A Sky of Lightning — Redefining Rayquaza VMAX in Standard

With every new set, a new set mascot surfaces, and usually, there’s a powerful new archetype to go along with it. In the Tag Team era, it was [card name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] for Unbroken Bonds, [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card] for Unified Minds, and so on; and more recently, it’s been [card name=”Single Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”86″ c=”custom”]Urshifu[/card] [card name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”88″ c=”custom”]VMAX[/card] and [card name=”Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”75″ c=”custom”]Calyrex[/card] [card name=”Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”46″ c=”custom”]VMAX[/card]. For Evolving Skies, we got two mascots: the Eeveelutions and [card name=”Rayquaza VMAX” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”111″ c=”name”][/card].

As set mascots tend to do, Rayquaza VMAX benefits from a ton of support printed in the set alongside it. There’s a natural Energy acceleration partner in [card name=”Flaaffy” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card], as well as extra consistency in [card name=”Stormy Mountains” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”161″ c=”name”][/card]. Not only does Rayquaza VMAX / Flaaffy make for a fun archetype, it’s also a great throwback to Rayquaza decks of old, particularly the great “RayEels” archetype from 2013, which relied on [card name=”Rayquaza-EX” set=”Black and White Black Star Promos” no=”BW47″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Eelektrik” set=”Noble Victories” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card].

[cardimg name=”Flaaffy” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”55″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

The idea behind the deck is simple: you load a bunch of Lightning Energy onto a Rayquaza, swing for an OHKO by discarding those Lightning Energy, then reattach the discarded Energy via Flaaffy’s Dynamotor and do it all over again. The biggest advantage of this archetype is its damage output; nothing, not even a VMAX, is out of OHKO range, and it’s relatively easy to piece one together against even the toughest Pokemon. Like similar OHKO-oriented decks, this should give Rayquaza VMAX a huge advantage against other VMAX decks, particularly those that can’t OHKO Rayquaza in return. Heading into the Evolving Skies set release, there was an expectation that it would be at least a Tier 2 deck, if not Tier 1. But there’s a problem: Rayquaza players aren’t winning.

It would be one thing if Rayquaza were simply not seeing much play — we could explain that away with its high price tag — but its winning percentage has also been painfully low. It hasn’t put up many significant tournament results, and it’s winning games at a rate lower than any other deck with a meta share over 1%. This certainly isn’t the first time a hyped deck has failed to perform — [card name=”Magnezone” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”83″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Reshiram and Zekrom-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”157″ c=”name”][/card] come to mind — but it’s still surprising.

Rayquaza VMAX’s poor results immediately lead us to two questions. First, why is Rayquaza failing when similar decks have had so much success? And, more importantly, is there anything we can do to adjust the deck and make it a more competitive archetype? In this article, I’m going to go over the difficulties Rayquaza has faced in this format that explain why it hasn’t been winning. Following that, I’ll also share the results of my efforts to make Rayquaza into competitive.  

What’s Going Wrong?

To start, I took some existing Rayquaza VMAX lists and played a bunch of games with them to figure out where specifically the deck was having trouble. Even after trying quite a few different lists, I too failed to find any consistent success with the deck. The main issue was the early game, in terms of both consistency and damage output.  If I could get past the early game, Rayquaza flowed extremely well — Azure Pulse gives the deck incredible late-game consistency — but too often, I fell too far behind before I was even able to get to that point. If you fall too far behind, there are some pretty rough matchups. I had trouble keeping up against any deck that wasn’t a VMAX deck, and I was getting beaten badly by anything that could put on pressure with Bench damage. Rayquaza wasn’t consistent enough to truly take advantage of its high damage output, and as a result, it was losing a lot more often than it was winning.

