A Crazy Good Deck with Crazy Claws — A Look At Sableye V / Inteleon

Hello everyone! In my last article, I took a look at [card name=”Inteleon VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card], a neat new deck that used the extra damage from Quick Shooting to set up 2HKOs. In this article, I’ll be looking at yet another deck that takes advantage of Quick Shooting, except this time, we’ll be aiming for OHKOs! As you might have guessed from the article title, the deck is [card name=”Sableye V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card] / Inteleon. This deck was one of my favorite ones to play during the Evolving Skies format that it emerged in, and it’s still a great deck in today’s Fusion Strike format. 

A Look at the Deck

This deck works by taking advantage of how Sableye V takes a little bit of damage and turns it into a lot of damage. This makes Sableye V an incredible card to pair with the Inteleon engine, as you can easily use Quick Shooting to set up OHKOs. That’s the main idea: use Quick Shooting to place damage on the board, then clean up with Crazy Claws. It’s a pretty solid strategy, which gets even better thanks to a few other key cards.

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

The first card is [card name=”Raihan” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”152″ c=”name”][/card], a card that when it came out in Evolving Skies turned Sableye V / Inteleon from a fun concept to a legitimate top-tier deck. What makes Raihan so good is that it gives you an easy way to power up Sableye V in a single turn so that you can go from a board without a Sableye V, to KOing your opponent in the same turn. The extra consistency is an added bonus so that if you need any particular card at that time, you don’t have to choose between using Raihan vs. digging for that card with a draw Supporter.

The Raihan strategy also means that you don’t have to put any of your Vs down until you need to, so your opponent will never be able to gain a Prize advantage by gusting them up. Previously, this was a pretty big problem for Sableye V decks to deal with, but Raihan solves it completely.

The other Pokemon that makes this deck so strong is [card name=”Galarian Weezing” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card]. Galarian Weezing has always been a card with a ton of potential thanks to its ridiculously good Ability, but it hasn’t been until recently that consistency-focused Abilities have been prevalent enough for it to live up to that potential. Now though, with more and more decks using the [card name=”Drizzile” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card] / Inteleon engine, the shut off from Neutralizing Gas has become better and better. Right now, an estimated 40% of Standard decks use Drizzile and Inteleon — and that’s just that Ability. Add in the benefits of shutting down other vital Pokemon with Abilities — [card name=”Crobat V” set=”Shining Fates” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Octillery” set=”Battle Styles” no=”37″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Houndoom” set=”Battle Styles” no=”96″ c=”name”][/card], to name a few — and you get to the point that Neutralizing Gas actually affects the vast majority of the format. Now, it is worth noting that Sableye V is not a control deck, so despite affecting many other decks, Galarian Weezing is unlikely to win you games on its own.

Why it’s so good in this deck is that by setting up Weezing and slowing down your opponent, you can give yourself plenty of time to establish your Inteleon so that you can start taking OHKOs. Importantly, this means that you’re unlikely to find yourself at a large Prize disadvantage once you start attacking. Sableye V will almost certainly win a Prize race against VMAXs, so by slowing them down, you can take away their one possible path to victory (them getting too far ahead early). Sometimes, yes, you will brick your opponent and be able to win solely by using Galarian Weezing, but for the most part, that isn’t necessary for this Pokemon to make a huge impact on the game.

Now that you know the main concept, let me share with you my current Sableye V / Inteleon / Galarian Weezing list:

The Sableye V List

[decklist name=”weezing” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Galarian Zigzagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”117″][pokemon amt=”22″]2x [card name=”Sableye V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”120″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Galarian Moltres V” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Galarian Weezing” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”113″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Koffing” set=”Shining Fates” no=”41″ 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=”Galarian Zigzagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”117″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”31″]3x [card name=”Raihan” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”152″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Shining Fates” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Shining Fates” no=”58″ 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]4x [card name=”Evolution Incense” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Energy Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”162″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Energy Search” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”161″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Ordinary Rod” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”183″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Air Balloon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”7″]7x [card name=”Darkness Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”7″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

Pokemon

[cardimg name=”Galarian Moltres V” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”177″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

The only thing I’ve changed with this list from the Evolving Skies days is the addition of the second [card name=”Galarian Moltres V” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card], which I’ve added to help with the Mew VMAX matchup. Other than that, everything is as it was pre-Fusion Strike. In addition to the [card name=”Galarian Weezing” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card] lines, we also have those Galarian Moltres V, as well as one copy of [card name=”Galarian Zigzagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card]. Galarian Zigzagoon helps to ensure that we can get the damage we need, as it makes it much easier to get an opposing VMAX to five damage counters. With [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card], you can also use it multiple times, so it gives you a way to get stuff done even if you’re having trouble establishing your Inteleon.

