The Ghost Returns — Another Look at Dragapult VMAX

Hello everyone! It’s been a while since any of us here at PokeBeach talked about [card name=”Dragapult VMAX” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card]. With Player’s Cup IV qualifiers starting up, now seems like an excellent time to re-evaluate this deck. What was once the most hyped deck to come from Rebel Clash unfortunately faded rather quickly once [card name=”Eternatus VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card] was revealed one set later in Darkness Ablaze. While Dragapult VMAX has never fully left the meta, there is no doubt that it had never quite gotten to the level of competitiveness that had originally been hoped for. But now, thanks to Battle Styles, Dragapult VMAX is finally starting to claim its spot as a key member of the competitive Standard metagame. Dragapult VMAX has seen an incredible resurgence recently, thanks to the rise of single-Prize attacking decks and the new Urshifu VMAX decks as well as the decline of Eternatus VMAX. The release of [card name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] was about as much of a boon as one could hope for; not only is Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX an excellent matchup for Dragapult VMAX, but it also helps to weaken the meta position of Eternatus VMAX, one of Dragapult VMAX’s worst matchups. Further helping Dragapult VMAX, the return of [card name=”Level Ball” set=”Battle Styles” no=”129″ c=”name”][/card] has pushed some single-Prize attacking decks into the top tier; Mad Party, in particular, has begun to emerge as a Tier 1 option. The end result of all of this is that Dragapult VMAX’s meta position is drastically better than it was during the TEU-VIV meta. Given that, there’s no better time than now to take another peek at Dragapult VMAX. 

My Dragapult VMAX List

Dragapult VMAX is another one of those decks that wins not by high levels of direct damage, but rather by planning ahead and winning via spread damage and multi KO turns. It is a highly efficient Pokemon; it doesn’t take much to power up and once you have it going, you don’t need to switch it out or reattach Energy. You can instead just keep attacking and focus your resources elsewhere. Because of this efficiency, there is a ton of room in a Dragapult VMAX list for cards such as [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card] or tech Pokemon, as you’ll see in the list below. 

There are a few different ways you can play Dragapult VMAX, including [card name=”Green’s Exploration” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”175″ c=”name”][/card] builds and builds with a second Pokemon VMAX (such as Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX), but I’ve found that this more “traditional” list has played the best. Here’s the list that I’ve been using:

[decklist name=”Dragapult VMAX / Nets” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Crobat V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”104″][pokemon amt=”14″]3x [card name=”Dragapult VMAX” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”93″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Dragapult V” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Galarian Zigzagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”117″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Giratina” set=”Unified Minds” no=”86″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mewtwo” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”75″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Crobat V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”104″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”36″]4x [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”178″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Rose” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”168″ 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=”Pokémon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”152″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”159″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Battle Styles” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”U-Turn Board” set=”Unified Minds” no=”211″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Tool Scrapper” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”168″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Fan of Waves” set=”Battle Styles” no=”127″ 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″]6x [card name=”Psychic Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”95″ c=”deck2″ amt=”6″][/card]4x [card name=”Horror P Energy” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”172″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

Pokemon

[cardimg name=”Dragapult VMAX” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”93″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Our Pokemon line here consists of the Dragapult VMAX line, our consistency Pokemon, and a variety of single-Prize Pokemon to assist us along the way. [card name=”Galarian Zigzagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card] is an excellent Pokemon to play with Dragapult VMAX. It sets up damage where needed for your Knock Outs and is particularly helpful for setting up Knock Outs with Max Phantom’s damage to your opponent’s Bench. By playing Galarian Zigzagoon with a full four [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card], we can potentially add 60 damage per game with Headbutt Tantrum. While we won’t necessarily need to use it six times, the extra redundancy does allow us to use it consistently when we do need it. Since there is some redundancy, we can then use some of those Scoop Up Net on other impactful Pokemon, so I’ve included a copy each of [card name=”Giratina” set=”Unified Minds” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Mewtwo” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card]. My list originally did play [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] as well, but I tended to find that it was more of a liability than a benefit. Without [card name=”Escape Board” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card], you need to use either one of your switching cards or one of your Scoop Up Net to get it out of the Active Spot, and Stellar Wish rarely makes that resource usage worth it. While it might seem like a natural addition given that you already want to play Scoop Up Net to go with your Galarian Zigzagoon, in practice it isn’t actually of much use.

