G-Max Rapid Flow — RS Urshifu VMAX in Players Cup IV + Looking Forward

Hello PokeBeach readers! Isaiah here, happily bringing you another article! Last time, I wrote about [card name=”Weavile-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”132″ c=”name”][/card] Dark Box decks as well as [card name=”Galarian Moltres V” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] as a card, and since then, these Dark Box decks have repeatedly proven themselves in various online events. Some of these finishes include a Top 4 Finish at a Standard event with roughly 850 people in attendance, over a dozen Top Cut finishes in events of 50 people or more, and, of course, Leonardo Martins’ 7th place finish in the Players Cup IV Global Finals. On the other side of things, Dark Box variants have been doing exceptionally well in Expanded as well. Notably, a [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card] build has started to gain popularity, making up six of the Top 8 slots in a 92 person Expanded Event. Additionally, on a more personal level, I took a nearly identical list to the one in my last article to a first place finish at a small local event (it was my first event in-person since March 2020!), not dropping a single game in any of the Swiss Rounds or Top Cut!

Stepping back a bit, as I briefly mentioned, the Players Cup IV Global Finals recently finished, with top player Alex Schemanske taking down the tournament with [card name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card], which happens to be the topic of today’s article!

In today’s article, we will be taking a look at what Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX / Inteleon is, what made the deck so good for Alex Schemanske, and then we will look at an updated list for the Sword & Shield to Chilling Reign format. Without further ado, allow us to take a look at what makes Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX / Inteleon tick!

What Makes This Deck So Good?

Immediately after the card was revealed, everyone knew [card name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] was going to be an incredibly powerful addition to the Standard Format. However, unlike most cards that get hyped up like Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX did, Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX was able to prove that it was no joke by winning the Players Cup III Global Finals in the hands of Azul Garcia Griego almost immediately after it released.

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

After various strong performances throughout the Team Up to Battle Styles format, Chilling Reign brought the deck its first definitive adversary, being [card name=”Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card]. While very few people thought that Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX would kill off Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX, but many questioned whether or not it would hold its place at the top of the metagame. However, these doubts would be quickly suppressed by the explosion of [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card]-focused builds that took advantage of [card name=”Drizzile” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card]’s and [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card] SSH’s Shady Dealings to setup massive Trainer combo plays while preparing multi-prize turns with Inteleon CRE’s Quick Shooting and G-Max Rapid Flow.

Examining the new Inteleon builds further, a critical aspect of this new style is, once again, the addition of Shady Dealings in particular. In the past, Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX decks have had to awkwardly pivot into [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] in order to try and find the cards that you need for your combo plays, but with Shady Dealings, you now get to go find exactly what you need, drastically reducing the odds of you simply “whiffing” a piece. As a result, Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX is able to pull off all of the hypothetical plays that people mentioned with the card coming out, such as chaining several G-Max Rapid Flow attacks or using more “gimmicky” Trainers, such as [card name=”Telescopic Sight” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Karate Belt” set=”Unified Minds” no=”201″ c=”name”][/card].

Once we move past the step of finding these combo pieces, Inteleon CRE is able to set up previously unreachable Knock Outs, or turn previously tedious Knock Outs into much easier options. One of the most glaring instances of this is any 320 HP Pokemon VMAX can now be Knocked Out in just two hits with the addition of one Quick Shooting, and 330 HP or 340 HP Pokemon VMAX can follow the same pattern but with a second Quick Shooting. Alternatively, Quick Shooting and the newly released [card name=”Passimian” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] are also able to set up easy Knock Outs on [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Crobat V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] as well as essentially using Gale Thrust on any Benched Pokemon with a Rule Box without the need for [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card].

At this point, it should be very cleat why Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX / Inteleon is so strong right now, easily holding a spot among the top decks in the format. Now that we know what makes this deck so powerful right now, let’s take a look at Alex Schemanske’s Players Cup IV Global Finals Run and what made his deck so special.

Alex Schemanske’s Global Finals Run

Matchups

Alex Schemanske’s Players Cup Run was nothing short of extraordinary, with him only dropping a single game (not to be confused with a single match) in the entirety of the Global Finals. Naturally, seeing a game record like this, one must immediately ask, what matchups did Alex hit in order to have a run like this? I will be saving most details here, but I will include game counts.

