Swell was a strong card headed into Vivid Voltage as [card name=”Giant Hearth” set=”Unified Minds” no=”197″ c=”name”][/card] was already on the rise, so it will be interesting to see how things shake up. This is definitely a card on the list that has potential but is not a guarantee by any means.

Coating Metal Energy

[cardimg name=”Coating Metal Energy” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”163″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

This is a deck-specific card, as it only works when attached to Metal Pokemon. That is okay, though, as Metal Pokemon happen to be extremely popular at the moment. Zacian V sees a ton of play, including in an entirely Metal deck; Lucario and Melmetal-GX / Zacian V.

It was undoubtedly one of the best decks prior to Vivid Voltage, but started to fall off due to a large increase in Fire decks and the inclusion of [card name=”Tool Scrapper” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”168″ c=”name”][/card] in other decks. While I do not think Tool Scrapper will stop being played completely as players will simply put it back in if Lucario and Melmetal-GX / Zacian V gains popularity again, I do think the issue of Fire Weakness is about to cease to exist — you’ll no longer have to choose between losing to Fire decks or making your deck worse by including [card name=”Weakness Guard Energy” set=”Unified Minds” no=”213″ c=”name”][/card].

[card name=”Coating Metal Energy” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card] helps to improve the situation substantially as you can play four of them with minimal drawback, and it has the same effect as Weakness Guard Energy. This means you are no longer weak to Fire Pokemon, at the small cost of losing a bit of synergy with [card name=”Metal Saucer” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”170″ c=”name”][/card] and Intrepid Sword. This does make your deck slightly worse against decks that are not Fire-type, as the Coating Metal Energy does have a slight drawback and provides no benefit in those matchups. On the other side of the coin, though, this inclusion solves a huge problem for the deck and I believe it will be a net positive overall. I expect all Lucario and Melmetal-GX / Zacian V decks to include four Metal Coating Energy right off the bat.

Stone Fighting Energy

Unlike the Special Energy above that has a strong effect and small drawback, this card has a strong effect and no drawback at all at the moment. The Fighting Pokemon it is attached to takes twenty less damage from attacks, which is certainly a nice effect. [card name=”Stone Fighting Energy” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card] essentially provide free damage reduction with no drawback, which is a no-brainer inclusion. I expect all Fighting decks to include four of these right off the bat.

Honorable Mentions

I will say that the following cards from Vivid Voltage piqued my interest, but I couldn’t quite picture them seeing play in the Standard format. I do believe that the below cards have potential, and I will go over that below, but I also go over why I did not include them above. Let’s take a look at my shortlist of honorable mentions.

Whimsicott

I have seen this deck being built a couple of ways, one with an absurd number of Tool cards and one with a thick line of [card name=”Greedent” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”152″ c=”name”][/card] and a slightly lower number of Tools. This is because [card name=”Whimsicott” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card] does 40 more damage for each Tool card you discard from your Pokemon. There is a cap at 250 damage, but that is okay if you can either two-shot VMAX Pokemon or target down Bench-sitters such as [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Crobat V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card]. The reason why I put this card in the honorable mentions section as opposed to the main section above is that single-Prize decks are not great at the moment thanks to [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card]. The deck also feels a little gimmicky, but struggling against ADP is a death sentence at the moment and I am not sure it is going to be able to get past that, so that is my reasoning for lacking confidence in this one.

Trumbeak

Charging Trumpet is a decent form of Energy acceleration, which is always something that players take a look at. When [card name=”Trumbeak” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”144″ c=”name”][/card] evolves, you get to look at the top three cards of your deck and attach any basic Energy you find to your Pokemon — nice because you don’t get punished by potentially having to discard valuable resources even if you miss an Energy. Cards such as [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card] can stack the deck in your favor, making it so you will find at least one Energy to attach. Cards like [card name=”Devolution Spray Z” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”166″ c=”name”][/card] bring further value to this card because it means it can be reused, whereas it would otherwise only be a Bench sitter.

Being a Bench sitter is fine if you are running over the opponent with the Pokemon you powered up, but having Devolution Spray Z in the card pool increases the likelihood that Trumbeak sees some play. The reason why I did not include Trumbeak in the section above is that I am not fully sure what it should be paired with, if it will be good enough, and because cards like this have been historically bad.

