Lost Origin Single Prize Options — Radiant Charizard or Lost Zone Toolbox

[cardimg name=”Cramorant” set=”Lost Origin” no=”50″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Hello PokeBeach readers! Isaiah here and I am happily bringing you all another article! Last time, I talked about Ondřej Škubal’s winning [card name=”Arceus VSTAR” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Flying Pikachu VMAX” set=”Celebrations” no=”7″ c=”name”][/card] deck and its future in the Astral Radiance format as we approach the Baltimore Regional Championships. Since then, Arceus VSTAR / Flying Pikachu VMAX has continued to put up solid results in the online tournament space thanks to its overall strong matchups across the board.

This week, Lost Origin finally released, and with it has come a variety of new decks. Cards like [card name=”Giratina VSTAR” set=”Lost Origin” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card] and the rest of the Lost Zone support cards have started to make their case in the Standard format, and they certainly did not disappoint. While Giratina VSTAR has not really lived up to the “game breaking” expectation that people expected, the card has proven to be a fairly strong archetype with a lot of potential. Lost Origin also has produced an interesting environment for single Prize Pokemon, giving them access to a variety of new tools as well as introducing some new single Prize archetypes, and those new options are going to be the main focus of this article. With that, how about we take a look at what the Lost Origin meta has brought for single Prize Pokemon!

The Future of Single Prizers

As we enter this new format, many players will try about every new deck that they can. Obviously, some decks like [card name=”Giratina VSTAR” set=”Lost Origin” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card] are people’s main focus due to its incredible power and very clearly being the center piece for all of the Lost Zone support that the set is themed around. Other players will naturally grasp onto archetypes that people have lower expectations for in an effort to be the first to do well with it, which is something that we are already seeing with [card name=”Kyurem VMAX” set=”Lost Origin” no=”49″ c=”name”][/card], a card that many players expected to be mediocre but has already produced extremely strong finishes in online events. Alongside the players who focus on the new archetypes, many players also recognize that many of the decks that were already good do not get any worse, so why bother moving on? After all, [card name=”Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Mew VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] were two of the strongest performing decks in the later part of the Astral Radiance format and they did not gain any terrible matchups, so why would they get worse? Regardless of which of these groups you find yourself in, you will certainly agree that all of them do exist, and that a meta is balanced around the mix of all of these players. There is one more group, and that group of players are a good mix of all of the aforementioned categories but they all have one shared focus, which is single Prize Pokemon.

As I have already alluded to, single Prize Pokemon are getting stronger with the release of Lost Origin, or at least there will be more options for them, but they also come with some issues. Regardless of if the archetype is new or old, each one of them needs to be able to play around the two biggest issues in the Standard format: [card name=”Radiant Greninja” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”46″ c=”name”][/card] and the newly released [card name=”Lost City” set=”Lost Origin” no=”161″ c=”name”][/card]. Since it was released, Radiant Greninja and its Moonlight Shuriken attack has been incredibly problematic for single Prize decks, as it is one of the most efficient ways to take multiple Prize cards in a single turn while also crippling the setup of an [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card] deck. Unfortunately, the Lost Origin set did not add anything to solve this issue, but playing [card name=”Manaphy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] is always a pretty reliable solution if you are able to recover it if and when you need to. The next problem is the Lost City Stadium, which is a card that looks pretty unremarkable at first. But when you consider that most single Prize archetypes focus on a few copies of one attacker and then recovering it, such as [card name=”Malamar” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card], sending even a few copies of these cards to the Lost Zone, or even all of them, is completely disastrous and could easily leave a player unable to close out a game. This problem is the absolute worst for [card name=”Radiant Charizard” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”11″ c=”name”][/card] decks, which are reliant on a single attacker that you can only play one copy of. This means that a single Lost City quite literally ends the game on the spot. With that said, Lost City is fortunately not super common yet so this problem is not a huge deal, but if, or should I say when, Lost City becomes more played, problems could start coming up for Radiant Charizard and other decks of similar nature.

With these two cons, you might be asking, what is good for single Prize decks right now? Well, it is honestly just the same thing that makes them good as always, which is the favorable Prize trade. In a format where it is increasingly common for decks to focus on just multi-Prize attackers rather than focusing on an attacker plus Inteleon, being a single Prize attacker is becoming stronger as this ensures that you will less frequently see random negative Prize trades into good matchups just because they happen to have Inteleon in their deck. Additionally, even in decks like [card name=”Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] / Inteleon or [card name=”Arceus VSTAR” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] / Inteleon where Inteleon is historically pretty accessible, many players are shifting away from the ability to attack with Inteleon during a game, making the path even more clear for single Prize decks to get wins, assuming Radiant Greninja does not prove to be an issue.

