Just Read The Scroll — Rapid Strike Box in Standard

Hey everyone! It’s Charlie and I’m happy to be back with another article. I took a good time away from the game again during the spring, but have started up playing again this summer and am excited to attend a few in-person events in early August! I’ll be back for another article then, with a recap of those, but for now, I want to share this super fun deck I have been messing around with; Rapid Strike Box!

[cardimg name=”Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”75″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

The origins of this deck were simple — everyone knows that [card name=”Blaziken VMAX” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”21″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Zeraora V” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] is a match made in heaven, but although this deck can do a ton of cool things, it’s lacking the raw power typically required for decks to do well in this current Standard format. I love all the cheeky damage manipulation you can do, but at the end of the day, you’re no match for a [card name=”Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card] deck that sets up quickly. It’s more consistent and puts out significantly more damage than you, even if you’re hitting the Bench with every attack and making a lot of cool plays. Luckily, Rapid Strike is a diverse card classification, so I started digging into all the options available to us, from support Pokemon like [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Octillery” set=”Battle Styles” no=”37″ c=”name”][/card] to tech attackers like [card name=”Kecleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card]. In this article, I’ll share two lists for this deck, each using a different support engine but both featuring the tech options that allow you to take favorable matchups against Shadow Rider variants and even decks like [card name=”Lucario and Melmetal-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”203″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card].

Let’s get right into it with the first list!

Rapid Strike Box – Octillery Style

[decklist name=”Rapid Strike Box/Octillery” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Tapu Koko Prism Star” set=”Team Up” no=”51″][pokemon amt=”17″]2x [card name=”Blaziken VMAX” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”21″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Blaziken V” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”20″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Zeraora V” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”53″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Octillery” set=”Battle Styles” no=”37″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Remoraid” set=”Battle Styles” no=”36″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Kecleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”122″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Passimian” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”88″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Tapu Koko Prism Star” set=”Team Up” no=”51″ 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]3x [card name=”Korrina’s Focus” set=”Battle Styles” no=”128″ 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]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=”Escape Rope” set=”Battle Styles” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Rapid Strike Scroll of the Skies” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”151″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Telescopic Sight” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”160″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Air Balloon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Ordinary Rod” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Tower of Waters” set=”Battle Styles” no=”138″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”12″]5x [card name=”Lightning Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”118″ c=”deck2″ amt=”5″][/card]4x [card name=”Rapid Strike Energy” set=”Battle Styles” no=”140″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Darkness Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”121″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

Deck List Breakdown

While this list overall looks pretty similar to a classic Blaziken VMAX / Zeraora V list, there are a few key differences I want to note. I’ll go through most of the important inclusions and describe the techs below.

Two Blaziken VMAX, Two Zeraora

These are your main attackers in almost every matchup, but you can get away with these lower counts because [card name=”Blaziken VMAX” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”21″ c=”name”][/card] is worth three Prize cards, you’re only ever using two of each of these at maximum, and you have a copy of [card name=”Ordinary Rod” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card] in the list. However, this is the bare minimum, so unless you’re adding in a few copies of [card name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] to fill in the gaps, I wouldn’t drop any of these.

Two Octillery

I was originally skeptical of how good this card could be. It’s limited to once-per-turn and can only search Rapid Strike cards, so since there’s nothing that’s immensely broken it can search out every turn, how good could it be?

Boy was I wrong.

[card name=”Octillery” set=”Battle Styles” no=”37″ c=”name”][/card] is extremely good in this deck because it can almost always find you the missing piece. While I was right that no single Rapid Strike card is that broken, the versatility of being able to get any of your Pokemon other than [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Tapu Koko Prism Star” set=”Team Up” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card], get Supporters like [card name=”Korrina’s Focus” set=”Battle Styles” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card] to draw, and even get out [card name=”Rapid Strike Energy” set=”Battle Styles” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card] is amazing. I love this card in this deck and it fits well in a list designed to be extremely versatile.

Two Kecleon

[cardimg name=”Kecleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”122″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Now, this is where things get a bit interesting. [card name=”Kecleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] is included to combo with [card name=”Rapid Strike Scroll of the Skies” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”151″ c=”name”][/card] and its Ability — with a Darkness and Lightning Energy, you can OHKO a [card name=”Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card] with three Energy! This is extremely powerful, and with the support of Blaziken VMAX, Octillery, and [card name=”Tapu Koko Prism Star” set=”Team Up” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card], you can set this combo up pretty reliably. You can also hit for 90 pretty easily with its built-in attack and power it up quickly with [card name=”Rapid Strike Energy” set=”Battle Styles” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card], so having this as a single-Prize attacker is extremely good.

I love this inclusion, and the only thing I’d take it out for would be if there were a Darkness type Rapid Strike Pokemon. That would allow us to forgo the inclusion of basic Darkness Energy since we would no longer need to change Kecleon’s type. You can literally hit every Weakness in the game with this (even Fairy for [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] — something can finally hit it for Weakness that isn’t a bad deck!); the versatility is perfect for a deck like this and it makes so many matchups better.

