The Door Is Open — Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX / Techs

Hello to all PokéBeach readers! Here’s Gabriel Semedo again with another Pokémon TCG article. This time, I’m going to talk about an idea I’m currently testing: a [card name=”Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card] deck with techs like [card name=”Suicune V” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Celebi V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”1″ c=”name”][/card] from Sword & Shield.

After so many games with Suicune V / [card name=”Ludicolo” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”34″ c=”name”][/card], I wanted to play around with a deck that doesn’t use Inteleon. I think the whole Inteleon line is very strong and I enjoy playing it, but after having to do so much sequencing between Sobble, Drizzile, Inteleon and seeing my opponents do the same in every match, I decided I needed a breath of fresh air. I decided to give [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Zamazenta V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card] and Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX a try. From my testing, I decided to go a little further with the latter, and experimented with Aurora Energy and some techs like Suicune V and Celebi V to help protect against its weaknesses and explore its strengths a little more.

The version of Shadow Rider that I’m bringing you today was created to counter some specific threats in the metagame from which the deck has been suffering, including the well-known [card name=”Galarian Moltres V” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Path to the Peak” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card], and even the more recent [card name=”Umbreon VMAX” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card]. (Recently, a [card name=”Single Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card] / Umbreon VMAX deck has gained prominence, with positive matchups against [card name=”Dragapult VMAX” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card], Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX, [card name=”Jolteon VMAX” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card], and more.) The idea of ​​this list is to provide the Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX player with answers to these problems, with Celebi V to account for Darkness-type opponents’ Weakness to Grass, and [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card] to remove Path to the Peak from the field. Let’s go into the deck analysis and explain these new ideas in more detail.

[decklist name=”Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX / Techs” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”75″][pokemon amt=”15″]4x [card name=”Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”75″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Shadow Rider Calyrex V” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”74″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x Shadow Rider Calyrex V (SWSH-PR #SWSH131) 1x [card name=”Suicune V” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”31″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Celebi V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”1″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Cresselia” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”64″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Galarian Articuno” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”63″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”76″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Galarian Zigzagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”117″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Crobat V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”182″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”31″]3x [card name=”Bird Keeper” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”159″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”201″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Raihan” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”152″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/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]4x [card name=”Fog Crystal” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”140″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Evolution Incense” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Air Balloon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Training Court” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”14″]12x [card name=”Psychic Energy” set=”EX Ruby and Sapphire” no=”107″ c=”deck2″ amt=”12″][/card]2x [card name=”Aurora Energy” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”186″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

The Main Attacker: 4-4 Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX

With the removal of [card name=”Alcremie VMAX” set=”Champion’s Path” no=”23″ c=”name”][/card] to make room for some techs, the idea is to transform Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX itself into the most powerful Pokémon in the deck. With fourteen Energy, Galarian Articuno, and Raihan for acceleration, we can make Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX capable of Knocking Out a Pokémon VMAX with eleven Energy on the field. It doesn’t come close to Alcremie VMAX, which can Knock Out a Pokémon VMAX for half the effort with its G-Max Whisk attack, but we make the sacrifice of a little raw offensive power to gain space for many matchups’ worth of versatility.

In particular, Alcremie VMAX is not a great response to Umbreon VMAX. Alcremie depends entirely on Shadow Rider Calyrex’s Ability to get the necessary Energy to deal 360 damage, and since Umbreon VMAX can easily target down your Benched Shadow Riders with its Dark Signal Ability, they can take out the engine that powers your response without ever giving you the opportunity to fight back. Other techs provide much better ways of dealing with the threat Umbreon VMAX poses.

Both Basic Shadow Rider Calyrex V are useful, and their attacks each fulfill different important functions. Shadow Rider Calyrex V from Chilling Reign has the Shadow Mist attack, which prevents the opponent from playing Stadiums and Special Energy. It’s a great attack at the beginning of the game to help your setup, mainly because it prevents the opponent from playing Path to the Peak. The Astral Barrage attack is useful against Decidueye, as it can deal damage even with the Ability Deep Forest Camo activated.

Recently, though, another Shadow Calyrex V has made an appearance, and it too has two useful attacks. The first attack allows it to attach a discarded Energy to itself, which is a helpful way to power up a Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX for the next turn. Meanwhile, I like the Hollow Blinding attack because it deals 130 damage, which is a useful number to Knock Out many single-Prize Pokémon or to complete a KO on a bigger threat. The side effect of locking the Defending Pokémon in the Active Spot, though rarely useful, should not be forgotten, as it can cause problems for the opponent if you know they don’t have access to a switching effect.

