Hope Springs Eternal — Eternatus VMAX Makes Top 4 in 2,800-Player Tournament

Hello all PokeBeach readers! This is Gabriel again with another Pokémon TCG article, and this time I’m going to talk about the return of [card name=”Eternatus VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card] in the competitive metagame, now with [card name=”Galarian Weezing” set=”Shining Fates” no=”42″ c=”name”][/card] and even [card name=”Crobat VMAX” set=”Shining Fates” no=”45″ c=”name”][/card] in the list.

[cardimg name=”Galarian Weezing” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”113″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

The end of the year has been crazy for me, but it’s been so much fun. My last two months were split between the Latin America International Championship (LAIC), the World Cup, Christmas, finishing all my work, end-of-year parties, and already starting my preparation for the Regionals in 2023 in Brazil. For next year, I want to increase the intensity of my training to get better results, because I believe that this season, I didn’t perform at my best because of some personal problems that ended up taking my focus away from preparing for competitions. When I say “focus,” I mean that I didn’t do what needs to be done to be a champion, which is to train a lot. Compared to the Gabriel Semedo of about seven years ago, I don’t think I’ve trained half as much as he did. Now, though, almost a year after the return to face-to-face tournaments, I have no more excuses for having a poor season, so it’s just a matter of working to correct the things that went wrong, improving my focus, and training hard.

The 2022 season in Brazil ended for many players with the end of LAIC, as now our remaining Regionals are all in 2023. As I said, though, I decided not to take a vacation from competitive Pokémon in the interest of remaining focused, so I continue to follow closely the tournaments that are still happening, especially in Japan. Recently in Japan there was a huge competition with more than 2,800 players, the Champions League Kyoto, and the deck that drew the most attention there was Eternatus VMAX. Nobody expected Eternatus to have such an impressive result in such a big tournament after so long.

Eternatus VMAX arrived at the Pokémon TCG at the worst moment in history. When Darkness Ablaze was launched, it was August 2020, the height of the pandemic; that is, Eternatus only had one year of competitive Pokémon TCG in face-to-face tournaments, during precisely the worst year. The peak of Eternatus was 2020 and 2021, but already in 2022 it was failing to stay competitive.

One of the biggest proofs of its failure was the evidence that it did not have a good matchup against [card name=”Mew VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card]. Even though Eternatus VMAX is Darkness-type and Mew VMAX has Weakness to Darkness, the fact is that the opponent only needs to KO three Crobat V to win the game. Eternatus VMAX’s fragile and vulnerable Bench compromises every other quality of the deck.

But Yuta Nakamura did differently at Champions League Kyoto, and managed to bring a list of Eternatus VMAX that alleviates the deck’s weaknesses a little and still brings much-needed new qualities to the metagame. Largely responsible for this is Galarian Weezing. With the inclusion of a heavy lineup of Galarian Weezing, the strategy changes completely.

The list that will be analyzed today is no longer a classic Eternatus VMAX deck, which has as its main characteristics its trademark speed and aggressiveness. Now, with Galarian Weezing, you slow down the game for both yourself and your opponent. This decrease in game pace is positive for your strategy and negative for the opponent, because in this way you develop your setup and the opponent is unable to put on the pressure they would like in order to stop you.

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[decklist name=”Eternatus / Galarian Weezing” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Radiant Hisuian Sneasler” set=”Lost Origin” no=”123″][pokemon amt=”21″]3x [card name=”Galarian Weezing” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”113″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Koffing” set=”Shining Fates” no=”41″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Eternatus VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”117″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Eternatus V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”116″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Crobat VMAX” set=”Shining Fates” no=”45″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Crobat V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”104″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Galarian Zigzagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”117″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Radiant Hisuian Sneasler” set=”Lost Origin” no=”123″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”31″]4x [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Serena” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”164″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Roxanne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”150″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Forest Seal Stone” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”150″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Boost Shake” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”142″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Switch” set=”EX Dragon Frontiers” no=”83″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Dark Patch” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”139″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Choice Belt” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”135″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Big Parasol” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”157″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Ordinary Rod” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]3x [card name=”Temple of Sinnoh” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”155″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”8″]7x [card name=”Darkness Energy” set=”Black and White” no=”111″ c=”deck2″ amt=”7″][/card]1x [card name=”Hiding Darkness Energy” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”175″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

