Blown Away – Tornadus VMAX in Standard

Hello PokeBeach readers! In this article, I’m going to talk about a deck that broke out recently with a 2nd-place finish at the Japan National Championship and is gaining further recognition with a few smaller online accomplishments: [card name=”Tornadus VMAX” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card]. I had completely neglected this card when looking at the Chilling Reign set — at first glance, it doesn’t stand out because it can’t one-shot opposing Pokémon VMAX — but that was before I realized it was a Single Strike Pokémon. This gives it access to [card name=”Houndoom” set=”Battle Styles” no=”96″ c=”name”][/card], boosting its damage and giving it the Energy acceleration it needs to compete with the faster decks in the format. With this damage boost taking it into one-shot range and a flexible Energy base allowing for versatile builds, Tornadus VMAX is poised to be a real threat in the current Standard format.

Tornadus VMAX’s Strengths

[cardimg name=”Tornadus VMAX” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”125″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

The main idea of the deck is to deal huge damage using Tornadus VMAX’s Max Wind Spirit attack with a plethora of damage boosting options, including both [card name=”Single Strike Energy” set=”Battle Styles” no=”141″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Powerful Colorless Energy” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”176″ c=”name”][/card]. To hit specific metagame threats for Weakness, we can also play tech cards such as [card name=”Tyranitar V” set=”Battle Styles” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Single Strike Urshifu V” set=”Battle Styles” no=”85″ c=”name”][/card], both of which benefit from Houndoom and deal well with [card name=”Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Eternatus VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card], respectively. For consistency, we can play [card name=”Capture Energy” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card], which is a huge advantage in a format where the search options are so slim. With built-in consistency, good typing, and the acceleration to keep pace with other decks, Tornadus VMAX should be able to cement itself as a top contender in the Standard format.

The List

[decklist name=”Tornadus VMAX” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Tornadus VMAX” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”125″][pokemon amt=”20″]3x [card name=”Tornadus VMAX” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Tornadus V” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”124″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Houndoom” set=”Battle Styles” no=”96″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Houndour” set=”Battle Styles” no=”95″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Tyranitar V” set=”Battle Styles” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Single Strike Urshifu V” set=”Battle Styles” no=”85″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mew” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM215″ 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=”28″]4x [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”178″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/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=”Pokémon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”152″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Switch” set=”Black and White” no=”104″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Urn of Vitality” set=”Battle Styles” no=”139″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Single Strike Scroll of Scorn” set=”Battle Styles” no=”133″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Air Balloon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Rose Tower” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”12″]4x [card name=”Single Strike Energy” set=”Battle Styles” no=”141″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Powerful Colorless Energy” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”176″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Capture Energy” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Triple Acceleration Energy” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”190″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

Four Tornadus V, Three Tornadus VMAX

I nearly maxed out this line to keep the deck as consistent as possible. Since Tornadus VMAX trades so favorably with most of the format by itself, consistency is key here. I chose to cut one Tornadus VMAX, though, because you only ever use two in a game and because it’s easy enough to find with the deck’s search engine. Tornadus V needs to be a four-of because it’s your best starter, so you want the odds of having it in your opening hand to be as high as possible.

Four Houndoom

[cardimg name=”Houndoom” set=”Battle Styles” no=”96″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Houndoom is the core of this deck. It lets you keep pace with top-tier decks by increasing Tornadus’s damage output as well as accelerating Energy to it. I went with a full four copies because you want to get it out as fast as possible, and whiffing it for even a single turn can lose you the game. I don’t think I would ever consider cutting a Houndoom, but if you really needed to make space for an important tech, you could cut the fourth. You only ever use two Houndoom in a game anyway.

Tyranitar V

Tyranitar V’s typing helps against a lot of decks, but the big one is Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX. Tyranitar V is also a decent attacker in general: it has the same base damage output as Tornadus VMAX; the only difference is that Tyranitar can’t use Powerful Colorless Energy. As a two-Prize attacker, though, it’s a great inclusion for winning the Prize trade against fast Tag Team decks. This is a card I would never cut — it’s useful in nearly every matchup and makes some close to autowins.