[cardimg name=”Radiant Charizard” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”11″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

As for the different archetypes themselves, they can once again be split into old and new. Looking at the old, two archetypes in particular stand out in the new expansion, being [card name=”Regigigas” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] and Radiant Charizard. While both of these decks struggle with a Lost City hitting the board, they both maintain their strength going forward, and in the case of Regigigas, the deck gets stronger thanks to the combo of [card name=”Thorton” set=”Lost Origin” no=”167″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Yveltal” set=”Shining Fates” no=”46″ c=”name”][/card], offering an immediate one-hit Knock Out potential if the opponent is playing a deck that you cannot hit for Weakness easily. On the flip side, Lost Origin brought at least four new single Prize archetypes.

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The first two are pretty mediocre in my opinion, being [card name=”Clefairy” set=”Lost Origin” no=”62″ c=”name”][/card] and Swim Freely (based around [card name=”Finneon” set=”Lost Origin” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Dewgong” set=”Lost Origin” no=”34″ c=”name”][/card]). Both of these decks require way too many Energy to be in play to work consistently and are bound to be unreliable thanks to the nature of these decks work. With that being said, I think there is a world where either of these decks could do okay in a tournament, but I do not think I would expect them to achieve a Top 8 of a Regional Championships any time soon. The other two decks that have garnered people’s attention are [card name=”Hisuian Arcanine” set=”Lost Origin” no=”84″ c=”name”][/card] and Lost Zone Tool Box, which is a deck based around [card name=”Cramorant” set=”Lost Origin” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card]. For those that have been playing long enough to remember it, Hisuian Arcanine is remarkably similar to [card name=”Granbull” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] from Lost Thunder, which is a deck that saw a fair amount of success back in the 2019 Standard format (I actually used it to get my World Championships invitation that year!). In the modern era, 160 damage is a little less impressive than it was then, but it is still nothing to scoff at. With an Energy cost of zero, Hisuian Arcanine is able to pile way more Trainers into the deck, opening up space for a lot of unique plays and deck building styles. In addition, Hisuian Arcanine does happen to be a Fighting-type Pokemon, meaning that it hits Arceus VSTAR for Weakness, something that the importance of which cannot be understated.

The final new single Prize deck is by far the most interesting one, and it is also almost definitely the best one. Lost Zone toolbox is a unique deck that focuses on using [card name=”Comfey” set=”Lost Origin” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Colress’s Experiment” set=”Lost Origin” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card] to get to four cards in the Lost Zone as quickly as you can to spam using [card name=”Cramorant” set=”Lost Origin” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card] before eventually pivoting to more complex game plans as you achieve access to [card name=”Mirage Gate” set=”Lost Origin” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card], which is one of the most incredible Item cards in recent memory. This deck in particular stands out as an incredibly powerful play for the upcoming Peoria Regional Championships thanks to its diversity of options both in gameplay and deck building, similar to that of [card name=”Zapdos” set=”Team Up” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] decks in mid-2019.

As we head into the Peoria Regional Championships following the conclusion of the Baltimore Regional Championships this weekend, I expect to see a minor surge in single Prize decks thanks to there being so many new options. For the remainder of this article, I am going to discuss two of these decks, both of which I consider to be excellent picks for the Peoria Regional Championships, and the latter of which I may even end up playing myself!

Radiant Charizard Toolbox

The one nice thing about Lost Origin is that it did not really change anything about this deck and what it is trying to do. As always, you want to chain together attacks with [card name=”Radiant Charizard” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”11″ c=”name”][/card] in an effort to win the game by taking favorable Prize trades into all of the multi-Prize Pokemon in the Standard format. This deck is able to accomplish its goal with the help of the [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card] engine, which continues to present itself as one of the strongest engines that the game has ever seen. In addition, access to cards like [card name=”Irida” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Snorlax” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card] make setting up a breeze. Once the opponent has taken a couple of Prize cards, you are ready to pivot into your primary game plan of attacking with Radiant Charizard. Annoyingly, this is also where the deck gets really complicated. While the goal of attacking with Radiant Charizard may seem simple, the real difficulty comes from the joint task of both making an attack happen in the current turn but also making sure that you will be able to attack during the next turn, as missing even a single attack could prove to be game losing. Do not be discouraged, though, the deck is not actually that difficult to learn, and once you do start playing it, a lot of the routes become habit rather than major thought exercises. In the words of Ross Cawthon, who took this deck to a top finish at the 2022 World Championships, “The biggest tip for playing this deck is to practice.” With that, how about we take a look at my current Radiant Charizard deck list:

