The Age of Calamity — A New Era for Roaring Moon ex
Hello PokeBeach readers, Isaiah here, and I am happy to be writing another article for you! Last time, I talked a lot about my preferred way to play [card name=”Mew VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card], which is the [card name=”Fusion Strike Energy” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”244″ c=”name”][/card] build with [card name=”Meloetta” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card]. Despite my love for this archetype, it continues to be the less popular and less successful of the two variants, with the highest placing Fusion Mew VMAX list at the Charlotte Regional Championships being played by Xander Pero, who had an incredible 9-0 start Day 1, but he had a rough Day 2, landing him a 75th place finish at the end of the weekend. While this finish was by no means bad, it pales in comparison to the [card name=”Double Turbo Energy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”151″ c=”name”][/card] build’s fresh 1st place finish at the Liverpool Regional Championships in the hands of Fabrizio Inga Silva. It is currently pretty clear that Double Turbo Energy Mew VMAX is the better of the two decks for the current metagame. However, the deck does have one particularly rough matchup (even though Fabrizio went 4-0 in the matchup in Liverpool), and that is [card name=”Roaring Moon ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card].
[cardimg name=”Roaring Moon ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”251″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
I do not think there is a single deck that I have ever seen that has gone through as many ups and downs as Roaring Moon ex has. When it was about to come out, many players believe that the deck was absolutely the best deck in the format, with it being one of the most popular decks on the Pokemon TCG Live ladder and having an incredible win rate in online tournaments. But by the time the Latin America International Championships came around, the deck had fallen off almost completely, largely due to its fairly bad [card name=”Gardevoir ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card] matchup which saw a huge uptick in play around that time. Following the Latin America International Championships, Gardevoir ex generally fell off, to the surprise of many, only occasionally putting up results, instead being swept over by the rise of [card name=”Giratina VSTAR” set=”Lost Origin” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Charizard ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card]. The rise of these two decks also lead to the resurgence of Mew VMAX, the deck that never goes away, thanks to a favored Giratina VSTAR matchup and a passable Charizard ex matchup.
With these three pieces in place, a deck that is somewhat efficient at handling all of them was bound to sweep in, and it certainly did in the form of Roaring Moon ex. At first, a lot of success with Roaring Moon ex was seen with a turbo build using some of the format’s generic “make my deck go fast” cards such as [card name=”PokéStop” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”68″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Trekking Shoes” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Squawkabilly ex” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card]. These builds were built to hit turn 1 attack going second, which is somewhat strong in a lot of matchups, especially in any matchup with a lot of Pokemon V or Pokemon ex, such as Mew VMAX or [card name=”Miraidon ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”81″ c=”name”][/card]. Additionally, many of these lists included a large volume of [card name=”Energy Switch” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”173″ c=”name”][/card] and a few Water Energy in order to power up [card name=”Radiant Greninja” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”46″ c=”name”][/card]’s Moonlight Shuriken to gain an edge against the matchups with more frail Pokemon, including Giratina VSTAR and Gardevoir ex. While these builds were reasonable, they were fairly vulnerable to Charizard ex, which does not have to put out any multi-Prize Pokemon in the early game until you take a Knock Out, and then it gets far enough ahead with a [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card] on Squawkabilly ex or [card name=”Mew ex” set=”151″ no=”151″ c=”name”][/card]. As a result, Roaring Moon ex decks were forced to adapt with more Pokemon Tool cards like [card name=”Bravery Charm” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”173″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Ancient Booster Energy Capsule” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card] to survive some of this early pressure. To get an indication of what these deck lists looked like, here is an older deck list that I played a bit in late December.