One Tapu Koko Prism Star

The inclusion of Tapu Koko Prism Star is pretty standard here; you’re using it to accelerate to everything in the deck, especially Kecleon and [card name=”Zeraora V” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card]. You can now power up either of those attackers in one turn, which gives you way more flexibility with setting up attackers in the later stages of the game, plus it gives you the speed you might need to set up an early attacker if you can’t find Rapid Strike Energy. The extra pace that Tapu Koko Prism Star provides is what makes the basic Lightning engine important, otherwise, I might be inclined to move to [card name=”Spiral Energy” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card] for the extra versatility.

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One Passimian

A Pokemon that boosts Bench damage when you already hit for 160 to the Bench with Zeraora V? Yes please! [card name=”Passimian” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] gives you the extra damage you need to pick off [card name=”Crobat V” set=”Shining Fates” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card] on the Bench, it gets you in range of a 2HKO on a 320 HP VMAX that you hit with Blaziken VMAX the turn prior, and when combined with [card name=”Telescopic Sight” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card], you can OHKO so many more Pokemon V. As a bonus, it’s a Fighting-type Rapid Strike Pokemon, which is important in a deck that doesn’t play [card name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] to hit Fighting Weakness. Passimian is super strong as a one-of; I might even consider a second if the extra Bench damage becomes too important.

Draw Supporters

The four [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] counts are pretty standard, but why would I want three [card name=”Korrina’s Focus” set=”Battle Styles” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card] if it’s almost always a worse play than the other two Supporters? This is entirely because of Octillery’s Ability. When I have an Octillery setup, I never have to worry about having a draw Supporter because I can search out Korrina’s Focus due to its Rapid Strike classification. This is extremely useful and makes the deck so much more consistent, even more so than the [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card] variant I will talk about in a bit. I love this Supporter count and it helps get set up reliably every game, which is important for a deck that has different game plans depending on the matchup it’s playing against.

Three Boss’s Orders

Why would I want to play this many [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] in a deck that can snipe the Bench so well? The first reason is [card name=”Mew” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card]; it can severely limit our strategic options when put in play, and it’s a relatively easy Prize card that you can get with [card name=”Blaziken VMAX” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”21″ c=”name”][/card] while still setting up if you can find a Boss’s Orders at the right time. The second reason is that Zeraora V only deals 100 damage to the Active Pokemon. If I hit something with Blaziken VMAX for 130 and they choose to attack with it again, 230 total damage likely won’t get the job done if I’m facing a Pokemon VMAX. However, 190 damage with a Passimian-boosted Cross Fist on the Bench could, and the 100 damage dealt to the Active Pokemon could be just enough for an extra single Prize card on something like an opposing [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card] or any <100 HP Pokemon. Overall, Boss’s Orders has incredible utility in any deck, and it’s a strong enough card that I would want to play it in high counts even in a snipe-focused deck.

Pokemon Search

I chose to play this search count because it is solid overall and fits well for a deck of this type. A full playset of [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”name”][/card] is obvious, but I chose to go with only two [card name=”Pokémon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”152″ c=”name”][/card] as I’m only running 17 Pokemon. My only Evolution Pokemon are Blaziken VMAX and [card name=”Octillery” set=”Battle Styles” no=”37″ c=”name”][/card], but those are important enough that playing two [card name=”Evolution Incense” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card] is still worth it. I like this count and could see adding more Pokemon Communication, but otherwise, it has run smoothly so far, and Pokemon search is not hard to come by since Octillery can search almost the entire deck worth of them.

Two Escape Rope

I chose [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Battle Styles” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] over [card name=”Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card] for the same reason I included a lot of Boss’s Orders — Zeraora V hitting the Bench harder than the Active. Escape Rope provides an easy way to push a target I already hit with Blaziken VMAX to the Bench, then hit it with a snipe to finish it off. This also works to push high-HP targets out of the Active that you have no interest in hitting and to disrupt your opponent’s game plan as it rarely affects yours. I think Escape Rope is almost always strictly better than Switch in this deck, except when staring down a Mew. We can always take that out with one of our three Boss’s Orders though!

Two Rapid Strike Scroll of the Skies

[cardimg name=”Rapid Strike Scroll of the Skies” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”151″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

This card is what inspired this entire deck. Nothing says versatility better than the return of TMs in the Pokemon TCG, and now they apply to a much larger classification of Pokemon than the ACE SPEC and Z Crystal ones did! [card name=”Rapid Strike Scroll of the Skies” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”151″ c=”name”][/card] gives you the ability to most importantly OHKO [card name=”Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card] in combination with Darkness Energy and [card name=”Kecleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card], but it can do so much more.

Playing a mirror match or against a turbo Fire deck like [card name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card]? Put the scroll on [card name=”Remoraid” set=”Battle Styles” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card] or Octillery and take a free OHKO! Worried about [card name=”Zamazenta V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card] in the [card name=”Lucario and Melmetal-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card] deck? Attach the scroll to a non-evolved [card name=”Blaziken V” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] and take it out in one hit! Need to 2HKO an [card name=”Eternatus VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card] you hit with a Blaziken VMAX? Attach the scroll to your [card name=”Passimian” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] and hit it for a quick 220!