Outside of [card name=”Roserade” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”15″ c=”name”][/card] from Dragons Exalted and [card name=”Luxray GL LV.X” set=”Rising Rivals” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card], there are not many Pokemon that get to use an Ability when they evolve that have been good in the past. As far as what to include this card with, you should be looking for something that can not benefit from [card name=”Welder” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”189″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Frosmoth” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”64″ c=”name”][/card], which essentially eliminates any Fire, Water, or Colorless Pokemon. This is because those forms of Energy acceleration are simply better, so there would be no reason to build around Trumbeak instead. Despite these few doubts, Trumbeak does have potential, so I wanted to include it on my list of honorable mentions.

Togekiss VMAX

[cardimg name=”Togekiss VMAX” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”141″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

This card intrigued me because it is a Colorless Pokemon with an incredible attack effect, one that can be used for several purposes. [card name=”Togekiss VMAX” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”141″ c=”name”][/card] can hit 120 for two Colorless Energy, with the added benefit that you get to search your deck for any two cards and put them into your hand. You can increase your damage output with [card name=”Powerful Colorless Energy” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”176″ c=”name”][/card], and can include cards such as [card name=”Vitality Band” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”185″ c=”name”][/card] or even [card name=”Leon” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] to increase your damage output further in situations that call for it.

Beyond that, the deck actually has a lot of options; it could play healing and disruption cards, or something like a Welder package. The options are vast when it comes to the optimal utilization of Togekiss VMAX, but I did want to include those ideas that popped into my head.

There are three reasons why I did not include Togekiss VMAX in the section above, which may sound like a lot, but none of them is truly a death sentence. For starters, I honestly did not have a concrete concept when it came to the decklist, so I did not know how Togekiss VMAX would fit into the meta. To a similar tune, I am not sure if Togekiss VMAX has a high enough damage output, even with the boosts, and I am not sure how it would fare in a metagame with a lot of hand disruption.

Including damage boosts does allow it to two-shot most Pokemon, but there are situations where the two-shot would demand multiple boosts. This is not an unreasonable stretch, but it does make me question the deck’s viability. As for the hand disruption, a lot of decks now include [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card] and/or [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card], which would seriously hurt the value of Togekiss VMAX’s attack, so that’s something to keep in mind as well.

Nessa

This one is fairly simple, it caught my eye because it is essentially a better [card name=”Fisherman” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] for Water decks in every possible way — you get to choose up to four total Water Pokemon and Water Energy from your discard and put them in your hand. If you don’t want to take the maximum of four, you don’t have to, and you can choose between your selection of Pokemon and Energy.

I could see Water decks utilizing this card in the Standard format, as it is a pretty strong recovery card, and most Standard Water decks want to have a lot of Energy in their hand for use with Frosmoth. While that is fine and dandy, I think everyone would agree with me when I say that Fisherman’s main use was being included as a tech in Expanded format [card name=”Archie’s Ace in the Hole” set=”Primal Clash” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card]. [card name=”Nessa” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”157″ c=”name”][/card] is clearly better than Fisherman, and that is no different when discussing the Expanded format, and that is the main reason I did not include it in the section above; I wanted to focus on the Standard format. This card does have the potential to see play in Standard, but I can guarantee you it will be used in Expanded.

In Summary

That is going to be it for this article, everyone!

It was certainly refreshing to discuss a new set, something that feels like has not happened in a while now, and think about the potential impact it might have on a pretty stale meta. The Players Cup II and events before that did shake up the meta a little bit, but it was mostly in the form of a revival of previously dominant decks. We saw the likes of [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card] compete with some of the more recently successful decks, such as [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Eternatus VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Centiskorch VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”34″ c=”name”][/card].

While this is a more diverse variety of decks than we had at the start of the rotation, I think Vivid Voltage has the potential to diversify this even further, which will hopefully give the game a refreshing feel. With that being said, I am confident that I have covered all of the cards with the potential to have an immediate impact on the metagame, so there should be something for everyone in this article!

Honestly, the already established decks tend to be a safer choice when upcoming tournaments are occurring, which generally skews the metagame at in-person events that happen right after a release. Due to tournaments being online only, the metagame being relatively stale, and the large list of playable cards in the set, I believe we will see a much quicker transition to newer decks being involved in the Standard format.

I definitely recommend giving the newer cards a try, even if you are interested in a less competitive and more fun concept to come out of the new set. It’s okay to try something new, whether that means trying to learn a new competitive deck or simply having some fun with a cool new card. There will always be more time to play with ADP later! Anyways, I will be back next week with another article, but until then I expect you all to enjoy Vivid Voltage!

Peace.

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