Bringing Out the Big Guns — Blastoise VMAX in Standard

Hello everyone! When Battle Styles was recently released, we also got two new VMAXs — Blastoise VMAX and Venusaur VMAX — outside of the set, by way of the new Battle Box products. While Venusaur is pretty cool, Blastoise has the distinction of being my favorite Pokemon, so naturally, I wanted to try to use it now that it finally has a VMAX card of its own.

Blastoise VMAX is an interesting card, as it combines two traditional Water-type attributes; Energy acceleration and spread damage. It’s a Pokemon that hits hard but can also function as a facilitator if needed, and there are multiple ways that you can use Blastoise VMAX to win a game which makes it an intriguing option to build a deck around, even if you aren’t as big a fan of the Pokemon as I am. In this article, I’ll go over a few of the ways I’ve done so, as well as why I think Blastoise VMAX might be one of the more underrated VMAXs today.

What Makes Blastoise VMAX Good?

While the aesthetic alone is enough to make me love this card, its attacks are the actual relevant points that will make Blastoise VMAX successful. G-Max Bombard is an excellent attack, as it has a rather convenient damage profile for the current Standard meta. At 220 damage, this attack can OHKO most one- and two-Prize Pokemon, including [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card]. The spread damage can also set things up well against Tag Teams and certain single-Prize matchups.

[cardimg name=”Telescopic Sight” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”160″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

With [card name=”Telescopic Sight” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card], you can boost the Bench damage to 60 against GX and V Pokemon; combine that 60 with a direct 220 damage, and you have enough to KO Tag Teams, notably [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card]. Against Mad Party, you can use G-Max Bombard to set up potential triple-KOs, given their low HP. Against Pokemon VMAX, Grand Falls and G-Max Bombard can combine for a 2HKO, but you can also use the same play with Telescopic Sight to make things a touch easier. That is, if you use two G-Max Bombard to KO one VMAX, you can use the Bench damage to put a second VMAX into KO range.

With Telescopic Sight, you can KO a [card name=”Crobat V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] with three pecks from G-Max Bombard — you can commonly finish games against VMAX matchups by doing just that, by going around their second VMAX to win via a double-KO with your third attack. When using G-Max Bombard, Blastoise VMAX tends to play like a harder-hitting version of [card name=”Inteleon VMAX” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card], though you do need Telescopic Sight to truly take advantage of the spread damage. 

While G-Max Bombard will be the main damaging attack you use when playing Blastoise VMAX, Grand Falls should not be overlooked for how well it helps facilitate your attackers beyond the first one. Blastoise VMAX typically has no trouble going from attacker #1 to attacker #2, since you can automatically set up that second attacker so long as you’re able to find time to use Grand Falls. This also means that once set up, you don’t have to do too much from that point to keep your attacks going, which means that you can focus more on early-game consistency — a point that will become quite relevant when we start going over the decklists. Not only that, but you’ll also have more latitude to use non-draw cards at that point since you won’t be digging for a specific card as often as you might be with other decks.

Finally, it is worth noting the extra HP that Blastoise VMAX has compared to the other Water-type Pokemon VMAX. While 10 extra HP may not seem terribly relevant, there are a few key scenarios where it does come up. The most important one is in the [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] matchup. Inteleon VMAX and [card name=”Lapras VMAX” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card] can be OHKOd by [card name=”Raichu and Alolan Raichu-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card]’s Tandem Shock, whereas Blastoise VMAX cannot. In fact, neither of PikaRom’s Tag Teams can OHKO Blastoise VMAX without using their GX attack. While that matchup still is far from good thanks to attackers like [card name=”Boltund V” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card], the extra HP can give Blastoise VMAX a critical edge. Other relevant scenarios where the HP can come in handy are against [card name=”Cramorant VMAX” set=”Shining Fates” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Centiskorch VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”34″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Inteleon VMAX” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card], and against [card name=”Toxicroak” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Eternatus VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card]. 