• 2-0 vs. [card name=”Excadrill” set=”Unified Minds” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card] Control
• 2-1 vs. [card name=”Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card]
• 2-0 vs. [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Galarian Moltres V” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card]
• 2-0 vs. [card name=”Spiritomb” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card]
• 3-0 vs. Spiritomb

Notably, Alex’s only loss of the entire Global Finals was in his single match against his worst matchup, Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX, but thanks to a little luck and careful planning, Alex was able to easily take down this difficult matchup. Alex can be noted as stating that he felt Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX / Inteleon was a bit of a risky play due to the expected volume of Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX, but he felt that most other people would heavily counter Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX, knocking them to the Losers Bracket early, giving him a chance. This bold strategy would end up paying off, and it paved the way for a flurry of G-Max Rapid Flow to take down the tournament.

Deck List

Alex Schemanske’s deck list for the Players Cup IV Global Finals was a bit different than the typical list for [card name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card]. Historically, most Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX deck lists have focused much more on using Gale Thrust on consecutive turns, but Alex deviated from this, instead taking a heavier focus on G-Max Rapid Flow. Personally, I believe this strategy is a much better option, allowing you to set up creative combo Knock Outs instead of having to hope that you hit your switch effects each turn, and I am happy to see a strategy that I always felt was underused make it into the spotlight.

[decklist name=”urshiintel” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”88″][pokemon amt=”23″]3x [card name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”88″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu V” set=”Battle Styles” no=”87″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”43″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”58″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/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]1x [card name=”Passimian” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”88″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Jirachi-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”79″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mew” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”76″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”29″]4x [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Shining Fates” no=”60″ 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=”Level Ball” set=”Battle Styles” no=”129″ 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=”Karate Belt” set=”Unified Minds” no=”201″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Tool Scrapper” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”168″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”183″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Battle Styles” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Air Balloon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Tower of Waters” set=”Battle Styles” no=”138″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”8″]4x [card name=”Rapid Strike Energy” set=”Battle Styles” no=”140″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Fighting Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”120″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX Line

As is typical for most [card name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] decks, we see three of the VMAX and four copies of [card name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu V” set=”Battle Styles” no=”87″ c=”name”][/card]. There is not a lot to say here, to be honest. Normally, staggered Evolution Lines are not my favorite thing to do, but in this deck, it makes sense. Since it is much harder to find a Rapid Strike Urshifu V on the first turn than it will be to find a Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX on the second turn (thanks [card name=”Drizzile” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card]!), it is best to maximize our count of the Basic in order to maximize our odds of finding a copy, leading to increased odds of a Turn 2 VMAX attack, which can sometimes be game winning by itself.

Some readers may be wondering why there is not a copy of the Promo [card name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu V” set=”Sword and Shield Black Star Promos” no=”SWSH107″ c=”name”][/card], but this is simply because the card just is not that good. The card is significantly weaker, even if it can hit the Bench, as the 150 damage from the Battle Styles Rapid Strike Urshifu V’s Hundred Furious Blows is frequently relevant when it comes to taking two-hit Knock Outs on Pokemon VMAX as well as setting up other Knock Outs. Additionally, Strafe is a very, very good attack, keeping a Rapid Strike Urshifu V out of harm’s way if necessary without having to burn a switch out.

Inteleon Line

In one of my more recent articles, I gave [card name=”Drizzile” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card] and immense amount of praise. Notably, I omit Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX from that article, but that does not mean I did not think it was good. In fact, I thought Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX / Inteleon was very good, but I ended up not talking about it due to my inexperience with the deck, but now I have started to put a good amount of time into it in order to learn it better, and I think I am much more qualified to talk about it now as a result.