Trainers

There are three main goals with this Trainer line, which I think it achieves pretty well. The first is early-game consistency. In order for [card name=”Dragapult VMAX” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] to succeed, it needs to get going at least as fast as the opponent, so that you don’t fall too far behind before you can start taking advantage of your spread damage. You’ll typically need to use Max Phantom at least three times in order to win; the sooner you can use those attacks, the better. For this goal, I’ve included a full four each of [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Champion’s Path” no=”62″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card], as well as four each of our Pokemon-search Items. [card name=”Pokémon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”152″ c=”name”][/card] is the best secondary search Item that we have, as it can also find [card name=”Dragapult V” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] (unlike, say, [card name=”Evolution Incense” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card]), and while it may seem a bit lacking given that we only play 14 Pokemon, our four copies of Scoop Up Net do make finding a Pokemon to shuffle in a bit easier.  

The second goal is to disrupt your opponent, so you can push yourself even further ahead or give yourself a chance to catch up if the early game didn’t go quite as planned. A major advantage that Dragapult VMAX has is that it doesn’t take much to get going — just the Dragapult VMAX itself and some Energy — which leaves plenty of room for disruption options. In this deck, we play not only the full four Crushing Hammer, but also one copy of [card name=”Fan of Waves” set=”Battle Styles” no=”127″ c=”name”][/card], giving us six Energy removal cards total counting Giratina. While Fan of Waves may seem redundant given that we do have Giratina, it is nice to have an option that can hit Energy on your opponent’s Bench so that they can’t simply play around Dimension Breach. [card name=”Tool Scrapper” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”168″ c=”name”][/card] can also play a disruption role against an opponent using [card name=”Air Balloon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card], though its more relevant purpose is to remove [card name=”Big Charm” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”158″ c=”name”][/card] (commonly seen in [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] lists) or similar Tools. [card name=”Chaotic Swell” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”187″ c=”name”][/card] is included to disrupt Stadium-using decks such as [card name=”Welder” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”189″ c=”name”][/card] variants. There are two Stadiums that you’ll commonly see in Dragapult VMAX lists: [card name=”Power Plant” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Chaotic Swell” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”187″ c=”name”][/card]. In this list, I’ve opted for the latter. The goal of either is to slow down your opponent; Power Plant stops your opponent from being able to use [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]’s Dedechange, whereas Chaotic Swell prevents them from using any beneficial Stadiums, such as [card name=”Giant Hearth” set=”Unified Minds” no=”197″ c=”name”][/card]. Generally, I’ve found that most lists play enough Stadiums to get around Power Plant, so it isn’t quite as effective as it might otherwise be. In contrast, most decks don’t play the [card name=”Marshadow” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”81″ c=”name”][/card] that they would need to get around Chaotic Swell, so it is somewhat reliable as a counter to decks that take advantage of Stadiums. If you can get the Chaotic Swell into play early, you can considerably slow down any [card name=”Victini VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”22″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Centiskorch VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”34″ c=”name”][/card] deck you might run into, which can likewise buy you enough time to win those matchups. 

[premium]

The third goal is to make sure that you can move around your opponent’s Pokemon, so that you can properly place your damage on your opponent’s Pokemon to set up a double KO. Luckily for us, this has become easier than ever now that [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Battle Styles” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] is back in the format. While [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] will still be our go-to, there are enough “no-win” situations to make Escape Rope a more than viable card for this purpose. Of course, there are situations where you’ll want to switch without forcing your opponent to. For these scenarios, I’ve included two [card name=”U-Turn Board” set=”Unified Minds” no=”211″ c=”name”][/card], as it conveniently gives free retreat to all of our Pokemon that you can’t pick up with Scoop Up Net, making it effectively a better [card name=”Switch” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card]. If you’re in a pinch, you can also remove your own U-Turn Board with Tool Scrapper to move it onto a different Pokemon.