Galarian Moltres V acts as our secondary attacker and is particularly good early in games and against non-VMAX decks. If the matchup calls for a more aggressive style of play, it’s easy to set up an attacking Galarian Moltres V by turn two, so that you can either take Knock Outs or at least set them up to be Knocked Out by Quick Shooting on the following turn. Galarian Moltres V is also a must-have against anything Fusion Strike, since [card name=”Fusion Strike Energy” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”244″ c=”name”][/card] prevents any damage from Quick Shooting or Headbutt Tantrum, and thus turns [card name=”Sableye V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card] into a much weaker attacker. You’ll use Galarian Moltres V often enough to where the two copies are nice to have. With two, you’re both far less likely to be unable to find it due to prizes, and it’s definitely easier to use it again when you don’t have to recover it with [card name=”Ordinary Rod” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card] first. 

[premium]

Trainer Cards

When it comes to our Trainers, most of the cards here are included to improve consistency. We have twelve Pokemon-searching Items to make finding our [card name=”Drizzile” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card] and Inteleon pieces easy, a fairly standard lineup of draw Supporters (plus [card name=”Raihan” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”152″ c=”name”][/card]), and our two [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Shining Fates” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card]. After that, we get to the more situational cards; Scoop Up Net is included in high quantities, as it acts as both a switching card if needed, and allows us to pick up and re-use our valuable Galarian Zigzagoon, Drizzile, and in some cases [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card]. Most of this deck’s more complicated plays will involve Scoop Up Net, especially if Shady Dealings is involved; likewise, you want to have as many as you can in this deck, as it tends to be those complicated plays that win you otherwise tight games. Most of your switching will be done with Scoop Up Net, but we also have an [card name=”Air Balloon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] and a [card name=”Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card] for when you have a V stuck in the Active Spot. Most of the time, that will happen when you start with one of those Vs, but it’s nice to have that capability throughout the game too. Air Balloon will tend to be the better of those two cards, but Switch gives you an out in case you run into a [card name=”Galar Mine” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Tool Jammer” set=”Battle Styles” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card], or if you happen to be Asleep or Paralyzed.

The [card name=”Energy Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”162″ c=”name”][/card] is a useful card — by comboing it with Galarian Moltres V’s Direflame Wings, Energy Switch gives you a way to power up Sableye V in a turn without having to use Raihan. So, if you need to use a different Supporter — Boss’s Orders, for instance — you won’t be prevented from getting your Knock Out. Energy Switch can also be helpful in situations where you don’t want to put a V into play, but you do have the Energy to attach. With Energy Switch, what you can do is to attach that Energy to any Pokemon, then move it over later when you do put down your Sableye V or Galarian Moltres V. In that sense, it can almost feel like you have an extra Energy attachment in some situations. 

One thing about this list that is worth noting is that this deck doesn’t play any Stadiums or ways to remove opposing Stadiums.

The reasoning here is that there aren’t many detrimental Stadiums that we don’t want to see in play, nor is there a Stadium that would be terribly helpful for us. [card name=”Path to the Peak” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card] can be somewhat annoying in that it can make Galarian Moltres V more difficult to use, but most of the decks that Galarian Moltres V is best against (Psychic and basic V matchups) don’t play Path to the Peak anyway. Even if that does become an issue, we do also have Sableye V to attack with, so it’s pretty rare to be shut down by a Path to the Peak completely. Realistically, you’re more likely to have trouble against something like [card name=”Crystal Cave” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”144″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Circhester Bath” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”150″ c=”name”][/card], neither of which are common enough to where they are worth teching against. If you do want to have a counter-stadium, you’ll want to go with a damaging Stadium like [card name=”Old Cemetery” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Spikemuth” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”170″ c=”name”][/card], as those go best with the deck’s strategy. With that said, unless there is a meta shift, or if you’re in a local meta that makes such an inclusion worth it, I wouldn’t include either over the cards in this list — they’re all simply too valuable to take out.