You can even include other basic Energy for your Kecleon to address other matchups, or other Rapid Strike Pokemon entirely to attach this to. The options that this card gives you in so many matchups are insane; you can literally add a good attack to every single one of your attackers (and most support Pokemon) through a Tool. It can also be searched with Octillery, which helps so much with consistency. I love that they printed this card and it makes this deck work so well. This card is the key to getting Rapid Strike to beat Shadow Rider decks, and we did it without [card name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] at all!

One Telescopic Sight

[card name=”Telescopic Sight” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card] is here to add the bonus damage you need to take out larger Pokemon V on the Bench, or to KO [card name=”Crobat V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] if your Passimian is prized. This card isn’t critical to the deck’s function, but I find it important enough that it’s worth a single slot. It fits better in the Inteleon variant where it’s searchable, but it does the same job here, and I feel the single copy does as much as I’d ask from a tech card. If you’re not getting value from it, you can cut this for a consistency card or second Passimian, but it rarely hurts to have this option so I kept it in.

Two Tower of Waters

I originally wanted to play [card name=”Path to the Peak” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card] here but decided against it as I couldn’t fit all the copies that I wanted and there’s enough hate for it in the current format with [card name=”Marshadow” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”81″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Chaotic Swell” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”187″ c=”name”][/card]. I went for the next best option instead and added extra mobility for a deck that depends on switching between attackers pretty often. This gives every Rapid Strike Pokemon a free Retreat Cost, which is super strong when you always need to move stuff around, but can likely be cut for more hard switching cards or a different counter Stadium in a list optimized to do different things. [card name=”Tower of Waters” set=”Battle Styles” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] was only added to help get the concept going, so I kept it here when it got the job done, but this space is absolutely flexible.

Energy

This Energy count makes me wish they had printed a Darkness type Rapid Strike Pokemon (Single Strike, I know that’s your thing, but I want one…). The five Lightning is more than enough to find early in the game, and three Darkness is likely overkill for Kecleon, but I can use it to fulfil the many Colorless costs in this deck, so I kept it at three. [card name=”Rapid Strike Energy” set=”Battle Styles” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card] acts the same as [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Next Destinies” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] in this deck, outside of use on Passimian and Octillery. However, DCE is as good as ever, and powering up a [card name=”Blaziken VMAX” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”21″ c=”name”][/card] in one attachment is awesome, so four copies were necessary.

That’s it for the list, and I feel like every matchup is pretty straightforward. The deck basically plays itself outside of Scroll shenanigans, and I already described all the important ones in that section. I’ll leave the list for the [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card] variant here now too:

Rapid Strike Box – Inteleon Style

[decklist name=”deck” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Blaziken VMAX” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”21″][pokemon amt=”23″]2x [card name=”Blaziken VMAX” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”21″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Blaziken V” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”20″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Zeraora V” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”53″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”43″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Drizzile” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”56″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Sobble” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”41″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Kecleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”122″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Passimian” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”88″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Tapu Koko Prism Star” set=”Team Up” no=”51″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”26″]4x [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Champion’s Path” no=”62″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/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=”Escape Rope” set=”Battle Styles” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Rapid Strike Scroll of the Skies” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”151″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Ordinary Rod” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Tower of Waters” set=”Battle Styles” no=”138″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”11″]5x [card name=”Lightning Energy” set=”EX Ruby and Sapphire” no=”109″ c=”deck2″ amt=”5″][/card]4x [card name=”Rapid Strike Energy” set=”Battle Styles” no=”140″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Darkness Energy” set=”Diamond and Pearl” no=”129″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

[cardimg name=”Inteleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”43″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

This list isn’t that different from the first one; the only main difference is the Inteleon line. I made a few small changes, like taking out one [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] and the [card name=”Telescopic Sight” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card] because Inteleon gives us extra damage, but the core is otherwise the same.

The reasoning behind the Inteleon line is pretty simple; every single piece of the line provides you immense value. [card name=”Sobble” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] has a super good attack that can set up your entire board, [card name=”Drizzile” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card] acts as your substitution for [card name=”Octillery” set=”Battle Styles” no=”37″ c=”name”][/card] that gets you literally any Trainer on the spot, and Inteleon is [card name=”Decidueye-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”12″ c=”name”][/card] reincarnated — absolutely perfect for a snipe deck. You now have extra damage you can place anywhere during the turn, including to do things like taking down Mew without even attacking it and to pre-damage things on the Bench that [card name=”Zeraora V” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] can take out immediately afterwards.

I find this list to be slightly less consistent than the last one, but it has even more options to play with now that you have Inteleon at your disposal.

In Summary

I highly encourage you to give both of these decks a try before rotation happens; this combo might not work nearly as well without [card name=”Tapu Koko Prism Star” set=”Team Up” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] and I would hate to blow an opportunity to see TMs actually mattering in the meta for once.

These decks were an absolute blast to test and develop; I think you’ll have a ton of fun playing them as well.

As always, feel free to ask me any questions on the forums here or my Twitter (@C4_TCG). Thank you so much for reading and I’ll be back with another article soon!

Charlie

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