After messing around with this card, there are three distinct decks that I’ve built that I’ve found can be competitive. In each case, the main goal is to utilize Energy acceleration to power up a Blastoise VMAX, from which point you can use Blastoise VMAX itself to guarantee Energy attachments to all of your Pokemon. The difference between these decks is how they get to that point. The first deck here is Blastoise VMAX / [card name=”Rose” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”168″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Kricketune V” set=”Battle Styles” no=”6″ c=”name”][/card]; a straightforward yet powerful deck, which focuses squarely on Blastoise VMAX itself. 

Blastoise VMAX With Kricketune

The Kricketune V + Rose combo is one of my favorites to come out of this new set. It gives potential to a lot of otherwise slow Pokemon VMAX that lack Energy acceleration, which can potentially open the door to a wider variety of Pokemon VMAX becoming viable. The idea here is that you can use Rose to power up one of your Blastoise VMAX, then use Kricketune V’s Exciting Stage to replenish your hand. You can theoretically use this combo in conjunction with any Pokemon VMAX, but some are naturally going to be better options than others. Blastoise VMAX is a great candidate as unlike other Pokemon VMAX, which might require Rose, Blastoise VMAX can accelerate Energy itself once you’ve managed to use Rose once. So, you don’t necessarily have to keep using Rose to power up your Pokemon, which greatly helps in terms of mid-game consistency, since you can use other Supporters instead of being forced to use multiple Rose. 

The early-game acceleration from Rose means that you can be attacking rather quickly, even if your Energy requirements are high. In the case of Blastoise VMAX, this means that you can use G-Max Bombard as quickly as turn two, and can win the game as quickly as turn four. 

The List

[decklist name=”Blastoise / Kricketune” amt=”60″ caption=”Be sure to play a clip of Kricketune’s cry every time you use Exciting Stage!” cname=”Blastoise VMAX” set=”PRSWSH” no=”103″][pokemon amt=”15″]3x Blastoise VMAX (PRSWSH #SWSH103)4x Blastoise V (PRSWSH #SWSH101)2x [card name=”Kricketune V” set=”Battle Styles” no=”6″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Kyogre” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”53″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Crobat V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”104″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Eldegoss V” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”19″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”33″]4x [card name=”Rose” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”168″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Shining Fates” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Shining Fates” no=”58″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Cheryl” set=”Battle Styles” no=”123″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”183″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Pokémon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”152″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Telescopic Sight” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”160″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Evolution Incense” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Capacious Bucket” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Viridian Forest” set=”Team Up” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”3″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”12″]12x [card name=”Water Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”93″ c=”deck2″ amt=”12″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

The Pokemon Lineup

The Pokemon choices in this list are, as I said, rather straightforward. I haven’t included many tech Pokemon in here, both because you don’t necessarily need them, and because it turns out this deck has to be rather focused on the early-game goal in order to pull it off consistently. The only exception here is the [card name=”Kyogre” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] — every other Pokemon is either Blastoise V or VMAX, or a consistency Pokemon. In this deck, you need to be able to find your way to a Blastoise VMAX as early as possible, and you’ll want to use every tool at your disposal to do so. The Kyogre is included as a backup plan so that you still have a way to accelerate Energy even if the [card name=”Rose” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”168″ c=”name”][/card] play doesn’t quite work out. There are some other cards you can include, such as [card name=”Cryogonal” set=”Unified Minds” no=”46″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Ditto V” set=”Shining Fates” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card] (to act as a 5th Blastoise V), [card name=”Empoleon V” set=”Battle Styles” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card], or [card name=”Cramorant V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card], but in my experience, I’ve had the most success with a streamlined [card name=”Kricketune V” set=”Battle Styles” no=”6″ c=”name”][/card] / Blastoise VMAX list.  