How To Play Sableye V

[cardimg name=”Galarian Weezing” set=”Shining Fates” no=”SV077″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

The basic idea behind this deck’s strategy is that you want to slow the game down early with [card name=”Galarian Weezing” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card], place damage with [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card], then clean up with [card name=”Sableye V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Galarian Moltres V” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card]. In the early part of the game, you want to establish some Inteleon as fast as you can. Whether or not you get damage on the field tends not to matter. Your goal as a deck is to survive the early game while you set up your Inteleon. This is where the Galarian Weezing comes in, as it shuts down a ton of opposition.

In the beginning, this deck will seem slow, since you aren’t doing much of anything for your first few turns. That’s fine though; so long as you don’t get too far behind, you should be able to win pretty quickly once you get your Inteleon going and start getting OHKOs. Since your early goal is to establish Inteleon, you’ll want to spend most of your early search cards on finding [card name=”Sobble” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card], plus one [card name=”Koffing” set=”Shining Fates” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] if you can get it to the Active Spot. Koffing conveniently has Ascension, so you’ll rarely need to use an [card name=”Evolution Incense” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card] to get your Galarian Weezing into play. 

For the most part, the initial pace of the game will end up being dictated by your opponent and how fast they can start attacking, though there are some games where you can get ahead early if they can’t get anything going. For your part, you can start doing some damage with Galarian Weezing if they are playing it slowly, so that you can put some pressure on them to have to KO the Galarian Weezing. Once they do, that’s when you can use [card name=”Raihan” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”152″ c=”name”][/card] to get a KO with either Galarian Moltres V or Sableye V. From that point on, you’re likely to be trading Knock Outs, so your thinking should shift from there to how to set up your next KO.

There are two aspects to doing so: you need to be able to set up another attacker, and you need to get your opponent’s Active to have enough damage to get KOd. Sometimes, accomplishing these tasks can be pretty easy if you have some Inteleon in play and a Raihan in hand. Other times, it can take some thinking… Between Inteleon, [card name=”Drizzile” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card], and a bonus card from Raihan, it’s possible to pull off some wild moves to get those KOs, so long as you search for the right cards. A good way to approach it is to evaluate the following so that you can recognize what you need to get; as a rule of thumb, figure out what you need to do first before playing any cards down, otherwise, it can be easy to accidentally trap yourself if you’re off by a card.

First, you’ll want to figure out if you need to attack with Sableye V, Galarian Moltres V, or if either will work. For instance, in the case of an undamaged VMAX, you’ll need to use Sableye V, whereas anything with 230 HP or less can be taken down by either attacker at the same resource cost. From there, you’ll also want to make note of if you need to find one of those Pokemon, or if you already have that card in hand. Keep in mind as well that if you don’t have said Pokemon, Raihan isn’t going to be able to find it for you unless you have an [card name=”Energy Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”162″ c=”name”][/card] already in hand (since that would mean you aren’t attaching to your Sableye V / Galarian Moltres V with the Raihan). After that, you’ll want to note if you have enough Quick Shooting Inteleon on board to get the opponent’s Pokemon into OHKO range, or if you’ll have to increase that damage. To increase the damage, you can either use [card name=”Galarian Zigzagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card], or use Scoop Up Net to re-use an Inteleon if you have an extra Drizzile in play. So, if you only have one Inteleon in play, that means you’ll need to have a Galarian Zigzagoon (or [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”name”][/card]) and two Scoop Up Net, or one Scoop Up Net if you can use it to re-use Inteleon.

Finally, you’ll want to figure out if it’s even possible to attack at all, and if so, how to go about doing so. To power up an attacker, you’ll need to have the attacker, as well as a Darkness Energy and a Raihan, as well as a way to get that attacker into the Active Spot. If you have an Energy Switch and an extra Energy on the board, that can take the place of one of the aforementioned cards as well. Keep in mind that you can use Scoop Up Net as a pseudo-switching card, so you don’t need to find an [card name=”Air Balloon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card] if using Scoop Up Net is already part of your plan. Once you have all of that figured out, then it’s a matter of figuring out which cards you need, which ones you have in your hand, and how many cards you can search for with your hand and board. Because of how this deck’s Trainers are set up, it’s possible to search for pretty much everything with Drizzile and Inteleon, and because of Scoop Up Net, it’s also possible to search for quite a few cards even with seemingly little. If you do get a KO, wonderful! If you have any extra damage (say, another use of Quick Shooting), then you’ll want to put that on their next potential attacker, so that you can get that KO a bit easier.