My Old Roaring Moon ex Deck
[decklist name=”moon 1″ amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Squawkabilly ex” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”169″][pokemon amt=”9″]4x [card name=”Roaring Moon ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”124″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Morpeko” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”121″ c=”deck2″ amt=” 1″][/card]1x [card name=”Radiant Greninja” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”46″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Lumineon V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”40″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mew ex” set=”151″ no=”151″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Squawkabilly ex” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”42″]4x [card name=”Professor Sada’s Vitality” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”170″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Boss’s Orders (Ghetsis)” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”172″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Battle VIP Pass” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”225″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”196″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Earthen Vessel” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Cross Switcher” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”230″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Dark Patch” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”139″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Trekking Shoes” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Energy Switch” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”173″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Switch Cart” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Ancient Booster Energy Capsule” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”159″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Bravery Charm” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”173″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”PokéStop” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”68″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”4″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”9″]9x [card name=”Darkness Energy” set=”Diamond and Pearl” no=”129″ c=”deck2″ amt=”9″][/card][/energy][/decklist]My deck list was overall pretty non-optimized, partially because it was early in the “new age” of Roaring Moon ex decks, but I felt the list was pretty solid. With the knowledge that I have now, I do not think I would play this style of the deck, at least not without significant changes, but I think that it illustrates the direction lists were going. The focus on the HP buff Pokemon Tool cards, like I said previously, was largely for Charizard ex decks, and they worked wonders. With this step, the only issue that Roaring Moon ex decks had anymore was being reliable after the first turn of the game. Oftentimes you would run out of gas and be unable to play a long game. If someone were to figure out how to make Roaring Moon ex more sustainable, the deck was well positioned for being one of the most powerful decks in the Standard format.
Of course, this happened just a week after I played my above deck list.
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In the hands of the two time World Championship Finalist Ross Cawthon, an unusual build of Roaring Moon ex would finish just outside of the Top 32 of the Portland Regional Championships. Featuring just two [card name=”Professor Sada’s Vitality” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”170″ c=”name”][/card] and only two [card name=”Earthen Vessel” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card], Ross Cawthon challenged the typical Roaring Moon ex deck lists with some fairly innovative ideas, and I think that these ideas were generally very strong changes for the future of the archetype. It seemed like his result rekindled a lot of people’s interest in the archetype for the first time since Paradox Rift released, and the deck’s newfound popularity would really show itself at the Charlotte Regional Championships, with five finishing in the Top 32 spots of the event, with none other than Ross Cawthon himself being the deck’s lone representative in the Top 8. His list for Charlotte was almost identical to the one from Portland, so it is fairly clear that he was onto something with his new formula, and I think for the upcoming Melbourne Regional Championships, I would not be surprised to see the deck continue its streak of success. For a solid base point, how about we take a look at Ross Cawthon’s Top 8 deck list.
Ross Cawthon’s Roaring Moon ex Deck List
Ross Cawthon’s [card name=”Roaring Moon ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card] deck takes a unique approach, focusing less on many of the “go fast” cards in favor of more utility cards, including a shift to [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Shining Fates” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] as the deck’s primary draw Supporter. The deck also is heavily reliant on [card name=”Galarian Moltres V” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card], a card that I distinctly remember predicting would be very, very strong at some point in its legality when it first released in 2021. Three years later, Direflame Wings has found a place in the format yet again as a constant stream of Darkness Energy from the discard pile, allowing you to either power up itself as a somewhat strong attacker, taking one-hit Knock Outs on many supporting Pokemon like [card name=”Rotom V” set=”Crown Zenith” no=”45″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Lumineon V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] or even Mew VMAX, but it also can provide Energy to move with Energy Switch, in a way making Energy Switch a pseudo [card name=”Dark Patch” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card]. Speaking of Dark Patch and Energy Switch, this deck is far more reliant on both of those cards than typical Roaring Moon ex decks with only two copies of Professor Sada’s Vitality. I highly recommend getting familiar with this deck list, as it is absolutely going to be the standard for Roaring Moon ex decks going forward.