Consistency and Power: One Suicune V

[cardimg name=”Bird Keeper” set=”Shining Fates” no=”66″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

One of the things I was feeling when I was testing the traditional Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX / Alcremie VMAX build was the lack of a good starter Pokémon. With a good Active Pokémon to start the game, you get an easier setup and more of a capacity to preserve resources. Suicune V is just one of many potentially good starter Pokémon for this deck, but my goal is not to use its Fleet-Footed Ability only once. Rather, the idea with Bird Keeper is to make Suicune V a permanent consistency fixture for the deck, as if its Ability were a kind of Underworld Door with half the draw power, but without the requirement of an Energy attachment.

Apart from the synergy with Bird Keeper, Suicune V also provides an excellent attack in Blizzard Rondo. For just two Energy, Blizzard Rondo can deal up to 220 damage. You can do this as early as your second turn, while also setting up your Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX and fielding Psychic Energy to power a stronger attack later on.

Umbreon Counter: One Celebi V SSH

The Pokémon that has been causing the most headaches for Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX lately is Umbreon VMAX. It can take an OHKO on a Shadow Rider with extreme ease, and the deck hasn’t yet had found a good way to come back from such a Knock Out. With Celebi V, though, we rekindle some hope for the matchup.

For just two Energy, Celebi V is capable of dealing 300 damage to an Umbreon VMAX. In theory this puts it 10 damage short of a Knock Out, but the opponent will often need to use [card name=”Houndoom” set=”Battle Styles” no=”96″ c=”name”][/card]’s Ability for acceleration, dealing 20 damage to their Umbreon VMAX in the process. If they don’t, though, another way to deal this 10 damage would be with [card name=”Galarian Zigzagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card]. Celebi V also takes easy Knock Outs on Galarian Moltres V, further earning its keep as an ideal inclusion in the list.

[card name=”Raihan” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”152″ c=”name”][/card] is the best way to respond to an OHKO from an Umbreon VMAX, as it allows you to attach an Energy card from the discard pile in addition to searching a card like [card name=”Aurora Energy” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”186″ c=”name”][/card] out from your deck. If you bench Celebi V prematurely and attach an Energy to it, your opponent will be forced to take a Knock Out on it, which is not necessarily a bad thing, as it will give them only two Prize cards instead of the usual three from a Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX.

I don’t expect to win every game against Umbreon VMAX decks with just one Celebi V and two Aurora Energy, but if I can win at least a few games, I think the tech is well worth it.

It’s also important to mention Celebi V’s first attack, because it makes it one of the ideal starter Pokémon for this deck. It allows you to search your deck for any two Pokémon from the deck, which can be either Basic Pokémon or Evolution Pokémon, and put them into your hand. This can help accelerate your setup surprisingly often.

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An Ideal Starter: One Cresselia

Cresselia is an amazing way to get a head start as early as the first turn. With its Crescent Glow attack, you can pull out 3 additional Energy for an incredible 90-damage boost heading into turn two. Since the deck has four Quick Ball and four Fog Crystal, it should be no problem to find Cresselia on turn one. Later in the game, it also has a useful damaging attack for dealing with [card name=”Decidueye” set=”Shining Fates” no=”8″ c=”name”][/card], and sometimes it can help close a Knock Out with the help of a stronger attacker like Suicune V or Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX.

Add 60 Damage on the Fly: One Galarian Articuno

[cardimg name=”Galarian Articuno” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”63″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

[card name=”Galarian Articuno” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”63″ c=”name”][/card] is a key resource to boost Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX’s attack by up to 60 damage, but it’s not so simple to get it down with two Energy. Normally you can do it more easily when you have a few Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX on the field to draw cards, but it also costs you Energy to draw those cards. Galarian Articuno is therefore most useful when you have a glut of Energy in your hand.

Its Cruel Charge Ability is the big highlight, but its Psylaser attack can also be useful for Knocking Out the opponent’s Sobble or Drizzile or complete another larger Knock Out. It’s a rarely used move because it discards Energy that you’d like to keep in play, but with Scoop Up Net you can return Galarian Articuno to your hand and use its Ability again to accelerate two more Energy.

10-Damage Drop: One Galarian Zigzagoon SSH

[card name=”Galarian Zigzagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card] is a tech I’ve been testing to help with math that has come up again and again in my testing. One case where it’s useful is combining its Ability with Shadow Rider Calyrex V CRE’s Astral Barrage attack to Knock Out one or even two of the opponent’s Sobble with the help of your Scoop Up Net. Another important case would be allowing Celebi V to take a Knock Out on a healthy Umbreon VMAX. But several unexpected cases can crop up too, and Galarian Zigzagoon’s minor chip damage can turn out to make a huge difference.

Emergency Consistency: One Crobat V

You want to avoid benching Crobat V and save your Bench space for your other Pokémon if you can, but you know that’s not always possible. Crobat V gets you out of many a bad situation, and that doesn’t always mean an unplayable hand. In the current metagame, it’s a bad setup if you don’t have two Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX on the field by the second turn, and sometimes to meet this requirement, you need Crobat V and its little bit of extra draw power.