A Gameplay Example

Here’s an example of a pretty common situation you can find yourself in. Let’s say you have a board of one Quick Shooting [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card], two Drizzile, and a [card name=”Sobble” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card], and your opponent just took a KO with an undamaged VMAX. We have a Darkness Energy in the discard pile, but our hand consists of only two cards: a Scoop Up Net, and a [card name=”Sableye V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card]. How can we go about taking a KO — and is it even possible?

[cardimg name=”Drizzile” set=”Shining Fates” no=”SV026″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

First, we want to figure out what we need to do to get that KO. We’ll need to have a Sableye V, an Energy, a [card name=”Raihan” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”152″ c=”name”][/card], a way to get Sableye V in the Active Spot, and we’ll need to find a way to do 50 damage to their VMAX. We have two of those things — the Sableye V and the switch via [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card] — and we have 20 damage from Quick Shooting accounted for, so we need to find an Energy, a Raihan, and a way to do 30 damage. If we use Scoop Up Net on our Quick Shooting Inteleon, then we can evolve one of our [card name=”Drizzile” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card], so then we only need to do 10 damage. Additionally, if we find a Raihan, we can use that to find the Energy, so all we need to do then is to find that Raihan, as well as a way to do 10 damage (in other words, a Galarian Zigzagoon). Since we have a Sobble, we can use the Drizzile that we picked up to find one card. That isn’t quite enough, since we need two cards…unless we use that Shady Dealings to find a Shady Dealings Inteleon, which can find both! As an aside, Shady Dealings for [card name=”Evolution Incense” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card] for Shady Dealings [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card] is a tremendous play to make, that you’ll find yourself using often when you’re in a tight scenario like the above.

So, in that scenario, here’s the play you’ll want to make. First, you’ll want to promote your Quick Shooting Inteleon, use Quick Shooting, bench your Sableye V, then play your Scoop Up Net. After that, you’ll want to evolve one of your two Drizzile and use Quick Shooting again, then evolve your Sobble and use Shady Dealings to find an Evolution Incense. Use that to find a Shady Dealings Inteleon, then use that to find a Raihan, as well as either a [card name=”Level Ball” set=”Battle Styles” no=”129″ c=”name”][/card] or an [card name=”Energy Search” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”161″ c=”name”][/card]. Use the Level Ball or Energy Search to find either a [card name=”Galarian Zigzagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card] or Darkness Energy respectively.  Use Raihan to attach the Energy from your discard pile to Sableye V, and search your deck for either a Darkness Energy or a Galarian Zigzagoon (whichever you didn’t get with the Shady Dealings Item). Use Headbutt Tantrum to put your opponent’s VMAX at 50 damage, attach your Energy, bench your Sobble for the next turn, and then Crazy Claws for the OHKO. 

If making plays like that sound fun, then you’ll enjoy this deck quite a bit! This example illustrates two other important points that you should keep in mind when playing Sableye V. First, it is extremely valuable to have an extra Drizzile that can evolve into Shady Dealings Inteleon, as well as an extra Sobble that can evolve into a Drizzile. That isn’t to say to leave those unevolved if you need something from them (we certainly didn’t in our example), but you don’t need to immediately evolve straight into four Inteleon simply for the sake of doing so. Two Quick Shooting should be enough for most scenarios. Second, you absolutely need to have a good grasp of what cards you have left in your deck, and what cards you have prized. In the above example, if we didn’t have a Galarian Zigzagoon, or we didn’t have Shady Dealings Inteleon in our deck, then we wouldn’t be able to get the KO that turn. If we had made the initial play of using Scoop Up Net into Sableye V and then realized that, then we would have made a potentially game-losing mistake. On the other hand, if we did recognize that we were missing one of those pieces, then we could have instead used Scoop Up Net to go into, say, Sobble, tried to build up our hand by searching for [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Shining Fates” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card] instead of Raihan, and prevented our opponent from taking an extra Prize. 