Lastly, I’ve included one copy of [card name=”Rose” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”168″ c=”name”][/card], as I believe it to be an incredibly valuable card in this deck. Rose gives you protection against Energy denial strategies which can otherwise derail Dragapult VMAX’s early game, as well as against those starts where you miss the turn 1 Energy attachment. Without Rose, you can become stuck pretty easily if things don’t go as planned; with it, you’ve still got a reliable backup plan. You do have to be careful when using it, as we don’t have [card name=”Kricketune V” set=”Battle Styles” no=”6″ c=”name”][/card] in this deck to immediately replenish your hand. What you can do is to use either Mewtwo’s Mind Report or [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card]’s Primate Wisdom to put a draw Supporter on top of your deck before using the Rose. That way, you’ll be able to replenish your hand on the following turn.

Energy

For our Energy, I have four [card name=”Horror P Energy” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”172″ c=”name”][/card], and six Psychic Energy. This is probably the least I would want to play in this deck, given how important it is to have a turn 1 attachment; if you want to cut some of the more tech cards (such as Rose or Fan of Waves), you could easily raise this count up to twelve total Energy.  If you can see your opponent’s decklist, be sure to take note whether or not they play any way to discard Horror P Energy; if they do not, then you can consider it guaranteed damage in your calculations.

Planning Ahead with Max Phantom

On turn 1, your top priority is to find a Dragapult V and attach a Psychic Energy to it so that you can start using Max Phantom on turn 2. As a deck, Dragapult VMAX is rather reliant on early tempo — efficiency is its advantage, after all — so you’ll be set back if you can’t get that second turn attack off. Energy disruption can hurt this deck badly for that reason as well, so if your opponent does play Fan of Waves or is playing a deck that is likely to (if you don’t know their list), try to attach a basic Psychic Energy as opposed to a Horror P Energy. The Rose can help protect against a slow turn 1 (or early Energy disruption), but you don’t want to rely on it alone. When this deck loses, it tends to be because the early game didn’t go well — so it is imperative that you do what you can to make sure you get going quickly. You’ll want to go first with this deck so that you can attack with Max Phantom sooner in the match, but since you do have adequate Energy disruption, going second isn’t awful. 

Once you do get to attacking, Dragapult VMAX is all about efficiently placing your damage. If you can plan your damage counter placements well enough, you’ll likely be able to save yourself a turn of attacking vs. placing the damage inefficiently. That one turn will typically be the difference between winning and losing. Every bit of damage counts, so you’ll want to try to attack every turn if possible, even if that means using an attack that isn’t Max Phantom. With three Max Phantom attacks, you’ll have 540 total damage to place, plus any extra damage you can get from Horror P Energy and [card name=”Galarian Zigzagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card]’s Headbutt Tantrum. Your goal is to place that damage as well as possible so that it is enough to take six Prizes. This takes some planning ahead.

The first step is to determine what is the best path to taking six Prizes based on your opponent’s board. In general, this will be the path that requires the least damage, though that isn’t always the case. In particular, if you can get to six Prizes by damaging their attacker directly, as opposed to a slightly easier path that requires an additional use of Boss’s Orders, you’ll want to take the former path. Once you’ve figured out which Pokemon you’re going to try to take down, you’ll then want to figure out how exactly you’ll be placing your damage counters so that you don’t waste any, and that you know how you’ll need to use Boss’s Orders. For example, let’s say you’re playing against a [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] deck and you’ve determined that your best path to victory is to KO a Zacian V, a [card name=”Crobat V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card], and a Dedenne-GX. For that route, you’ll need to do 560 damage total, so you know you’ll need to either use Headbutt Tantrum twice, or have your opponent attack into a Horror P Energy. Likewise, you’ll need to attack each of those Pokemon with Max Phantom’s direct 130 damage once. For instance, if you attack the Zacian V twice, you’ll waste 40 damage. Then you’ll need not two, but six Headbutt Tantrum in order to win on your third attack. A reasonable way to win then might be to attack the Zacian V, placing three damage counters on the Dedenne-GX and two damage counters on the Crobat V, then attacking the Crobat V and placing five damage counters on the Zacian V, then finally attacking the Dedenne-GX (after using two Headbutt Tantrum on the Zacian V), placing two damage counters on the Zacian V and three on the Crobat V to KO all three at the same time (and win the game). It’s worth noting that there are quite a few ways you can do those three attacks — you can KO the Dedenne-GX on the second attack, for example — so long as you don’t over-damage any of the Pokemon (by placing four damage counters on Dedenne-GX, for instance). Whether or not to take a KO tends to depend on your situation. In general, if you need something out of the Prizes, if your opponent plays healing cards that can affect the damaged Pokemon, or if your opponent doesn’t play [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card], you should take the KO. Otherwise, it can be smart to aim for a triple-KO to play around Reset Stamp.