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Urshifu V

Unlike Tyranitar V, Urshifu V has limited value beyond its typing. Since Tornadus VMAX is weak to Lightning, Urshifu V is a great way to handle the [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM168″ c=”name”][/card] matchup, not to mention the Eternatus VMAX matchup discussed above. It’s a cuttable card in the right metagame, but in the core list, I felt it was too good not to include.

Mew

Mew is here for the Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX matchup. Without it, the matchup would be nearly unwinnable, as they could take down all of your Houndour and you would have no way to accelerate Energy. In the current state of Standard, Mew is completely uncuttable. It has utility not only against Urshifu, but also against [card name=”Decidueye” set=”Shining Fates” no=”8″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM168″ c=”name”][/card], and any other deck looking to hit the Bench. All around, it’s an amazing card, and I can’t imagine ever cutting it from the list.

Draw Supporters

This deck runs the standard draw Supporter engine; you see something similar in nearly every deck in the format. We max out [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”178″ c=”name”][/card] and run three [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card] alongside it, so the deck remains consistent and we have some disruption to make the opponent stumble. While normally I’d like to run one or two more draw Supporters, this deck also runs four Rose Tower for a nice consistency boost, so our lineup here is fine.

Search Options

Maxing out the search options here is important because you need to Houndoom and Tornadus online as soon as possible to keep pace. I chose [card name=”Pokémon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”152″ c=”name”][/card] rather than [card name=”Evolution Incense” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card] because it’s an extra out to Houndour, which is just as important as Tornadus VMAX and Houndoom. Pokémon Communication is a relatively inconsistent card, however, so there’s an argument to be made for a split between the two.

Three Switch, One Air Balloon

This deck doesn’t need many switching options — they’re only in here for the beginning of the game and for getting out of a [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card]–induced stall. You probably don’t want to cut back on these cards, though, as it makes it harder to line up your attacker at the beginning of the game.

Urn of Vitality

[card name=”Urn of Vitality” set=”Battle Styles” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card] is a nice recovery card for a deck that relies so heavily on Single Strike Energy. Since you generally only plan on attacking twice with this deck, I’m not sure it necessarily needs two copies, but the extra one is always nice when you have to make some difficult discard choices. I probably wouldn’t cut these because they smooth out the deck and make it easy to use Houndoom all game, as well as being good for cute plays like Quick Ball-ing away a Single Strike Energy and then using Urn to put in back the deck for Houndoom to search.

Single Strike Scroll of Scorn

[cardimg name=”Single Strike Scroll of Scorn” set=”Battle Styles” no=”133″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

[card name=”Single Strike Scroll of Scorn” set=”Battle Styles” no=”133″ c=”name”][/card] is a great surprise card, as many decks like Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX and Eternatus VMAX can have a hard time taking a one-hit Knock Out on your Tornadus VMAX. When combined with all the damage-boosting effects in this deck, Scroll of Scorn can easily one-shot anything in the format in return. While this is certainly the most cuttable card in the deck, I feel it opens a lot of opportunities to punish unwary opponents. Adding another layer to a deck is rarely a bad thing.

Rose Tower

Every other list I’ve seen for this deck plays either [card name=”Path to the Peak” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Tower of Darkness” set=”Battle Styles” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card]. Path to the Peak isn’t a great option, though, because you’ll usually be discarding your own Stadium cards with Tornadus VMAX’s attack. Tower of Darkness is more proactive, but it only nets you one card at a relatively steep cost. This is why I opted for [card name=”Rose Tower” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card] instead. While Rose Tower isn’t always going to be usable, it gives the deck an opportunity to get out of rough hands, or sometimes even find the last piece it needs for a big Knock Out. It’s relatively easy to play your whole hand down and draw three cards, which is much more of an advantage than Tower of Darkness gives you.

The other intriguing option is [card name=”Dark City” set=”Unified Minds” no=”193″ c=”name”][/card], as you can use it in the early-game to move your Tyranitar V, a Houndour, or your Crobat V if you happened to start any of them or be forced into them by an Escape Rope. I felt that Rose Tower’s draw power gives the deck enough of a boost to be worth playing over the switching consistency of Dark City, but it’s certainly something to consider.