Matchups

Because of how complex some of those plays can be, this is one deck that you definitely need to practice if you’re going to want to play it at a high level. The good news is, once you learn how to make those plays consistently, there isn’t a ton more that you need to do to master [card name=”Sableye V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card]. While your gameplay can be a bit complicated, your strategy tends to be the same regardless of the opposing deck. Slow them down, place some damage, trade KOs efficiently, and win. The below matchups are some of the more complicated ones; others should be more straightforward.

Vs. Mew VMAX

[cardimg name=”Mew VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”114″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

[card name=”Mew VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] is new, it’s popular, and it also happens to be one of the weirder matchups for Sableye V. At first glance, this matchup might appear to be easy…until you read [card name=”Fusion Strike Energy” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”244″ c=”name”][/card] for the first time! Against Mew VMAX, you absolutely need [card name=”Galarian Moltres V” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card], since you can’t damage any Pokemon with Fusion Strike Energy with your Abilities. Aura Burn does OHKO Mew VMAX, but this matchup can still be tricky despite that. It’s worth noting that like Sableye V, you can power up a Galarian Moltres V from zero to three Energy in a single turn by attaching, using Direflame Wings, and then using Raihan. So, like Sableye V, it tends to be a good idea to not put your Galarian Moltres V into play until you are ready to take a Knock Out with it. If you do, your opponent can easily KO it by gusting it up with [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Shining Fates” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Cross Switcher” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”230″ c=”name”][/card], which both sets you back and makes it easier for your opponent to get too far ahead for you to make a comeback.  

Even though you can’t damage any Pokemon with Fusion Strike Energy attached, you’ll still want to set up a few Quick Shooting Inteleon like normal. The purpose here isn’t to damage their Mew VMAX or to set up damage for Sableye V, but rather, to get their [card name=”Genesect V” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”185″ c=”name”][/card] into the KO range of Aura Burn. Genesect V can be an obnoxious attacker otherwise, as it can KO you, while you cannot KO it. Your opponent is likely to put an Energy onto Genesect V regardless, as that allows them to get around Neutralizing Gas, so it won’t be too much more to attack with it. If you can spread around some damage early, that can go a long way; even if they attack you with an undamaged one, damaged Genesect V can be brought up with Boss’s Orders and KOd that way. If your opponent ignores Genesect V and instead focuses on attacking with Mew VMAX, then things become easier, since Mew VMAX is far easier to KO. This matchup is one of the few where Sableye V actually isn’t helpful, so it’s worth testing into a few times to get a feel for it if you can.

Vs. Single Strike

Both the new [card name=”Gengar VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”157″ c=”name”][/card] Single Strike matchup and the older [card name=”Single Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card] matchup are pretty much the same, so you can use the same strategy against either. In both cases, a lot will come down to whether or not you can get your [card name=”Galarian Weezing” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card] into play before they can get their [card name=”Houndoom” set=”Battle Styles” no=”96″ c=”name”][/card] into play. If you can, then you should be able to slow them long enough to get your [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card] out, from which point you should be able to trade effectively with them. If not, you can find yourself in a quick hole, which tends not to go well. If your opponent does look like they’ll be able to get out their Houndoom first, then you’ll want to completely ignore Galarian Weezing and instead focus more on grabbing [card name=”Sobble” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Drizzile” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card].

Typically, the Single Strike player will try to get their KOs without evolving into a VMAX, since they can get their KOs either way, and [card name=”Sableye V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card]’s OHKO potential means that turning into a VMAX only gives them a disadvantage in Prizes. So, you can treat this matchup much like you would a basic V matchup like [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Suicune V” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card]. Both Sableye V and Galarian Moltres V can be effective in this matchup, as the damage from Houndoom will put their Pokemon into KO range even without any extra pecks from Quick Shooting. You’ll definitely want to have a Sableye V for if they do try to attack with a VMAX, so using Galarian Moltres V in the other situations can be slightly more effective. Again, don’t put down any Vs until you need to. 

Vs. Rapid Strike & Jolteon VMAX

[cardimg name=”Jolteon VMAX” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”51″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Both the [card name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] matchup and the [card name=”Jolteon VMAX” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] matchup can be either obnoxious or easy, depending on how the early game goes. Both of these decks use Inteleon engines, so if you get a fast Galarian Weezing, you can shut them down. Doing so is more important than usual in these matchups, as both have the capability of KOing two of your Drizzile at once. If they can do that, then they can make it difficult for you to establish your Inteleon, which likewise can prevent you from taking any counter-KOs. It is therefore imperative that you get Galarian Weezing into play quickly so that you can hopefully get your Inteleon into play before they can stop you.