Of course, in practice things are a bit more complicated. Generally, you won’t be able to pick and choose your opponent’s Active Spot Pokemon for your first attack, since you’ll be using draw Supporters at that point to set up your board. Given that, you’ll have to plan out your strategy based on your opponent’s board at the time of that first attack. The same general concept applies — you’ll want to target their Pokemon in a way that gives you Prizes in the most efficient manner — but you’ll have to adjust your targets based on what you have to damage with your first attack. Since you do have the choice of where to place the spread damage, a good way to think about this is to look at your opponent’s board with the 130 damage in place, determine the easiest path to victory, then place your five damage counters based on that path. This time, let’s say you’re playing against a [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] deck, with a board of two Pikachu and Zekrom-GX, two [card name=”Boltund V” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card], and a Crobat V. You’ve determined that the easiest path to victory is to KO two Pikachu and Zekrom-GX directly, as that only takes 480 damage, as opposed to the 580 damage you’d have to deal to take out the three Pokemon V. But there’s a problem — your first attack instead has to go into your opponent’s Active Spot Boltund V. So, instead of placing the spread damage on Pikachu and Zekrom-GX as you had originally planned, you’ll instead want to place it on your opponent’s Boltund V on the Bench and Crobat V, as winning via that path only takes 450 damage now, as opposed to the 480 it would still take to KO both Pikachu and Zekrom-GX. Further, you now know that you’ll need to use Headbutt Tantrum four times, and so you can adjust your usage of [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card] accordingly. In general, you’ll have to adjust to things not going according to plan — if you miss a Boss’s Orders, for instance — just be sure to keep adapting your spread damage in the same way so that you end up with the most efficient path to victory at all times. 

When things aren’t going according to plan, you’ll often need an additional turn of attacking in order to win. That’s where the disruption side of the deck comes in; after all, taking another turn isn’t an issue if you can make your opponent take another turn as well! You’ll want to use your Energy disruption cards as you see them most of the time, in such a way that you can potentially force your opponent to skip one of their attacks, and make it so they are the ones who need an additional turn of attacking to win. Even if things are going according to plan, it’s always a good idea to disrupt your opponent!

Lastly, as you get going into later stages of the game, you’ll want to do what you can to best increase your chances of having the resources you need to finish out the game. Typically, that means having [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] available on each of your turns. One thing you can do here, in addition to your normal deck-thinning, is to use Primate Wisdom to put any extra Boss’s Orders or [card name=”Mewtwo” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card] on top of your deck so that your opponent can’t use [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card] to prevent your future plans.

Matchups

When it comes to matchups, [card name=”Dragapult VMAX” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] tends to use the same general strategy of efficient attacking, though there can be a large difference in what you’ll end up having to attack based on what your opponent is playing. For any matchup against Pokemon VMAX or other Evolution Pokemon, you’ll want to keep in mind what the HP of their evolved Pokemon are so that you can plan your Knock Outs properly. 