At first glance, most Rayquaza lists seem like they should be consistent. They play a ton of Pokemon search, as well as the typically high number of draw Supporters. On top of that, Rayquaza VMAX itself has built-in draw power in its Ability. But the issue is that while Rayquaza has a lot of search options available to it, it also has immense pressure in the early game to set up. Compared to its predecessor decks like Eelektrik and Malamar, Rayquaza VMAX needs to pull off an extra Evolution — Rayquaza VMAX itself — in order to attack. This has a subtle but effective impact on your early-game consistency, especially when it comes to attacking on turn two. Rather than being able to focus solely on getting [card name=”Mareep” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”47″ c=”name”][/card] in play on turn one, you also have to make sure you get a Rayquaza in play, otherwise you won’t have much to attack with on the next turn. So not only do you need to find more Pokemon in the early-game, but the detrimental impact of not finding those Pokemon is much worse than it would be otherwise.

Non-VMAX matchups are another problem. Most Rayquaza lists don’t have a reliable attacker other than Rayquaza VMAX, which means that you don’t have many options to limit the number of Prizes you give up. Rayquaza V’s damage caps out at 180, which isn’t enough to OHKO other Pokémon V, and you certainly can’t rely on Flaaffy to attack. Even using lists that played one-of techs like [card name=”Boltund V” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Ninetales V” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card], I still found myself at a pretty big disadvantage. Single-Prize matchups were even worse.

Now, if non-VMAX matchups were the only issue with this deck, it could probably find a path to victory as an anti-meta option, so long as we could fix the consistency issues. However, even some Pokémon VMAX are difficult for Rayquaza to beat, due to its susceptibility to Bench damage. Since we need to keep Flaaffy in play in order to attack, any deck that can KO multiple Flaaffy or Mareep in one turn can easily stop us from doing damage. [card name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Jolteon VMAX” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Dragapult VMAX” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] are all particularly difficult to beat for that reason.

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A New Rayquaza List

Given these problems, Rayquaza VMAX’s poor results are unsurprising. When I went to tinker around with my own build of the deck, I tried to keep those problems in mind. I’ll get into the specifics of how I tried to address those issues, but first, here’s the new list I’ve come up with:

[decklist name=”Rayquaza / Lightning” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Crobat V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”104″][pokemon amt=”18″]2x [card name=”Rayquaza VMAX” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”111″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Rayquaza V” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”110″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Flaaffy” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”55″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Mareep” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”47″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Regieleki” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Tapu Koko V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”72″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Vikavolt V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Crobat V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”104″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”31″]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]3x [card name=”Zinnia’s Resolve” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”164″ 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]3x [card name=”Level Ball” set=”Battle Styles” no=”129″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Air Balloon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Evolution Incense” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”183″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Ordinary Rod” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Stormy Mountains” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”161″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”11″]8x [card name=”Lightning Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”94″ c=”deck2″ amt=”8″][/card]3x [card name=”Fire Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

The number-one concern that I had with most of the lists I played had to do with the early game. Too many times, the deck would struggle to get going, and then I would lose, regardless of the opposing matchup. My thinking was, since that’s where most losses come from, if I can improve the deck’s early game, that should go a long way toward making it more competitive.

As it turns out, the path that gave me the most success with in that regard was actually de-emphasizing Rayquaza VMAX, and instead expanding the deck’s lineup of alternate attackers. Rather than only one tech attacker, I’ve included three different Pokemon: [card name=”Regieleki” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Vikavolt V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Tapu Koko V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”72″ c=”name”][/card]. These three Pokémon help to solve several of Rayquaza’s issues, but they’re especially important for shoring up the early game. By including these Basic attackers, there’s a huge decrease in the pressure to set up a bunch of Basic Pokémon on turn one. We’ll also have a greater chance of attacking early, so as to hinder our opponent’s setup to the greatest extent possible. Vikavolt V can be especially potent against decks that use the [card name=”Drizzile” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card] engine; Tapu Koko V gives us a way to OHKO a number of Pokémon V by turn two, potentially enabling the Boss’s Orders–into–OHKO play that makes decks like [card name=”Single Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Victini VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”22″ c=”name”][/card] so good when going first; Regieleki is excellent against single-Prize decks; and all three are fantastic against [card name=”Suicune V” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card] decks. 