Four Koffing, Three Galarian Weezing

There’s the big truth: this deck, and consequently this whole article, is not about Eternatus VMAX but Galarian Weezing. Those who know the Pokémon TCG know that Galarian Weezing’s Ability is one of the strongest in the game, but the fact that it is a Stage 1 Pokémon with only 130 HP makes it difficult to maintain the lock for many turns. The biggest challenge for players has always been to make Galarian Weezing effective, but its weaknesses have always been a much greater impediment. Since it’s proven impossible to make a deck out of Galarian Weezing alone, the best way turns out to be to combine this Pokémon with other Pokémon that can serve as support, such as Crobat VMAX and Eternatus VMAX.

The main idea is to keep Galarian Weezing in the Active Spot for as long as possible. In many games you can win just by doing this the whole time, since it disrupts the opponent’s setup and strategy so badly. [card name=”Radiant Hisuian Sneasler” set=”Lost Origin” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] is a Pokemon that simply improves Galarian Weezing’s damage, so it’s a must-have on the roster, especially because it’s a Dark-type and pairs well with Eternatus VMAX. Crobat VMAX is another Pokémon that further enhances the ability to deal damage while Ability-locking.

When it’s not possible to play with Galarian Weezing alone, it means that the opponent is putting a lot of pressure in the early game, such as with an Arceus VSTAR attacking with 180 damage and powering up other threats on the Bench. Then, it’s time to return that pressure with the most aggressive Pokémon VMAX in the game, Eternatus VMAX.

Three Eternatus V, Three Eternatus VMAX

[cardimg name=”Eternatus VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”117″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

If there is an ideal partner for Galarian Weezing in this format, there is no doubt that it is Eternatus VMAX. This Pokémon manages to solve everything that Galarian Weezing cannot in the format, as well as providing extra Bench slots to promote consistency and ensure that you can have two Galarian Weezing on the field and still have room to use Crobat.

It is not true that you can only win through Galarian Weezing’s Ability. There will be games that you will win simply because Eternatus VMAX can easily deal 280 damage on the second turn—just use [card name=”Galarian Zigzagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card]’s Ability and have eight Pokémon on the Bench. There is a single copy of [card name=”Choice Belt” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”135″ c=”name”][/card] to help the damage as well.

While Eternatus VMAX is still one of the best attackers in the game, however, it has serious problems with single-Prize Pokémon. Fortunately, this happens to be where Galarian Weezing excels the most.

Four Crobat V, One Crobat VMAX

Being able to use all your Crobat V in the same match gives you a lot of draw power, but the price of having a bunch of Pokémon V with 180 HP sitting on the Bench has proven to be too high for Eternatus VMAX to exist in the format by itself. Fortunately, Galarian Weezing can solve this problem by undermining the opponent’s consistency. With Galarian Weezing protecting your Benched Crobat V, Eternatus VMAX gains enough defensive power to return to the competitive format.

Crobat VMAX pairs perfectly with Galarian Weezing, and further improves the strategy as it lets you do more damage per turn while still maintaining the Ability lock. It’s a great Pokemon to help matchups against single-Prize Pokémon, especially with Radiant Hisuian Sneasler.

A Thin but Effective Supporter Line

Eternatus VMAX is a deck with a different build, as it is the only deck that allows you to use four Crobat V per game without problems. This brings several benefits.

The first is that your draw power is already very good, so you don’t need to use a high number of draw Supporters, and you don’t need to use any draw Supporters as strong and destructive as [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Celebrations” no=”23″ c=”name”][/card]. You can use a weaker draw Supporter like [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card] and get the benefits of preserving your resources while still hampering your opponent.