Deck List

[decklist name=”radiant zard” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Radiant Charizard” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”11″][pokemon amt=”14″]2x [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”58″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Drizzile” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”56″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Sobble” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”41″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Radiant Charizard” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”11″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mew” set=”Celebrations” no=”11″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Snorlax” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”131″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Galarian Zigzagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”117″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Manaphy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”41″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”40″]4x [card name=”Irida” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”147″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Klara” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”145″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Raihan” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”152″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”132″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Cross Switcher” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”230″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Level Ball” set=”Battle Styles” no=”129″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Energy Search” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”161″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Evolution Incense” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Choice Belt” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”135″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Hisuian Heavy Ball” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”146″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Ordinary Rod” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”172″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”180″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Tool Scrapper” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”168″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]3x [card name=”Magma Basin” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”144″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”3″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”6″]2x [card name=”Fire Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”116″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Water Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”117″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Twin Energy” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”174″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

Critical Cards

As you may notice, this list is incredibly standard, but that is for a pretty simple reason — this deck is pretty formulaic and does exactly one thing so modifying a list is far more about optimization rather than techs. As such, most [card name=”Radiant Charizard” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”11″ c=”name”][/card] deck lists will look pretty much identical.

Snorlax and Mew

When I first started working with this list, I was skeptical of both of these cards. As I have played this deck more, I have come to realize that they are very, very good additions to the deck. [card name=”Mew” set=”Celebrations” no=”11″ c=”name”][/card] is an excellent tool for setting up in the early game, as the deck is very Item-reliant when it comes to setting up. Mew can also find a [card name=”Level Ball” set=”Battle Styles” no=”129″ c=”name”][/card], which converts to a [card name=”Drizzile” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card] that in turn finds [card name=”Irida” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card], effectively allowing Mew to find you two cards instead of only one. Mew is a great tool for putting together [card name=”Cross Switcher” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”230″ c=”name”][/card] pairs throughout the game so that they are all assembled for the late game when you need to chain them together to finish off your opponent. Much like Mew, [card name=”Snorlax” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card] is an incredible tool to help you get set up. With every Basic Pokemon in the deck having a Retreat Cost of only one (with the exception of Radiant Charizard), getting a Snorlax into the Active Spot is pretty easy, opening up a strong early game setup option. Most importantly, both of these Pokemon are important as a way to draw cards following a [card name=”Roxanne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”150″ c=”name”][/card] play.

Three Energy Search

This count may seem bizarre to most people, but it is surprisingly strong. The biggest thing is that it is an out to Energy card, whether it is Fire or Water, that can be searched with either Drizzile or Inteleon’s Shady Dealings or Mew’s Mysterious Tail. This strategy does not work for all decks, but given the nature of this Radiant Charizard deck where you only need a couple Energy to be completely set up, it makes perfect sense to be as efficient with the slots as possible.

Lost Zone Single Prizers

[cardimg name=”Comfey” set=”Lost Origin” no=”79″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

As a refresher, this brand new archetype is one of the coolest single Prize archetypes in recent memory. Taking advantage of all of the incredible options that the Lost Zone engine provides, this deck aims to load at least four cards into the Lost Zone as quickly as possible via [card name=”Comfey” set=”Lost Origin” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card]’s Flower Selecting and [card name=”Colress’s Experiment” set=”Lost Origin” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card]. Then, once you are up to four cards, you are able to use [card name=”Cramorant” set=”Lost Origin” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card]’s Spit Innocently for free thanks to its Ability Lost Provisions. The already strong 110 damage from Spit Innocently, plus some extra damage from [card name=”Choice Belt” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”135″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Articuno” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card]’s Ice Symbol provides a low-resource out to getting a two-hit Knock Out on most major Pokemon in the format, including the likes of [card name=”Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] or even [card name=”Mew VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card]. As the game progresses, you will be able to get more cards into the Lost Zone, activating [card name=”Mirage Gate” set=”Lost Origin” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card], which can be used to power up a variety of Pokemon, and later [card name=”Sableye” set=”Lost Origin” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card]’s Lost Mine. These two cards provide our strongest options in the later parts of the game, providing easy multi-Prize card attacks when needed to close out the game. This combo of attacking options, while it may not be the most powerful in terms of damage, is still incredibly strong, efficient, and consistent. At the upcoming Peoria Regional Championships, which will be the first Regional Championships of the format, this deck is sure to make a splash thanks to all of the options it has available.