Deck List
[decklist name=”moon 2″ amt=”60″ caption=”undefined” cname=”Radiant Greninja” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”46″][pokemon amt=”10″]4x [card name=”Roaring Moon ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”124″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Galarian Moltres V” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Morpeko” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”121″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mew ex” set=”151″ no=”151″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Squawkabilly ex” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Radiant Greninja” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”46″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”41″]3x [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Shining Fates” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Professor Sada’s Vitality” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”170″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Boss’s Orders (Ghetsis)” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”172″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Judge” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”176″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Battle VIP Pass” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”225″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Dark Patch” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”139″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Energy Switch” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”173″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Trekking Shoes” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”196″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Earthen Vessel” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”182″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Switch Cart” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Battle Styles” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Forest Seal Stone” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Ancient Booster Energy Capsule” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”159″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Emergency Jelly” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”155″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]3x [card name=”PokéStop” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”68″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Town Store” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”196″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”9″]9x [card name=”Darkness Energy” set=”Diamond and Pearl” no=”129″ c=”deck2″ amt=”9″][/card][/energy][/decklist]
Card Inclusions
Morpeko
For a long time, I was very against this card, largely preferring two copies of [card name=”Mew ex” set=”151″ no=”151″ c=”name”][/card] instead, but I have found that [card name=”Morpeko” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] is much better than I originally thought. The card is very important as a single-Prize attacker in some matchups, especially against decks with [card name=”Comfey” set=”Lost Origin” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Sableye” set=”Lost Origin” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Charmander” set=”151″ no=”4″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Pidgey” set=”151″ no=”16″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Mareep” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card], or [card name=”Ralts” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card]. Oh wait, that is most of the decks in the format! The card has so much universal use, as a way to take a Prize card without a massive resource commitment, as well as protecting your Darkness Energy on the board by being able to move them to a more bulky Pokemon as part of its attack. The card is also able to retreat for free, which is this Pokemon’s true purpose, but the card’s attacking potential was certainly the part that I overlooked when I initially predicted that the card would be bad.
Three Professor’s Research
I touched on this a little bit earlier, but three Professor’s Research is a huge new addition in Ross Cawthon’s deck list. The deck has a much better ability to pull together multiple combos throughout a game rather than banking on a [card name=”PokéStop” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”68″ c=”name”][/card] plus maybe a draw with Mew ex’s Restart if you’re lucky. This is especially important because failing to find a Stadium for Calamity Storm is the main way that Roaring Moon ex decks lose games that they should typically win. Professor’s Research also helps you find [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] throughout the game by thinning out junk cards and giving you fresh large hands. The card is an all around excellent card for the deck, opening up so many new options to make the deck’s game plans all more reliable no matter the matchup. In hindsight it is somewhat crazy that we did not try playing one of the best Supporter cards ever printed in the deck sooner.
Iono and Judge
An all-in glass cannon deck playing hand disruption is a bit unusual, but it is super valuable in Roaring Moon ex against [card name=”Giratina VSTAR” set=”Lost Origin” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card]. With hand disruption, your deck is able to take on two different modes in the Giratina VSTAR matchup. You can play hyper-offensive in the early game, trying to take down multiple threats in a row and get far enough ahead that the opponent cannot ever catch up. While this strategy is legitimate, it sometimes is not enough. After all, there is a chance that they draw hot too. In these cases, your deck shifts to a slightly more defensive playstyle, taking Prize cards in whatever ways you can, while making it hard for the opponent to chain together their combos. This is also a good way to close out a game when you are ahead, allowing you to break up their combos by reducing their hand size. If I am being completely honest, I do not know why there is a split between [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Judge” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”235″ c=”name”][/card], though, but I do like it. With [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”182″ c=”name”][/card] in the deck too, you are able to use two of either if necessary, but realistically mixing them together is the best strategy because preparing for both at the same time can be difficult. Having the option to play Iono when they have been thinning stuff out of their deck, or maybe to play Judge when you know they have a Boss’s Orders in their deck that they could possibly draw into if you played Iono — both are options that can turn the tide of the game.