Vs. Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX

[cardimg name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”88″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

This matchup is an incredibly favorable one for Dragapult VMAX. [card name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] can at best, 3HKO a Dragapult VMAX, whereas Dragapult VMAX can take down a pair of Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX with as few as two attacks. [card name=”Jirachi-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] can provide a bit of a wrinkle, given that we don’t play [card name=”Power Plant” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card] to shut off its Ability. But at only 160 HP, it is easy enough to KO the Jirachi-GX. A double KO on Jirachi-GX and [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] can be set up fairly easily and will leave you with four extra damage counters to place as you wish. This can be used to set up a final KO on a Crobat V or Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX after a few pecks from Headbutt Tantrum. Energy denial can be quite useful in this matchup as well, as they won’t be able to use G-Max Rapid Flow if you can continually discard whatever Energy they have attached. You do want to be somewhat cautious about [card name=”Cheryl” set=”Battle Styles” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] if going for KOs on their Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX, but even with Cheryl, you’ll remain ahead due to how much difficulty a Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX player will have to KO any of your Dragapult VMAX.

Some Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX builds do also play Dragapult VMAX; in these matchups, things will generally play out as they might in a Dragapult VMAX mirror match. In that case, you’ll have the advantage, since they’re effectively playing the same deck, but with quite a few useless cards included. In that mirror match, the key will be Energy disruption; stop their Max Phantom, and there isn’t much that they can do.

Vs. Single Strike Urshifu VMAX

This Urshifu VMAX may be seeing significantly less play than Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX, but [card name=”Single Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card]  is a slightly more dangerous deck for us. The good news is that most Single Strike Urshifu VMAX decks are not playing the [card name=”Tyranitar V” set=”Battle Styles” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] which could make this matchup actually tricky, so you’ll generally have an easy time against most lists. Because Dragapult VMAX resists Fighting-types, G-Max One Blow can only get a OHKO if all four [card name=”Single Strike Energy” set=”Battle Styles” no=”141″ c=”name”][/card] are attached to it — not an easy feat. More often, you’ll see your opponent going for 2HKOs with the [card name=”Single Strike Urshifu V” set=”Battle Styles” no=”85″ c=”name”][/card]. The other option they’ll have is to use [card name=”Single Strike Scroll of Scorn” set=”Battle Styles” no=”133″ c=”name”][/card], which will have the same damage output as G-Max One Blow after you hit a Single Strike Urshifu VMAX with a Weakness-boosted Max Phantom. Since [card name=”Houndoom” set=”Battle Styles” no=”96″ c=”name”][/card] can further increase the damage on that Single Strike Urshifu VMAX, this attack can OHKO a Dragapult VMAX so you will want to be careful. The good news is if they do go that route, you’ll be able to KO that same Single Strike Urshifu VMAX with only part of Max Phantom’s spread damage (or with Headbutt Tantrum in some cases), which can make getting a double KO a good bit easier. As in the Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX matchup, Jirachi-GX can be threatening but you can deal with it in the same manner as described above. 

Vs. Victini VMAX

This can be a somewhat obnoxious matchup, as [card name=”Victini VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”22″ c=”name”][/card] is a deck which can best even Dragapult VMAX’s efficiency. At 310 HP, Victini VMAX is somewhat easier to KO than other Pokemon VMAX — you won’t need any pecks from Headbutt Tantrum, just two direct Max Phantoms and a third spread attack to get one. But Victini VMAX makes up for that easily with its own quick, hard-hitting attacks. Adding to the obnoxiousness is the Pokemon-GX package that many of these decks play. [card name=”Heatran-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card] can OHKO a Dragapult VMAX if they can get seven Energy into play — hardly a difficult feat for a [card name=”Welder” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”189″ c=”name”][/card] deck. [card name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] can also be obnoxious as Outrage plays well into the multi-hit KO strategy of Dragapult VMAX, though it can give you a quicker path to victory.  