I should add as a disclaimer that this list is probably not optimized, asI have not put a ton of time into it with the Baltimore Regional Championships on the horizon (Lost Origin will not be legal for play at the Baltimore event). This list is largely conceptual, but it has taken some inspiration from a variety of builds that I have seen online as well as including some of my own personal ideas for concepts that the deck could benefit from.

Deck List

[decklist name=”lost zone toolbox” amt=”60″ caption=”undefined” cname=”Comfey” set=”Lost Origin” no=”79″][pokemon amt=”15″]4x [card name=”Comfey” set=”Lost Origin” no=”79″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Cramorant” set=”Lost Origin” no=”50″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Articuno” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”24″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Sableye” set=”Lost Origin” no=”70″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Radiant Greninja” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”46″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Manaphy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”41″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”39″]4x [card name=”Colress’s Experiment” set=”Lost Origin” no=”155″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Battle VIP Pass” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”225″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Choice Belt” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”135″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Air Balloon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”114″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Switch Cart” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Lost Vacuum” set=”Lost Origin” no=”162″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Mirage Gate” set=”Lost Origin” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Ordinary Rod” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Hisuian Heavy Ball” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”146″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Training Court” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”6″]4x [card name=”Water Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”117″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Psychic Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”119″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

Critical Cards

Three Articuno

Until recently, I did not realize how strong [card name=”Articuno” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card] from the Pokemon GO set would be alongside [card name=”Cramorant” set=”Lost Origin” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card], but it is probably one of my favorite instances of an unexpected partnership as of late. In this list, I play just three Articuno because it is “mathematically perfect” so to speak. If a Cramorant has a [card name=”Choice Belt” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”135″ c=”name”][/card] and there are three Articuno in play, this is enough to get a two-hit Knock Out on all Pokemon VMAX. Additionally, with three Articuno and no Choice Belt, Cramorant hits for 140 damage, which is a two-hit Knock Out on all of the 280 HP Pokemon VSTAR.

Rediant Greninja, Mirage Gate, and Training Court

This is one of the main instances of personal flavor that I have added to the list. Most other deck lists that I have seen for this Lost Zone archetype have been playing a Radiant Charizard of their own and no [card name=”Mirage Gate” set=”Lost Origin” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card], but I do not know that Radiant Charizard is the best way to use this space. With [card name=”Sableye” set=”Lost Origin” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card] already in the deck, [card name=”Radiant Greninja” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”46″ c=”name”][/card]’s Moonlight Shuriken rounds out an already solid spread-based game plan in this deck. Also, as always, Concealed Cards and [card name=”Training Court” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card] are an incredible combination that is pretty easy to justify in any deck in the format.

Two Lost Vacuum

One of the more interesting cards in this deck is [card name=”Lost Vacuum” set=”Lost Origin” no=”162″ c=”name”][/card], especially with two copies in the deck list. This card comes with a unique purpose. For most decks, Lost Vacuum is a way to remove an annoying Pokemon Tool or Stadium card, which is still the case for this deck. But this deck is also able to use Lost Vaccuum’s effect to feed your own Lost Zone throughout the game, as this Item is able to target your own cards, not just your opponent’s. With both of these applications, Lost Vacuum is actually a remarkably versatile card despite its simple effect.

Conclusion

As I have explored, Lost Origin has brought in a plethora of new single Prize attacking decks. Whether the expansion builds on old archetypes, like Radiant Charizard, or brand new ones like the Lost Zone toolbox. As the format is able to settle a bit more before the Peoria Regional Championships, I can imagine we will start to see a lot more of these decks in the online scene, and I would absolutely expect to see them put up some results at the event itself.

With that, this article comes to a close. As always, I hope you enjoyed reading this article, as single Prize Pokemon are always a fun topic. If you have any questions about these decks or any others, please feel free to reach out in the Subscriber’s Hideout, on Twitter (@ICheville), or on Facebook (Zaya Lee).

Until next time!

– Isaiah

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