In this deck, Inteleon serves a dual purpose. Obviously, the Shady Dealings Ability is absolutely incredible for setting up your board, but that is not its only purpose. In Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX decks, regardless of their attacking goal, need a lot of pieces to consistently stream attacks. Thankfully, Shady Dealings is excellent at hunting down those pieces, whether they be copies of [card name=”Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card] or copies of [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card], and making sure that you have a steady stream of powerful attacks. However, unlike many other decks that play an Inteleon Engine, Quick Shooting is beyond pivotal to this deck’s strategy. Quick Shooting is important because it, quite simply, places damage counters on the board. In a lot of cases, this deck finds itself just short of two-hit Knock Outs (such as 150 + 120 into an [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] or 150 + 150 into an [card name=”Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”46″ c=”name”][/card]), but Quick Shooting solves these mathematic problems with ease. Additionally, Quick Shooting fills the excellent role of being able to set up [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Crobat V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] for easy Knock Outs with G-Max Rapid Flow while not requiring a Boss’s Orders. With this being said, while Inteleon is great for setting up math, it is not alone in this critical process.

[premium]

Passimian

Alongside [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card] stands [card name=”Passimian” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card]. Upon its reveal, many players talked a lot about how this card would make Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX “absolutely broken” or the “uncontested best deck in format.” This would not end up being the case, with Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX having a bumpy first couple weeks with Chilling Reign. However, as time would go on, Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX crept back into the metagame and Passimian finally got its chance to shine.

With Passimian’s Throwing Coach Ability essentially being a free Quick Shooting on Rule Box Pokemon, it makes hitting G-Max Rapid Flow Knock Outs even easier. Notably, even without a Quick Shooting, Passimian essentially turns G-Max Rapid Flow into a Gale Thrust onto the Bench as opposed to being limited to the Active Spot outside of Boss’s Orders. Additionally, while it is somewhat niche, Passimian’s Fling also carries some weight, as it can allow you to deal a pretty hefty amount of damage to the Bench for just one attachment (Remember: Throwing Coach applies to Passimian too!), which can set up late game Knock Outs or set up the game-winning Knock Out.

Two Karate Belt

[cardimg name=”Karate Belt” set=”Unified Minds” no=”201″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

My favorite part pf Alex’s list is the two copies of [card name=”Karate Belt” set=”Unified Minds” no=”201″ c=”name”][/card]. This inclusion was an absolute gamechanger when it came to my opinion on this archetype. Now with the focus on G-Max Rapid Flow, I was far more enticed by the deck. Two Karate Belt is by far the best part of the deck and Alex agrees with this sentiment. Karate Belt is critical to setting up a variety of huge swing plays. Most importantly, it lets you use multiple turns of G-Max Rapid Flow with ease, and thanks to Shady Dealings, the card is much easier to find when it is needed. Karate Belt allows you to take a slightly different approach than Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX has taken in the past, instead being able to fall behind and chain several G-Max Rapid Flow to take a massive five or even six Prize Card turn instead of relying on several Gale Thrust to get to that board state.

Karate Belt also turns Hundred Furious Blows on [card name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu V” set=”Battle Styles” no=”87″ c=”name”][/card] into a much more viable attack. Now, you may be thinking, would you not just get the same damage out of Gale Thrust as you do from Hundred Furious Blows? Well, that is correct. However, unlike [card name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card], Rapid Strike Urshifu V is only worth two Prize cards, which sets up great prize math for the next card that I want to discuss: [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card].

One Reset Stamp

This card is, quite frankly, insane. In a deck with Shady Dealings as an option, the ability to just search for Reset Stamp on a swing turn can often be a game winning option. Typically, one of Reset Stamp’s greatest weaknesses is that it is hard to find on the exact turn it is needed. Fortunately, since Shady Dealings allows us to search it at any time, we can both save it for the right time and also not have to worry about playing multiple so we can find it.

Switch Effects

Noticeably, this deck plays a much lower number of Switch Effects than Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX has in the past. In my opinion, you do not need a super high count with the shift to a G-Max Rapid Flow focus. Each of the four options, [card name=”Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Battle Styles” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Air Balloon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Tower of Waters” set=”Battle Styles” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card], all serve a unique purpose, offering a variety of options to hard switch or pivot to move as needed. We play one copy of each of these in order to give us plenty of choices with Shady Dealings while also having a full four options to move if we need to. Despite these counts being so weird, I cannot imagine putting it differently. It just feels perfect.