Trainer Cards

Likewise, the Trainers in this deck are included with the early game in mind. You don’t need quite as many draw Supporters in this deck, since this list instead has a strong focus on Pokemon-based draw power, so I’ve included only three [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”178″ c=”name”][/card] and two [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card]. With fewer draw Supporters, we have more room for Rose. Because Rose is the key to this deck, I’ve included a full four of them, to maximize the chance of being able to draw into one early. Even if we only end up using it once, the advantage we get from using it early is substantial enough that we can justify having a weaker late-game Trainer lineup. Our other Supporters are two [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card], and one [card name=”Cheryl” set=”Battle Styles” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card]. Since Grand Falls makes it easy enough to power up a second Blastoise VMAX, there are plenty of opportunities to use Cheryl; this can end up buying you an extra turn, which can be enough to get you a win in a match where you otherwise might not be able to. [card name=”Eldegoss V” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”19″ c=”name”][/card] can recover any of these as well, which makes the slightly lighter count of the draw Supporters and Boss’s Orders less of a burden.

We’ve got nine Pokemon-searching Items in this list, as well as five cards to search out our Water Energy — again, we want to prioritize finding the pieces to pull off the early Rose play, and these counts allow us to do just that. [card name=”Viridian Forest” set=”Team Up” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] also gives us a way to thin our hand slightly, which can be quite useful for drawing extra cards with Kricketune V. Rounding out the Trainers, we have three [card name=”Telescopic Sight” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card], which can help set up those multi-Knock Out turns I mentioned above. Finally, twelve Water Energy make up our Energy line; this is the most I felt like I could include before the Trainers started to feel substantially impacted. With twelve, we have enough Energy to fulfil our important early-game needs, while still having enough to utilize Grand Falls. This deck can thin Energy out rather easily between Grand Falls and the five Energy-searching Trainers, so even with twelve, this isn’t a deck that will see its consistency impacted by having too many Energy left in the deck. 

Deck Strategy

[cardimg name=”Kricketune V” set=”Battle Styles” no=”6″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

When playing this deck, the most critical thing is to get Blastoise VMAX into play and attacking quickly. On your first turn, your top priority will be to get Blastoise V into play and to get a Water Energy attached to it so that you can set up the potential turn two G-Max Bombard play. Your other goals this turn will be to get Water Energy in your discard pile (so there’s something for Rose to get), and to find a Kricketune V and potentially a second Blastoise V. If you go second, then you can use Kyogre to accelerate two of those Energy in advance, which can make things a bit easier. In theory, you may not have to use Rose at all if the situation is right to go from Kyogre straight into using Grand Falls.

The second turn is where the deck’s magic happens, as this is the turn where you can first use Rose to finish powering up your Blastoise VMAX. First, you’ll want to make sure that all of the prerequisites for using Rose — VMAX in play, Energy in the discard, etc. — are fulfilled. Ideally, you should get yourself into a scenario so that even if the three cards you draw from Kricketune V after using Rose aren’t ideal, you can still attack.

It’s important to have the Blastoise VMAX you plan to attack with in the Active Spot in advance, in case you don’t hit a switching card after using the Rose. If you can, you can also use [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card] here, in case you have a card in hand that you don’t want to get rid of (such as a Boss’s Orders), or that can help get you to a better hand after using Rose (such as a [card name=”Crobat V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] or a draw Supporter). In these first two turns, you’ll want to do everything you can to get to that early Rose play. There are games where I’ve finished turn two with two [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] and Crobat V in play, because if that’s what it takes to get powered up, you shouldn’t hesitate to use those Pokemon. Basically, don’t hold back when it comes to drawing through your deck, using up resources, or doing anything else that might have a negative consequence later, as the downside of missing the turn-two attack is at least as bad. 

Of course, you still won’t always have the cards needed to pull off the Rose play. In such a scenario, you’ll want to do what you can to continue building toward it, so that you can hopefully pull it off on the following turn. In the meantime, you’ll want to continue to use Kyogre to accelerate Energy or use Grand Falls to power up a second Blastoise VMAX if you were able to use Kyogre on your first turn. 