Most of the time in this matchup, you’ll need four attacks to win, but there are a few paths to winning with only three that you should be aware of. The easiest is if they happen to bench three Dedenne-GX and / or [card name=”Crobat V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card], but you can also win by taking a KO on a Victini VMAX and a [card name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card], two Victini VMAX, a Reshiram and Charizard-GX and two Dedenne-GX, or a three-Prize Pokemon, a Crobat V / Dedenne-GX, and a [card name=”Volcanion” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card]. In each of these scenarios, you’re going to need to use multiple Headbutt Tantrum (at least four in all but the three Crobat V scenario), so you’ll want to prioritize saving your Scoop Up Net to specifically use on [card name=”Galarian Zigzagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card]. In order to KO two Victini VMAX, you’ll also need them to hit into a [card name=”Horror P Energy” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”172″ c=”name”][/card] to get enough damage on the board. Be sure to check how many Scoop Up Net are in your deck vs. your Prizes, so you’ll know in advance if any of those routes to victory are cut off in advance. Your opponent likely won’t play down [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card] unless they can immediately win with it, but if they do, be sure to OHKO it as opposed to leaving it 10 damage short. Otherwise, they can copy [card name=”Incineroar-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card]’s Darkest Tornado GX to get a OHKO, a move that should end up giving them an eventual win. This matchup is not an easy one for Dragapult VMAX, but with proper planning and a bit of luck you can end up coming out ahead.

Vs. Corviknight VMAX, Lucario and Melmetal-GX

As far as bad matchups go, the tanky metal decks might be the worst. If the [card name=”Corviknight VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”110″ c=”name”][/card] player can get going, this matchup becomes pretty rough; Max Phantom can only 3HKO a Corviknight VMAX, which gives them plenty of opportunity to use Cheryl. The key to winning is to prevent them from reaching that point. The best way to do so is to make sure they cannot keep a [card name=”Bronzong” set=”Battle Styles” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] in play. That way, while their healing will still be a threat, any healing they do will at least slow them down a bit. In many cases, it will be easier to ignore the Corviknight VMAX and take down multiple [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] and Bronzong instead, though that still will take four attacks and requires heavy use of [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] to be successful. 

On a similar note, [card name=”Lucario and Melmetal-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card] decks are an atrocious matchup for Dragapult VMAX, to the point that I’ve chosen not to include [card name=”Phoebe” set=”Battle Styles” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] to play around [card name=”Zamazenta V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card]. While Full Metal Wall GX may not prevent the spread damage from Max Phantom, between that and [card name=”Metal Goggles” set=”Team Up” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card] they can reduce Dragapult VMAX’s direct damage to the point that your total damage output is miniscule. [card name=”Mallow and Lana” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”198″ c=”name”][/card] can easily erase any damage done, plus their damage output will be more than enough to win before you can come close to doing so. Your best bet here is to attack as quickly and as often as possible, and to disrupt them with Energy denial and [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card] as much as you can. 

Vs. Mad Party

The resurgence of single-Prize attacking decks such as Mad Party have been quite nice for [card name=”Dragapult VMAX” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card], as they are particularly susceptible to the spread damage from Max Phantom. In the case of Mad Party, you can easily make it so that every attack you make takes two or even three Knock Outs. With two Horror P Energy, you can also make it so that they cannot attack you with [card name=”Bunnelby” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”150″ c=”name”][/card] without getting Knocked Out in return. 

I generally like going aggressively after [card name=”Sinistea” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card] in this matchup; it can be KO’d by three Headbutt Tantrum, or even by [card name=”Dragapult V” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card]’s Bite; if you can take out their Sinistea, you should be able to stop any early threatening KOs if you aren’t able to establish a Pokemon VMAX quickly. In some cases, you can also donk them thanks to Galarian Zigzagoon, though this matchup is positive enough that you actually shouldn’t go for the donk if it means potentially putting yourself in a vulnerable position later on if you miss it. For your opponent to win, you’ll have to both sputter and give them easy Prizes to take early such as Dedenne-GX — don’t do that, and you should walk away from this matchup with an easy victory every time.

Vs. Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX

Despite all of the meta shakeups, [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] (ADP) remains the most played deck in Standard. Dragapult VMAX tends to handle ADP pretty well, as it isn’t terribly difficult to disrupt them, nor is it tough to keep a board of only Pokemon VMAX. As usual for this matchup, you want to avoid playing [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] or Crobat V onto the Bench so as to prevent your opponent from getting easy Prizes off of them. Your other Pokemon can all be recovered with [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card], so they aren’t as much of a liability. However, it is generally a good idea not to leave them on the field if you can prevent it, since one Pokemon VMAX plus one other KO is still enough for the ADP player to win following Altered Creation GX. With that said, this is a matchup where Headbutt Tantrum can be quite important, as it brings ADP into 2HKO range so you won’t want to ignore these Pokemon entirely. 