No Telescopic Sight

One card that seems like an easy fit in this deck is [card name=”Telescopic Sight” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card]. To be honest, I thought it was odd that Alex did not include a copy in his winning list, but as I played the deck, I understood it much better. It simply just is not needed. Additionally, the biggest issue with the card lies within one textbox, being the limitation of only one Pokemon Tool on a Pokemon at a time. With a focus on Karate Belt, it is hard to include other Pokemon Tool cards as they just lose some of their value. Simply put, while I would love to play a copy of Telescopic Sight, it simply is not feasible.

Potential Inclusion: Energy Spinner

However, while Telescopic Sight felt like a justified exclusion, I am not so sure on the exclusion of Energy Spinner. The ability to use Shady Dealings to find an early game Energy seems far to valuable to pass up, as it sets up a lot of Energy plays that are a bit harder with a missed attachment. With that said, a case could be made that Karate Belt is essentially that Energy Spinner in the late game, but it still does not help with the role that I would want to fill, which is to find early game attachments. As of now, I do not know what would be a good cut, but I do know that I would love to find a space if I can.

What is Life like in SSH-CRE?

The future of the [card name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card] archetype looks to be a bright one. With [card name=”Mew” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card] leaving the format, decks are left with no way to protect their Benched Pokemon from the power of G-Max Rapid Flow, so Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX can go unchecked within its game plan. However, the loss of Mew is not the only loss that significantly impacts Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX. Looking at Alex’s list, we see the loss of [card name=”Karate Belt” set=”Unified Minds” no=”201″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card], both of which are bound to have significant strategic impact. However, more tragically, we lose [card name=”Jirachi-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card]. Without Jirachi-GX, it is borderline impossible to beat [card name=”Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card], as it will just blow through you with ease, with nothing you can do about it without a drastic deck building shift.

On August 7th, there was an in-person tournament that was played in the SSH-CRE format and a lot of people still did quite well with Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX. Some people just cut their losses and played no answer to Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX, but others decided to play a variant with [card name=”Galarian Moltres V” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] as a means to Knock Out a Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX in one hit while also providing a constant second attachment for continued use of G-Max Rapid Flow. However, one idea that I think may have been underplayed was an idea that I thought of a while back, which was using [card name=”Melony” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”146″ c=”name”][/card] as the means to attach an extra Energy for repeated G-Max Rapid Flow. Fellow writer Charlie Lockyer told me that he actually played against one, which put some validation to the strategy. Here is a very rough list for the concept, partially incorporating ideas from the list that Charlie played against, but I should address, this list is largely conceptual, with minimal testing put into developing it.

Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX / Melony Deck List

[decklist name=”urshimelony” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”88″][pokemon amt=”22″]3x [card name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”88″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu V” set=”Battle Styles” no=”87″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”43″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”58″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/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]1x [card name=”Octillery” set=”Battle Styles” no=”37″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Remoraid” set=”Battle Styles” no=”36″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Passimian” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”88″ 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=”Melony” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”146″ 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=”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=”Evolution Incense” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Level Ball” set=”Battle Styles” no=”129″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Energy Search” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”161″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”183″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Battle Styles” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Air Balloon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Telescopic Sight” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”160″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Tower of Waters” set=”Battle Styles” no=”138″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”10″]4x [card name=”Rapid Strike Energy” set=”Battle Styles” no=”140″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Water Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”117″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Fighting Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”120″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

Conclusion

As of now, I believe that [card name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card] is easily a Tier 1 deck, and is likely in contention for best deck in format. Its sheer power when it comes to spreading is usually too much for most decks to handle, and those that can often rely on [card name=”Mew” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card] to do so. Going forward, I expect to see a whole lot more Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX as the Chilling Reign meta starts to finalize as we move into Evolving Skies. After the rotation, I especially expect to see a massive presence of Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX, especially with its dominance over the past weekend.

With that, however, my article does come to a close. Repeating myself, I firmly believe that this deck is extremely powerful in the current format, with few decks able to keep up with the power of its spread, and even better, it is extremely fun to play as well! As always, I sincerely hope you enjoyed reading this article. If you have any questions about this deck or any other decks in the format, remember to reach out in the Subscriber’s Hideout, on Twitter (@ICheville), or on Facebook (Zaya Lee). Until next time!

– Isaiah

[/premium]