Switching Without Switch: Three Bird Keeper, Three Air Balloon

[card name=”Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card] has always been necessary in Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX decks, because sometimes you need to power up the Active Pokémon and the only way to do this is with a switching card. However, I didn’t want to rely on a high count of Switch to solve such a minor problem, and [card name=”Air Balloon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] gives the deck plenty of mobility anyway, so I decided to bet on [card name=”Bird Keeper” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card] to replace Switch.

The combination of Bird Keeper with Suicune V and Air Balloon lets you draw an additional card every time you play it, and Bird Keeper’s unique draw effect lets you add to your hand without replacing it. Along with Underworld Door, you will end up having a lot of cards in your hand over the course of most games.

Staple Supporter Counts: Three Marnie, One Professor’s Research, Three Boss’s Orders

To avoid wasting resources, the deck plays only one Professor’s Research and three Marnie. With Underworld Door to draw cards, Bird Keeper and Marnie now offer enough draw to complete your setup on their own, making Professor’s Research much less important. Boss’s Orders, on the other hand, needs no explanation — its effect is powerful enough to warrant the three copies, but you don’t need it so often that we would play four.

The Tech Enabler: Two Raihan

[cardimg name=”Raihan” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”202″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

The initial idea was to include Raihan as one more mode of Energy acceleration to hit that magical eleven-Energy field, but with the additions of Suicune V and especially Celebi V, Raihan becomes critical for powering them up in one turn. I believe it also has a place to enable other surprise techs that might emerge sometime in the future.

Pokémon Search: Four Quick Ball, Four Fog Crystal, Three Evolution Incense

It might look like a lot of Pokémon search cards, but in the current metagame this count isn’t even that high. With the addition of good starter Pokémon like Suicune V, Celebi V and Cresselia, we need correspondingly more Pokémon search cards to enable our setup.

Field Manipulation: Two Scoop Up Net

Between Galarian Articuno, Cresselia, Galarian Zigzagoon and Pumpkaboo, we play a lot of single-Prize Pokémon in this deck. For all of them, it can be quite helpful to use a Scoop Up Net to remove them from the field. Galarian Zigzagoon and Pumpkaboo can get multiple uses out of their Abilities, while Galarian Articuno is worth picking up if you have the misfortune to start it in your opening hand.

Countering Path to the Peak: Three Training Court, One Pumpkaboo

Path to the Peak has a huge impact on your strategy, mainly because the deck revolves around Underworld Door. For that reason, it’s important to have several ways of removing it from play. In addition to three copies of [card name=”Training Court” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card], the deck has a single copy of Pumpkaboo, which you can grab easily with Quick Ball or Fog Crystal, and use repeatedly with Scoop Up Net.

Energy: Twelve Psychic, Two Aurora

I believe that fourteen Energy is the absolute minimum for a deck focused on Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX. Keep in mind that Knocking Out a 340-HP Pokémon VMAX requires eleven Energy! If I had more deck space, I’d even include one or two more.

Final Thoughts

The list in this article is more of a work-in-progress than a finished list, with the idea of ​​trying out various techs to deal with the various problems Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX has been facing. The way Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX / Alcremie VMAX plays in the current metagame, it wouldn’t be a deck you would use in a major tournament — there are simply too many auto-loss threats.

I don’t think four copies of Training Court are capable of handling four Path to the Peak; it’s quite likely that after a Marnie–plus–Path to the Peak combo, you won’t be able to find a new Stadium to counter it. That’s why I’m in favor of using Pumpkaboo, since its easy searchability and reusability make for a much more efficient response.

As for Umbreon VMAX and Galarian Moltres V, I believe that the best counter is to bet on Grass-type Pokémon. In today’s list I offer Celebi V SSH as a suggestion, but there are other good options that could also fit well in the deck, such as Orbeetle VMAX and Leafeon VMAX.

If Shadow Rider decks can’t resolve these two weaknesses, the deck’s future could be in danger. It was unthinkable in the previous format that it would ever lose its Tier One status, but then the post-rotation format came and turned the metagame upside-down. It brought many new archetypes and rescued some that were not so popular, such as Dragapult VMAX and Single Strike Urshifu VMAX. With this big change in the metagame, I think it’s important to also look for new variations on decks that are no longer as effective as they were in the recent past. Suicune V / Ludicolo is an example. I felt that Suicune / Inteleon with Path to the Peak would not be enough to deal with a metagame filled with Pokémon VMAX, and that’s when I saw the need to find a new variation that was better suited to the new metagame’s challenges.

That’s all for today, folks — I hope you enjoyed it, and I’ll see you next time!

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