[cardimg name=”Zinnia’s Resolve” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”164″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

The other thing I’ve done to help shore up the early game is increase the number of draw Supporters to ten. I’ve avoided anything niche like [card name=”Peony” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”150″ c=”name”][/card] and instead focused on stronger Supporters that can help us regardless of our situation. [card name=”Zinnia’s Resolve” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card] can be opponent-dependent, but it tends to draw us between four and six cards, and gives us another way to discard Lightning Energy, which can be a huge help early on. I’ve also made sure that this list includes Crobat V; I’ve played a few lists without it, and I wouldn’t recommend forgoing its emergency draw power. While Flaaffy takes up quite a few Bench slots, it’s easy enough to play with one fewer if you do need to use Crobat, so long as you’re careful to only put down Pokemon that you plan to use.

Other than that, I’ve tried to focus on consistency above techs wherever possible. I haven’t included any copies of [card name=”Rose” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”168″ c=”name”][/card], for instance, as I wasn’t comfortable cutting down my other Supporters for it. (Rose also isn’t as necessary since you can set up 2HKOs more easily with this build.) I have cut down on [card name=”Evolution Incense” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card] slightly, since we don’t need to find Rayquaza VMAX as much, but I wouldn’t go below two of them. I’ve also gone down to just three Fire Energy, since we don’t have as much of a need for them with our alternate attackers. These cuts give us room for our additional Supporters, and let us keep our counts of other important cards like [card name=”Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Air Balloon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] high.

Now, one thing I haven’t touched upon with this list is the danger of Bench damage. Unfortunately, given our current Standard cardpool, this weakness is much more difficult to address. [card name=”Mew” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card] has rotated, leaving no easy way to prevent Bench damage. Our plan in this case is to try to take advantage of our stronger starts, so that we can hopefully set up a Tapu Koko V — which doesn’t lose its Energy following an attack — before our opponent can start KOing our Flaaffy. This plan is far from foolproof, but it does make things slightly better than they were before.

With that said, even with the weakness to Bench damage, I’m far more comfortable playing the above list than I would be otherwise. The previous issues of consistency and non-VMAX matchups have been almost entirely eliminated. It’s still a bit meta-specific in that sense, but so long as you can dodge Rapid Strike and Dragapult decks, its matchup spread is solid.

(Slightly) Adjusting your Strategy

With this new list, your setup will still be largely the same. You’re still going to want to try to find as many Mareep and Flaaffy as you can as soon as possible, since you can’t attack easily without them. Ideally you want to find three Mareep to start, followed by a Rayquaza V; you don’t need to spend any resources finding Regieleki or Tapu Koko V on turn one since you can play them down and attack with them on the same turn. If your hand is poor, you can instead prioritize your Rayquaza V over one of your Mareep so as to draw your way out with Azure Pulse, but otherwise, focus on your Flaaffy.

[cardimg name=”Tapu Koko V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”72″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

If you have an explosive start, then you can plan to attack early with Rayquaza VMAX. Otherwise, you’ll want to focus on getting your other attackers going, with the idea that you’ll start things out with your non-Rayquaza attackers, then transition to Rayquaza VMAX later in the game when your board is a bit more established. A good way to think about it is that for the first few turns, you’re playing a Lightning Box deck, and then you turn into Rayquaza later.

Once you have your Flaaffy, things can become a bit more complicated with all of these new attackers. Which Pokémon you attack with will depend on your setup and what your opponent is playing (and, to a lesser extent, their setup). Against single-Prize decks, Regieleki should be your go-to attacker, since it’s the only way to trade favorably in those matchups.