[card name=”Serena” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card] is a decent draw Supporter and has the effect of [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”132″ c=”name”][/card] on Pokémon V. Still, we want at least two copies of good old Boss’s Orders itself. [card name=”Roxanne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”150″ c=”name”][/card] helps you make a high-impact play at the end of the game with [card name=”Temple of Sinnoh” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card].

Thinking about our metagame and thinking about using this list for future competitions, my suggestion is to find space to include at least a couple of copies of [card name=”Judge” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”235″ c=”name”][/card]. Theoretically Marnie is a superior Supporter in almost every way, but there is a small difference that makes Judge effective in moments where Marnie is not. Judge shuffles the opponent’s hand into the deck, while Marnie just shuffles to the bottom of the deck, meaning if your opponent is using [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card], they will be able to make your Marnie almost useless.

Two Forest Seal Stone

This isn’t the most consistent Eternatus VMAX list I’ve played, but I thought it would be even more inconsistent when I first saw it. One of the cards that makes a deck full of Evolutions like this work is [card name=”Forest Seal Stone” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card], because thanks to its VSTAR Power, you can find the missing card for any situation. I played several games with the list and always used Forest Seal Stone to get different cards. Even basic Energy cards: I’ve found myself having to look for them in the past because I haven’t been able to draw them with Marnie and Crobat V. This happens because to be able to combine Crobat VMAX, Galarian Weezing and Eternatus VMAX harmoniously, some resources have to be reduced to a minimum, reducing your odds of finding what you need when you want it.

If your entire setup works without the need for Forest Seal Stone, then save that VSTAR Power to find the important cards that you only use one copy of: Roxanne, [card name=”Big Parasol” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”157″ c=”name”][/card], and Choice Belt.

Two Boost Shake

[cardimg name=”Boost Shake” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”229″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Of all the cards on the list, this one is the most different and the one that divides opinions the most. The power of [card name=”Boost Shake” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”142″ c=”name”][/card] on the first turn is undeniable if you go first, as preventing the opponent from using Abilities before even getting to play is really, really strong—so strong that you practically win the game just because you started with [card name=”Koffing” set=”Shining Fates” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] and Boost Shake.

Okay, but how often does this actually happen? Once every ten games? Less than that? I can’t say, but it’s not often, and I’m in doubt whether it’s really worth it. You have to remember that tournaments in Japan are best-of-one and I believe only the finals are best-of-three, so if you start the game and play Boost Shake, the opponent does not get other games to recover.

Now, if you don’t go first and don’t get to use Boost Shake on the first turn, the card will hardly be of any use to you, because most of the time you can’t miss an attack turn to evolve. There is a point during the game where Boost Shake can be used, which is when you have Galarian Weezing in the Active Spot and the opponent is already Poisoned—in that case, you can’t add damage and Galarian Weezing is applying its Ability Lock, so it pays to use Boost Shake, but the gain is still very low.

In short, the list has two copies of a card that’s only worth playing on the first turn if you go first, and even then, it’s not guaranteed that you will find the Boost Shake or have Koffing in the Active Spot. In addition, the opponent may come out with such a good hand that they don’t need their Abilities at all to have a satisfactory setup.

I recognize the power of Boost Shake, but for this list I wouldn’t use it, as in the end it will get in the way more than it will help. In place of Boost Shake, I see more sense in playing cards that can be effective in more games, such as [card name=”Evolution Incense” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card], or cards that can fix a new problem in the metagame, such as Judge for when the opponent plays Oranguru.

One Big Parasol

There are so many important situations where [card name=”Big Parasol” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”157″ c=”name”][/card] can be the savior card that you can’t ignore it as an option anymore. Against [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card], Big Parasol can prevent the deck’s strongest attack, [card name=”Yveltal” set=”Shining Fates” no=”46″ c=”name”][/card]’s Amazing Destruction. Against Lost Box, Big Parasol prevents [card name=”Sableye” set=”Lost Origin” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card]’s attack effect, and against Lost [card name=”Giratina VSTAR” set=”Lost Origin” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card], it prevents Giratina’s Star Requiem effect. Against [card name=”Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card], it prevents [card name=”Articuno” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card]’s paralysis effect.