Once you are powered up, then the strategy shifts to figuring out how you can take your Knock Outs. In many matchups, you can win a turn faster by taking a double-KO if you’re able to keep Telescopic Sight on for each use of G-Max Bombard, so you’ll certainly want to make sure that you have that attached. You’ll generally want to use G-Max Bombard as often as you can, but if you do run into a scenario where Grand Falls can get a KO (or set one up), make sure to use it instead. That way, not only will you set up your second Blastoise VMAX, but you’ll also thin your deck out a bit, to give you more consistency against late-game Marnie or [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card]. This deck already is pretty robust against those plays thanks to Kricketune V, but if you’re able to get all of your Energy out of the deck, you can all but guarantee you won’t lose to that kind of hand disruption.

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Blastoise VMAX With Mewtwo and Mew-GX

Now, the Rose build is strong and consistent, but it can feel somewhat linear at times. This second deck, Blastoise VMAX / [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card], takes a good number of ideas from the above deck and takes them to yet another level. This is a variant of Water Mewtwo Box, a deck that previously saw some fringe play, but hasn’t recently. The idea here is that Mewtwo and Mew-GX can power up Blastoise VMAX by copying [card name=”Starmie-GX” set=”Hidden Fates” no=”14″ c=”name”][/card]’s Star Stream, and Blastoise VMAX can return the favor with Grand Falls. There are plenty of strong Water-type options for Mewtwo and Mew-GX to utilize, including [card name=”Keldeo-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”47″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Blastoise-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”35″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Blastoise and Piplup-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”38″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Alolan Sandslash-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM236″ c=”name”][/card]. 

Thanks to the variety of attacks that this deck can use, there are some great plays that you can make with it that aren’t available to the other Blastoise VMAX decks here. Yes, you can win with G-Max Bombard, but you can also OHKO anything with Rocket Splash, heal off damage with Splash Maker, or set up a checkmate spread attack by way of Spiky Storm GX. This deck also conveniently diversifies its Weaknesses, which can give it a slightly more robust matchup spread. 

The key to this deck is the constant flow from one Pokemon to another. Most of the attacks in this deck accelerate Energy, which allows you to build up a dangerous board while still putting pressure on your opponent. Once you’ve got plenty of Energy in play, Rocket Splash becomes a devastating finishing attack, capable of OHKOing anything in its path. Here’s the list:

[decklist name=”Blastoise / Mew Box” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Blastoise VMAX” set=”PRSWSH” no=”103″][pokemon amt=”18″]3x Blastoise VMAX (PRSWSH #SWSH103)3x Blastoise V (PRSWSH #SWSH10)2x [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Blastoise and Piplup-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”38″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Blastoise-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”35″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Starmie-GX” set=”Hidden Fates” no=”14″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Alolan Sandslash-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM236″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Incineroar-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Crobat V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”104″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Eldegoss V” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”19″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Kricketune V” set=”Battle Styles” no=”6″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”31″]4x [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Shining Fates” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Rose” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”168″ 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=”Cherish Ball” set=”Unified Minds” no=”191″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”183″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Telescopic Sight” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”160″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Evolution Incense” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Capacious Bucket” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Ordinary Rod” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]3x [card name=”Viridian Forest” set=”Team Up” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”3″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”11″]11x [card name=”Water Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”93″ c=”deck2″ amt=”11″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

The Pokemon Lineup

The core of this deck is pretty similar to the Blastoise VMAX / [card name=”Kricketune V” set=”Battle Styles” no=”6″ c=”name”][/card] list, but adjusted to better fit the Mewtwo and Mew-GX side of the deck. Like in the Kricketune V deck, we have a plentiful group of Pokemon for consistency, with two [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card], one [card name=”Crobat V” set=”Shining Fates” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card], one [card name=”Eldegoss V” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”19″ c=”name”][/card], and one Kricketune V. Dedenne-GX is the most important here, as this deck relies heavily on getting what it needs into the discard pile in order to function.