In other matchups, the best attacker is more situation-dependent. In some cases, you’ll want to apply pressure early with Tapu Koko V, so you can start taking KOs (or at least setting them up) as soon as possible. In others, you’ll want to try to delay your opponent’s setup with Paralyzing Bolt. At the same time, you’ll want to get your Rayquaza VMAX in play to start setting up for a big Max Burst attack, and to get the consistency bonus from Azure Pulse. In general, you don’t want to attack with Rayquaza VMAX unless it’s to get an OHKO; you can set up for a 2HKO with Regieleki instead, so you give up fewer Prizes over time.

Regardless of your matchup, remember that Flaaffy is the most important Pokemon — everything else will flow from there. Always keep in mind whether any of your attacks can set up a 2HKO, especially Teraspark and Paralyzing Bolt.  A good rule of thumb is to emphasize Rayquaza VMAX more in other VMAX matchups, and to use your Basic attackers when you can against non-VMAX Pokemon. 

Matchup-Specific Strategies

Suicune V

Without our suite of alternate attackers, [card name=”Suicune V” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card] can be an obnoxious opponent. With them, however, this matchup is an easy one so long as we don’t dead draw. Regieleki can OHKO Suicune V, and it will occasionally take additional KOs against the Inteleon or Ludicolo line if the opponent isn’t able to evolve them. Suicune V can get out of OHKO range by using [card name=”Cape of Toughness” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card], but you can finish those off easily enough with the Bench damage from Teraspark.

This is one matchup where it’s typically best to completely ignore Rayquaza VMAX, as it tends to be a liability. Having one Rayquaza V in play can be a good idea, in case you need to evolve it for the extra Azure Pulse draw, but I wouldn’t use it otherwise. Ideally, you’ll be able to take on this matchup with Regieleki alone, or with some help from Tapu Koko V or Vikavolt V for extra disruption.

Zacian / Zamazenta V

This matchup can be a bit awkward; we definitely have not teched for it. A big problem for us is [card name=”Crystal Cave” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”144″ c=”name”][/card], as none of our non-Rayquaza attackers can actually OHKO either [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Zamazenta V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card]. You could use Teraspark repeatedly, as you can KO three Vs with four uses of Teraspark so long as you have a Boss’s Orders to manipulate which of them is Active when you need them to be. (This is actually a great go-to strategy against a number of miscellaneous Pokémon V decks.) With Crystal Cave’s healing, though, Regieleki’s damage output just isn’t enough to be useful. Instead, I typically go for Rayquaza VMAX in this matchup, since it alone can OHKO Zacian V. You will need to gust around Zamazenta V, or else switch to a different attacker. 

If Zacian is prevalent in your local area, one thing you can do is to tech in a Fire-type attacker to deal with it; in this case, cut the Basic Lightning Pokémon you use the least to make room. There unfortunately aren’t a ton of great Basic Fire Pokemon to pick from, but [card name=”Ninetales V” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card] can be quite good in various situations.

Sableye V / Galarian Weezing / Inteleon

[cardimg name=”Regieleki” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”60″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

One of the newest decks to hit the format, [card name=”Sableye V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card] is steadily rising in popularity — and results. The idea here is to stall with [card name=”Galarian Weezing” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card] while you spread damage with Quick Shooting, then get some OHKOs with Crazy Claws. Neutralizing Gas can be extremely obnoxious, especially for a deck like this one that relies on Abilities.

This is another matchup where you don’t want to put Rayquaza VMAX into play, as it can be OHKO’d quite easily. Regieleki is going to be your strongest attacker in this matchup, but it can be difficult to continually attack with it if your opponent has Neutralizing Gas in effect. You’ll also want to try to get a Tapu Koko V powered up before they’re able to do that. That way, you can use Tapu Koko to KO their Weezing, then chain together Terasparks against any other attacker. 

Against any non-VMAX V deck not listed here, your go-to strategy should be to try to use Teraspark repeatedly, unless there is a specific reason (like Crystal Cave) that such a strategy wouldn’t be effective. In those cases, Rayquaza VMAX is typically a good bet, so long as they can’t OHKO it.