ADP decks are liable to put three easily-KOd two-Prize Pokemon on the board — Dedenne-GX, Crobat V, and [card name=”Mawile-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”141″ c=”name”][/card] is a fairly common lineup — so if you can target those Pokemon, that’ll be your easiest path to victory. There are quite a few ways to win this matchup with three attacks, but if any of your Max Phantoms end up attacking an active ADP, you’ll need a fourth attack unless you can get them to use Ultimate Ray into a Horror P Energy. Even so, attacking an ADP isn’t awful, so long as you can disrupt their Energy. You’ll want to use [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card] against their ADP as often as you can; even if they do manage to use Altered Creation GX, you can still put yourself in a great position if you can stop them from using Ultimate Ray.

Vs. Eternatus VMAX

While this matchup is certainly a negative one, it isn’t unwinnable. To come out victorious, you will need to make good use of your Energy disruption, and you will need to take advantage of the Prizes that you can get from Crobat V. 

While taking a KO on three Crobat V is the most efficient path to victory, this is a matchup where you can still win in three attacks if you have to attack into their [card name=”Eternatus VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card]. Ideally, your opponent will put a cheap one-Prize Pokemon into play such as Galarian Zigzagoon or [card name=”Spiritomb” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card], which will allow you to win via a path of Eternatus VMAX + Crobat V + Galarian Zigzagoon. Do note that they don’t have to, however, as Eternatus VMAX can OHKO a Dragapult VMAX with only five Bench Pokemon, which is possible to fill with exclusively Crobat V and Eternatus V. 

To buy yourself enough time to get those Knock Outs, you’ll need to make ample use of your Energy disruption, so that you can prevent the Eternatus VMAX player from attacking for as long as possible. Thankfully, most Eternatus VMAX decks don’t play any form of Energy acceleration aside from [card name=”Eternatus V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”116″ c=”name”][/card]’s Power Accelerator, so you can hold them off long enough to win with a few lucky Crushing Hammer flips. 

Vs. Mewtwo and Mew-GX

There are a wide variety of [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card] decks these days. The typical expectation when matching up with any of them should be that you won’t actually be taking on the Mewtwo and Mew-GX itself, so much as the other Pokemon that they play with it. That is, against Fire-type Mewtwo decks, you should expect them to attack with their Reshiram and Charizard-GX package, against Grass-type Mewtwo and Mew-GX decks, you should expect them to focus on using [card name=”Rowlet and Alolan Exeggutor-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”1″ c=”name”][/card] directly, and so on. If they ever do put Mewtwo and Mew-GX into play, it is three easy Prizes for you as they generally won’t play Jirachi-GX. Even if they do play [card name=”Weakness Guard Energy” set=”Unified Minds” no=”213″ c=”name”][/card], you can easily remove it. As I said above, you’ll want to make sure to OHKO any Mewtwo and Mew-GX they do put into play so that Darkest Tornado GX isn’t an option; other than that, these matchups will tend to come down to how well you can take on their other Pokemon.

Vs. Other Matchups

Given how diverse the current metagame is, you’re likely to run into plenty of decks in addition to the ones listed above. When running into something you aren’t familiar with, your best bet is to reduce things down to the efficient damage strategy outlined above. Whatever you’re going against, that’s going to be the best path you have to victory. Be aware of any healing effects that your opponent might play or any other way they might have to disrupt your plans, so that you can plan ahead for those disruptions. Otherwise, stick to the strategy and you should do well.

Summing Up Dragapult VMAX

Dragapult VMAX is not the easiest deck to play — there’s quite a bit more to it than simply attacking your opponent directly — but it is quite a rewarding one if you put in the time and effort to learn it. The recent meta changes makes it an excellent option for current Standard events. While some bad matchups do remain, those are more than outweighed by the good ones. I would certainly recommend trying out my list here and hopefully, it brings you some success!

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 me in the comments, or ask all of us writers in our PTCG Subscriber’s Hideout! Best of luck, and stay safe!

Thanks for reading!

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