Energy

The Energy line in this deck is pretty crazy, and you can change it up pretty much however you’d like. I opted to play more Capture Energy since you need to get Houndour out as soon as possible, but this did force me to cut a Powerful Colorless Energy, which may have been the wrong choice. I wouldn’t go with fewer than seven damage-boosting Energy since they’re so important against opposing VMAX decks, but apart from that the Energy line is flexible. I would recommend trying a few versions and figuring out what you like best.

Matchups

Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX – Favorable

This matchup is fairly straightforward. You often close out the game with only two Knock Outs — one on a [card name=”Gengar and Mimikyu-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] and one on a [card name=”Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card] — through a combination of Tyranitar V and Tornadus VMAX. You begin most games with a Tornadus VMAX, which can easily Knock Out a Gengar and Mimikyu-GX, and if you have an explosive start, it can even Knock Out a Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX as early as turn two. The biggest advantage you have playing Tornadus VMAX is that it’s almost impossible for Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX to OHKO it early in the game. If you avoid that early Knock Out, you have almost complete control of the game from then on.

The one thing you want to avoid in this matchup, though, is evolving into Tornadus VMAX too early, since you can gain the Prize advantage by forcing them to take a Knock Out on a two-Prize Pokémon before responding with an OHKO on their three-Prize Pokémon.

Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX – Tossup

This is the one big matchup in which Tornadus VMAX doesn’t have a huge advantage. While Tornadus does resist Fighting, it’s not too difficult for the Urshifu player to take a two-hit Knock Out on it regardless. Meanwhile, [card name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card]’s 330 HP means that Tornadus VMAX needs even more of a damage boost to find a one-hit Knock Out than in matchups like Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX. (This can be made easier by a copy of [card name=”Galarian Zigzagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card], but with such tight Bench space I don’t feel that inclusion is worth it.)

Since your opponent needs to take two-shots, you can often win by Knocking Out a few Benched Pokémon and then using one big attack to Knock Out a VMAX.  You can also play a slower-paced game and set up two-hit KOs if you’re still able to maintain a favorable Prize trade. Overall, I think this is by far Tornadus VMAX’s hardest matchup, but by no means unwinnable. In fact, it’s still only about 50/50.

Eternatus VMAX – Very Favorable

This matchup is super easy for Tornadus VMAX. Since [card name=”Eternatus VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card] has to attach two Energy in order to attack, any one-hit Knock Out on one of their attackers will completely shut them out of the game. To do this, use Urshifu V to Knock Out your opponent’s Eternatus VMAX as soon as it’s set up. Without Urshifu, this matchup is still favorable, since it becomes a two-shot war where you have the potential to pull off some one-shots and they do not. This is by far Tornadus VMAX’s easiest matchup, and there isn’t much Eternatus VMAX can do to swing it.

ADP / Zacian V – Favorable

This matchup is somewhat close because of [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card]’s ability to pick off two-Prize support Pokémon for three Prizes each. Tornadus VMAX can deal with this better than most decks, though, since it can get by without having to over-bench those support Pokémon. ADP also can’t miss a beat in this matchup, as Tornadus VMAX easily one-shots it with only two damage buffs. This is a matchup where you will need to take three Knock Outs, but because you often get the first one, it’s easy to follow up and force your opponent to draw well to outpace you. This matchup is somewhere around 70/30 in Tornadus VMAX’s favor simply because of those pacing issues.

Conclusion

To wrap up this article, I’ll reiterate that I believe Tornadus VMAX has all the tools to be a top-tier deck in Standard. It can compete with all the best decks, and even has a favorable matchup against most of them. The deck is strong, fast, and new, which gives its player a huge advantage in most events. It’s also easy to play and most games with it are straightforward, as the strategy boils down to taking one-hit Knock Outs and outpacing your opponent. If I were competing in the Players Cup Global Finals, I would 100% bring this deck, because I think it has the best chance against everything else in the format.

As always, make sure you check out the other articles here on PokeBeach — there’s a ton of great content that’s useful for all types of players, old and new.

If you have any questions for me about the deck in this article, feel free to leave them in the comments section below!

Until next time.

-Michael

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