OHKO VMAX Decks (Single Strike Urshifu VMAX, Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX, Rayquaza VMAX)

In these matchups, you will typically still want to use Rayquaza VMAX, but you shouldn’t evolve it until you’re ready to use it. You want to try to play around the possibility that your opponent will OHKO your Rayquaza VMAX before you’re able to attack with it, since if they do that, you’ll almost certainly lose. Meanwhile, if you wait, then the advantage turns back toward you.

Many times, these matchups will be decided by who can get the first VMAX KO. This is where your Lightning Box package comes in. If you can start taking KOs (or at least threatening them) with Regieleki or either of your non-Rayquaza Pokémon V, your opponent will have to respond. Otherwise, you’ll simply win. If you can make them respond with a VMAX, then you end up with a huge advantage. This is more easily done if the opposing deck doesn’t have any strong Vs, so it’s a bit easier to do against [card name=”Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card] decks than against [card name=”Single Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card] decks, but it’s a good thing to try in either situation.

Non-OHKO VMAX Decks (Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX, Eternatus VMAX, Victini VMAX, etc.)

Luckily for us, most other Pokémon VMAX can’t OHKO a Rayquaza VMAX. In these matchups, you don’t have to be as cautious about evolving; in fact, it is typically better to evolve earlier rather than later, since they can OHKO a Basic Rayquaza V. In these matchups, you should have a pretty big advantage, since you have OHKO potential and they don’t. Now, it’s pretty difficult to actually OHKO a VMAX out of nowhere (you need four Flaaffy to do so), so you will likely have to set up for the OHKO. One thing you can do is use your Lightning Box attackers early and attach any extra Energy you have to Rayquaza VMAX. Even if your opponent is able to trade Prizes evenly for the first three, you’ll have a decisive advantage when it comes to getting the last three.

When it comes to dealing with their non-VMAX attackers, you’ll want to take those on with your non-VMAX Pokémon in turn. Your best bet is to use Teraspark; after two of the Bench damage hits, you’ll need one fewer Energy to KO their Pokémon VMAX with Max Burst. (This is also quite useful in the OHKO-based VMAX matchups!)

Bench-Damaging Decks (Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX, Jolteon VMAX, Dragapult VMAX)

While the above matchups are generally favorable (with the possible exception of Zacian V), opponents with a strong capacity for Bench damage remain extremely difficult. If they go first and pull off a G-Max Rapid Flow or Max Thunder Rumble to KO two Mareep on turn two, there isn’t much we can do to win. Of course, most decks have a problem dealing with Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX when going second, so that’s not necessarily a huge fault. With that said, things still aren’t easy if you go first, but our alternate attackers do give us a little bit of a chance.

As I said above, Tapu Koko V is critical in these matchups, as it’s an attacker that doesn’t need Flaaffy to continue attacking. If they go after your Tapu Koko instead of your Flaaffy, then you get to keep your Flaaffy around to set up a second attacker. This plan runs into a problem against Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX — namely, that Tapu Koko V is weak to Fighting, and so they can KO both a Koko and a Flaaffy at the same time — but it works pretty well against Jolteon VMAX and Dragapult VMAX. The more pressure you can put on, the better, and with some luck, you’ll end up with the occasional win. These matchups are not good, but until we get some cards to prevent bench damage, this will just be an unfortunate side effect of playing a Flaaffy deck. Overall, the matchup spread is solid enough that I believe Rayquaza VMAX can be viable despite these particular poor matchups.

Conclusion

Even with these changes, I would hesitate to say that Rayquaza VMAX is anywhere near what it was hyped up to be. Still, it’s a deck with enough potential to stick around both now and in future formats. So long as Bench-damaging attacks are prevalent, I don’t believe it will reach the point where it can be considered Tier 1, but in the right environment, and with the right build, it can certainly be a winning deck. 

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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