[cardimg name=”Blastoise-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”35″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

The Blastoise VMAX line itself is somewhat trimmed down; since we don’t need to rely on Blastoise VMAX as our only attacker, we can thin the line to include more copies of other useful cards. I’ve included five Pokemon specifically for Mewtwo and Mew-GX to utilize: Starmie-GX, Blastoise-GX, Blastoise and Piplup-GX, Alolan Sandslash-GX, and [card name=”Incineroar-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card]. Starmie-GX is used exclusively for Star Stream, which you’ll want to use early to power up either your Mewtwo and Mew-GX or your Blastoise VMAX. Blastoise and Piplup-GX combines Energy acceleration and healing and is excellent against matchups where your opponent will be aiming for 2HKOs. It’s also worth noting that you can bench this Pokemon if you need to — since it’s weak to Grass, not Lightning, it is excellent against [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card].

Blastoise-GX is the big finisher — after some acceleration, Rocket Splash can OHKO even VMAXs. Incineroar-GX has solid utility as well; Crushing Punch can delay the opponent while you set up a 2HKO, whereas Darkest Tornado GX is a nightmare for VMAX decks that can’t OHKO a Mewtwo and Mew-GX. Specifically, [card name=”Coalossal VMAX” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Corviknight VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”110″ c=”name”][/card] struggle mightily against that attack. Finally, Alolan Sandslash-GX gives the deck a fun finishing option with Spiky Storm GX. If you use [card name=”Telescopic Sight” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card] both times, G-Max Bombard and Spiky Storm GX combine for 190 damage, enough to KO Dedenne-GX, Crobat V, [card name=”Oricorio-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card], Eldegoss V, and Kricketune V. If your opponent can’t prevent or heal the spread damage, you can win with that two-attack combination alone. 

Trainer Cards and Energy

For the Supporters, I’ve cut down to only two [card name=”Rose” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”168″ c=”name”][/card], and I’ve swapped the [card name=”Cheryl” set=”Battle Styles” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] out for a [card name=”Giovanni’s Exile” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”174″ c=”name”][/card]. I’ve also increased the count of [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Champion’s Path” no=”62″ c=”name”][/card] to four, as it is the go-to Supporter for this deck since we’re trying to discard more things. In this deck, Rose can be both an early-game play and an end-game play. Rose can be a great out-of-nowhere move to get two more Energy onto the field so that you can have more Energy to shuffle in with Rocket Splash. It certainly isn’t as necessary, but it is still quite a good card.

Since we have Blastoise and Piplup-GX to provide some healing, Cheryl can be cut out of the deck, which gives us an opportunity to include another useful turn-buying card; Giovanni’s Exile. This deck, even more than the Kricketune build, makes heavy use of Dedenne-GX to get going. This means that in matchups such as [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card], you necessarily have to put yourself in a dangerous position in order to play your deck. Giovanni’s Exile helps to mitigate this issue since you can use it to remove those easy Prizes from your field. 

As for the Items, Stadiums, and Energy, there are a few slight differences, but the counts are mostly the same. [card name=”Cherish Ball” set=”Unified Minds” no=”191″ c=”name”][/card] replaces [card name=”Pokémon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”152″ c=”name”][/card] in this list since we’re searching for so many Pokemon-GX to discard (not to mention [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card] itself), though the total count of Pokemon-searching Items remains the same at nine. The other difference is that this list includes a copy of [card name=”Ordinary Rod” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card], to help recover any pieces (such as Blastoise VMAX) that might have had to be discarded with Professor’s Research or Dedechange. Ordinary Rod is also great to use after Giovanni’s Exile since you can simply add the discarded Dedenne-GX back into the deck for late-game use. To make room for the Ordinary Rod, I’ve cut out one [card name=”Capacious Bucket” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card]; our Energy count is also lower by one. 