Once your Inteleon are out, then these become standard VMAX matchups where you want to get OHKOs with Sableye V. The only thing you will want to be more wary of in this matchup than in others is playing down extra Sobble later in the game (after a [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card], for example), as you don’t want to unnecessarily allow your opponent to have a potential three-Prize turn. Consider how important it is to have that use of Shady Dealings, as well as how easy it would be for your opponent to get that double-Knock Out (for instance, don’t put it down if they have three Inteleon in play!).

Vs. Suicune V

[card name=”Suicune V” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card] is a good representation of basic V decks, so you can consider it to be similar to matchups like [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] or some Single Strike decks. Once again, the faster you get [card name=”Galarian Weezing” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card] into play, the better this matchup will go. As with most matchups against basic V decks, you’re going to be trading Knock Outs between Vs. The first to take three such Knock Outs will be the winner, unless a player manages to get ahead with early KOs against [card name=”Sobble” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card]. So long as you don’t put down any of your Vs, you can make it so that you are ensured the first V KO, and thus the game. 

Broken down, the matchup will tend to go like this. They’ll KO your Galarian Weezing, to go up 6-5 on Prizes. You’ll KO their Suicune V, to make it 4-5. They’ll KO you, you’ll KO them, they’ll KO you, and then you’ll KO them to win. So long as you don’t go down two Prizes to start, or miss an attack, you’ll win the game. The only other thing to keep in mind is to not give them any dumb Prizes by benching Sobble into a field of three [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card], or if they have any alternate attackers. The main difference between this matchup and the VMAX matchups you’ll face are that you’ll need three KOs, instead of two, and that [card name=”Galarian Moltres V” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] is a better attacker. Other than that, they tend to be about the same.

Vs. Non-V Decks

There aren’t many non-V decks currently in the format, but you do have to change up your strategy if you go against one. Against these decks, the way to win is to simply never play down a V of your own, and fight them as if you were also playing a non-V deck. Do that, and these tend to be extremely favorable, as Galarian Weezing and Inteleon are a tough combo to beat. Because your opponent will typically have low HP, you should be able to set up a double-KO turn at some point with Quick Shooting, which should give you the lead.

Neutralizing Gas is also strong against most of the current non-V decks ([card name=”Malamar” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Morpeko” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”179″ c=”name”][/card]/ [card name=”Houndoom” set=”Battle Styles” no=”96″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Regidrago” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Cherrim” set=”Battle Styles” no=”8″ c=”name”][/card]), as many rely on Abilities in some manner. So, if you can, you’ll also want to try to always have Galarian Weezing as your attacker. If you use [card name=”Ordinary Rod” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card], you can make them fight through three of them, which should last you a while. After that, you can attack with Quick Shooting Inteleon directly, by using [card name=”Raihan” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”152″ c=”name”][/card] to power up in one turn if you need to. Only use your Vs if your opponent has one Prize left, or if you need to in order to secure the game. 

Final Thoughts

[card name=”Sableye V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card] is a great deck, and the future outlook for it is bright. So long as Abilities and VMAXs are prevalent, Sableye V will have an excellent matchup spread, and given how strong the Shady Dealings engine and current VMAXs are, I don’t see that changing in the near future. While Brilliant Star will switch things up when it comes out, I wouldn’t expect V Stars alone to push this deck out of the meta — after all, you can trade just as effectively with them as with regular Vs.

If anything, Pokemon VSTAR could help Galarian Weezing become even more impactful, if more decks start to rely on the VSTAR Powers. It would not surprise me if you would be able to play Sableye V all the way until the 2022 rotation, which makes it one of the best decks to learn now before Regionals start up again. This is definitely the kind of deck that takes practice, but it’s also the kind of deck where if you know your deck well, you don’t need to know too much about the opponent to succeed. In that sense, it’s a great deck for a varied format like our current one. If that’s also your kind of playstyle or testing habit — to learn your deck well, as opposed to the meta — then Sableye V is an excellent choice.

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!

[/premium]