One Ordinary Rod

This is another card that I used little in testing. In theory, the idea is to return Koffing and Galarian Weezing to the deck so that you can play an extra Galarian Weezing during the game.

Theoretically, you can play three Galarian Weezing per game, and with Ordinary Rod you can do up to four, but in practice you can only do two or three per game, which is already ideal.

The deck’s strategy for some matchups is to keep Galarian Weezing in the Active Spot for the entire game, or at least as long as you can, but since Galarian Weezing has little HP and will probably be KO’d quickly, it will take a lot of work to consistently evolve multiple of them in a game.

Three Temple of Sinnoh

With the arrival of Lugia VSTAR, some things changed a lot. A deck as strong as Lugia makes a huge impact on the metagame, and many cards that previously seemed useless and bad can now be useful and good. Big Parasol and Temple of Sinnoh are good examples of this.

Temple of Sinnoh is clearly another attempt to contain the incredible power of Lugia VSTAR, causing its damage—which can go up to 330 with four [card name=”Powerful Colorless Energy” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”176″ c=”name”][/card] attached—to be reduced to the usual 220. Plus, [card name=”Radiant Charizard” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”11″ c=”name”][/card] and Yveltal just can’t attack. This Stadium is far from having the same impact that [card name=”Path to the Peak” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card] does against Mew VMAX, but at least it makes the matchup more balanced. It is still necessary for Galarian Weezing to assist with Ability lock, and for Eternatus VMAX with Big Parasol to stop Lugia VSTAR and not be Knocked Out in return by Yveltal.

But although Temple of Sinnoh is a Stadium designed to beat Lugia, there is another equally important matchup in which this Stadium is even more impactful: Regis. This deck can be considered the second-strongest deck in the game, behind only Lugia, and is also quite popular. While Temple of Sinnoh is on the field, none of the Regis can attack except [card name=”Regigigas” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card], and even then, it needs five Energy, and [card name=”Twin Energy” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”174″ c=”name”][/card] only counts as one Energy on account of the Stadium.

Final Thoughts

Eternatus VMAX / Galarian Weezing is a deck full of strengths, but also weaknesses. Eternatus VMAX’s 340 HP and 270-base-damage attack are wonderful qualities that break through many strategies. Lugia VSTAR can’t knock out Eternatus VMAX with one attack even at maximum power, and the 280 HP of most Pokémon VSTAR are nothing for the Dread End attack. At the same time, though, Eternatus is a Pokémon VMAX with Fighting Weakness worth three Prize cards, and on your Bench there will always be two or three Crobat V for the opponent to easily Knock Out. Unfortunately, it was these weaknesses that made Eternatus VMAX retire for so long. Just look at the recent past: Mew VMAX was the best deck in format, and Eternatus VMAX, even though it was a Darkness-type Pokémon, didn’t have a good matchup.

It’s very easy in this format to use Serena or Boss’s Orders to Knock Out a Pokémon V. Regis was a deck that used to play only one Boss’s Orders or none at all, but now all decks use at least three copies of Serena. It may seem silly, but these are cards that greatly hurt the deck’s strategy, because the opponent can easily take two Prizes by Knocking Out a Crobat V, and at the same time take Galarian Weezing out of the Active Spot and use Abilities again.

In short, the weaknesses that forced Eternatus VMAX to leave the competitive metagame are still there and still cause problems, and the deck suffers from features still present in the main decks of the format, but the list used by Yuta Nakamura showed a lot of offensive power to compensate for the weaknesses and become competitive again.

Eternatus VMAX remains an unstable deck with consistency issues, as it still relies heavily on the Ability lock of Galarian Weezing, Marnie, and Temple of Sinnoh. Still, with the right surprise factor and the right list, even a forgotten deck can turn out to be very cool and competitive.

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

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