Deck Strategy

Once again, early Energy acceleration is the key to this deck. If you go first, you can try to use Rose similarly to in the above deck, though you do play a lower count of it in this deck, so your odds of hitting it aren’t quite as high. If you go second, then you’ll want to use [card name=”Starmie-GX” set=”Hidden Fates” no=”14″ c=”name”][/card]’s Star Stream. Since this is a Mewtwo and Mew-GX deck, our list is built to get important cards into the discard pile; in this case, you’ll need to get the Starmie-GX and a pair of Water Energy discarded in order to get the full effect. As for what to attach to, both Blastoise V and Mewtwo and Mew-GX are solid options, as is [card name=”Blastoise and Piplup-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”38″ c=”name”][/card] if you’re up against PikaRom or [card name=”Victini VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”22″ c=”name”][/card].

In this deck, your second attack will typically be used for more Energy acceleration, as opposed to an immediate KO, though a lot certainly depends on the matchup and how your early game has gone. Generally, I prefer to attach to Blastoise V if I can, since that gives me the most options on the following turn. That is, if I hit a Rose, I can use G-Max Bombard; if I don’t, I can use Grand Falls, or, if the situation calls for it (as in, you can get a valuable KO and slow down your opponent), Blastoise V’s Torrential Cannon or Rocket Splash. If I accelerate to Mewtwo and Mew-GX, that means I’m looking to follow up with either Splash Maker, or I want to threaten my opponent with Darkest Tornado GX. The threat of the latter can, in some cases, cause your opponent to not attack, which will effectively buy you a turn, especially if you can then use Splash Maker anyway. In those matchups where Darkest Tornado GX is something that your opponent will be trying to play around, self-acceleration is often the best choice.

In some situations, you can instead use Blastoise-GX’s Giant Geyser GX, but this does come with the disadvantage of using up your GX attack for the game, which means you can’t use Darkest Tornado GX or Spiky Storm GX. Giant Geyser GX is best if you can accelerate plenty of Energy (at least three, though ideally more), if you don’t think you’ll need either of those other GX attacks and if you can immediately follow up that play with a KO from either G-Max Bombard or Rocket Splash. 

After you’ve used two Energy acceleration attacks, you should be looking to start closing out the game. At this point, you’ll typically have around seven Energy in play, and will have been able to put some damage on your opponent — ideally, it will be enough to either have put a three-Prizer into KO range or to put a two-Prizer into the range of a Knock Out from G-Max Bombard. You have a lot of options at this point, so a lot will depend on the specific game scenario. Against three-Prize decks, you’ll commonly use Rocket Splash for a OHKO on one of their Tag Teams or Pokemon VMAX, so you’ll simply have to figure out how to get the other three Prizes. Against two-Prize and single-Prize decks, spread damage will be key, though you can also win by using Splash Maker to prevent 2HKOs on Blastoise VMAX. 

While this deck does have more options, it is a bit more fragile than the [card name=”Kricketune V” set=”Battle Styles” no=”6″ c=”name”][/card] build. This is especially apparent when a critical piece, such as Starmie-GX is in your Prizes. With that said, you can typically weather a poor early game better than you can with the Kricketune V build, and the lack of linearity in the late game can give you more ways to win. Overall, both are pretty even, it all comes down to which style you prefer. Of course, the Mewtwo and Mew-GX build has the cool factor of having twice as many different Blastoise cards in the deck — so it does have an edge in that regard!

Blastoise VMAX With Frosmoth

Finally, we come to the third deck, Blastoise VMAX / [card name=”Frosmoth” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”64″ c=”name”][/card]. This is both the combo that I would anticipate is the most common pairing with Blastoise VMAX, as it is rather easy to put together — you can simply take an existing [card name=”Inteleon VMAX” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card] list, remove the Inteleon VMAX, and replace them with Blastoise VMAX.

[cardimg name=”Frosmoth” set=”Shining Fates” no=”30″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

The plus here is that Inteleon VMAX lists are already proving to be rather successful, so a lot of the testing has already been done. That is, you don’t need to go through nearly as many iterations of Blastoise VMAX / Frosmoth to find a successful list as you might for the above concepts. The downside is that this is fairly boring (at least, from a deckbuilding perspective), and more importantly, it isn’t necessarily clear that making the swap actually gives you a better deck. On one hand, the direct damage output from Blastoise VMAX is higher than that of Inteleon VMAX, but that comes at the cost of a higher Energy requirement, and of a lower spread damage output.

Having Frosmoth also notably diminishes the usefulness of Grand Falls, since the Energy acceleration is not nearly of as much benefit when Frosmoth can provide that acceleration at any time throughout the game with its Ability. 

The one key that does make me think that Blastoise VMAX can be the better Frosmoth deck is the increase in the number of players using [card name=”Mew” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card]. Since [card name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] decks continue to do well, more and more players have included Mew as a tech to deal with it. This heavily impacts Inteleon VMAX, as the spread damage from Max Bullet is a key part of that deck’s strategy. Mew hurts Blastoise VMAX as well, but not nearly as much since Blastoise can also win games with its straight damage output. Given that, Blastoise VMAX may end up being the go-to partner for Frosmoth, even if it isn’t quite at that level of popularity yet. 

For this list, I have indeed taken the builds from a mashup of existing Inteleon VMAX decks, with a few changes to better suit Blastoise VMAX. Here’s that list:

[decklist name=”Blastoise VMAX / Frosmoth” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Blastoise VMAX” set=”PRSWSH” no=”103″][pokemon amt=”21″]3x Blastoise VMAX (PRSWSH #SWSH103)4x Blastoise V (PRSWSH #SWSH101)[/card]3x [card name=”Snom” set=”Shining Fates” no=”29″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”58″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Sobble” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”55″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Drizzile” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”56″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Frosmoth” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”64″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Mew” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”76″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”29″]3x [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Shining Fates” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Level Ball” set=”Battle Styles” no=”129″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Pokémon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”152″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Evolution Incense” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Capacious Bucket” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”183″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Telescopic Sight” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”160″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Battle Styles” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Chaotic Swell” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”187″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”10″]10x [card name=”Water Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”93″ c=”deck2″ amt=”10″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

Personally, I’ve come to like the [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card] build of this deck more than the version without, especially as it diminishes the need for [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Crobat V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card]. Shady Dealings also makes it easy to find [card name=”Telescopic Sight” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card] when needed. The idea of this deck is to find all of the Pokemon you need (as you need to get out both Frosmoth and Blastoise VMAX to get going), hence the bump-up from nine to eleven Pokemon-searching Items. Mew is also a necessity in this list since it is a bit more vulnerable to Bench damage thanks to the reliance on Frosmoth. Other than that, this list isn’t all that different from the ones above; again, the major changes are in how you manage to accelerate Energy to your Blastoise VMAX. 

Deck Strategy

With regards to gameplay, this build and the [card name=”Kricketune V” set=”Battle Styles” no=”6″ c=”name”][/card] build play pretty similarly. The biggest difference is that instead of barreling through your deck in the early game to use [card name=”Rose” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”168″ c=”name”][/card], you are instead digging through your deck to find your [card name=”Frosmoth” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”64″ c=”name”][/card]. After that, it’s pretty much the same, since both decks use Blastoise VMAX as their only attacker most of the time. With that said, Inteleon is a pretty solid attacker, and using it can be a great way to force your opponent to take additional Knock Outs over what they would have to otherwise. Aqua Bullet and G-Max Bombard combine to KO a VMAX like Grand Falls and G-Max Bombard do, so if you can, you’ll want to use Inteleon to force your opponent to take a “useless” Knock Out. Aqua Bullet can also spread damage while doing so, which can make the end-game easier as well. 

A Review of Blastoise VMAX

Overall, Blastoise VMAX is a rather robust card, that I have no doubt is currently underrated. Each of these three decks represents a different way to play the card, and yet all three have performed on par with any of the meta decks in Standard. Between its strong damage output, its effective Energy acceleration, and its relatively strong typing, Blastoise VMAX is certainly a card I will continue to keep in mind and build around in the future and one that I would recommend you add to your arsenal as well.

With that, we’ve come to the end of this article! Once again, if you have any questions, be sure 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 tournaments, and stay safe!

Thanks for reading!

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