Three Ultra Ball
At first I thought this was a bit weird, but as I thought about it more, it made a lot of sense. When I looked back at some of my earliest deck lists for Roaring Moon ex, I also found I was hovering around two to three copies of Ultra Ball. The thing is, this deck has a surprising amount of important resources, so you really do not want to discard those cards with Ultra Ball. Thanks to [card name=”Battle VIP Pass” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”225″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Squawkabilly ex” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card], this deck’s turn 1 usually ends with all of your important Pokemon already in play, so having a way to search for them after that first turn is really not that important. Despite that being the case, it is still important to make sure your Darkness Energy cards end up in the discard pile to put together your attackers throughout the game, as well as for thinning out the hand for efficient uses of Mew ex.
Ancient Booster Energy Capsule and Emergency Jelly
[cardimg name=”Emergency Jelly” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”155″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
One card that I had not really mentioned yet was [card name=”Emergency Jelly” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card], which I actually think is one of the better new inclusions in Ross Cawthon’s deck list. This card has A TON of applications that I did not initially think about. One of the most typical use cases is that it makes it so you can heal out of range of Spit Innocently from [card name=”Cramorant” set=”Lost Origin” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card] or Lost Mine from [card name=”Sableye” set=”Lost Origin” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card], both of which are very valuable in Lost Zone matchups and are a huge part of why this deck is able to do decently well against those decks. Previously, one of the biggest problems was that Sableye specifically could use Lost Mine to take a Knock Out on your Roaring Moon ex and also place damage on the next Roaring Moon ex or whatever else they want to try and Knock Out next turn. With a Squawkabilly ex in play, this is basically a death sentence because they could set up damage in a way that they can Knock Out Squawkabilly ex and progress their gameplan toward Knocking Out Roaring Moon ex at the same time. But the inclusion of Emergency Jelly puts you at enough HP that the opponent has to commit an entire Lost Mine and then some to Knock Out a Roaring Moon ex. Additionally, Emergency Jelly heals you out of range of Heat Tackle from [card name=”Charmander” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card], which is surprisingly relevant (in fact, the same day I wrote this sentence, I won a League Challenge because I could use Heat Tackle to Knock Out a Roaring Moon ex. This comes up a lot). Another use case for Emergency Jelly against [card name=”Charizard ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] involves some outside assistance from [card name=”Ancient Booster Energy Capsule” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card]. If you use Frenzied Gouging with an Emergency Jelly attached, you are left with 150 HP remaining. If the opponent does not Knock Out this Roaring Moon ex, you can attach an Ancient Booster Energy Capsule and go for another Frenzied Gouging with 10 HP left. You do not really want to do this in the middle of the game because it leaves you very vulnerable to [card name=”Lost Vacuum” set=”Lost Origin” no=”162″ c=”name”][/card], but having access to a way to prevent Sudden Death against certain play patterns is very important to keep in mind.
Forest Seal Stone
For a long time I was kind of anti-[card name=”Forest Seal Stone” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] in Roaring Moon ex decks, but as I have played this build more, I have found myself to be an increasingly big fan of it. This Tool really is the card that ties the whole Galarian Moltres V package together, making the card a great Bench sitter, a viable attacker, and a way to find any card at the perfect time all at once. The card is just the single greatest Pokemon Tool card ever printed, and excluding it from any deck that can play it would be a mistake. The card is made even better with the [card name=”Town Store” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”196″ c=”name”][/card] in this deck list too, which is essentially a third copy Forest Seal Stone, extras of any of the tools I already discussed, and a fourth Stadium card all in one!
A Note on Sudden Death
One of the most obscure rules in the Pokemon TCG rule book is Sudden Death, or as it is called in tournaments, the Tiebreaker Game. If you have played on Pokemon TCG Live, you may have encountered this already, but if you are not familiar, Sudden Death happens when both players achieve an equal number of win conditions at the same time, for example, both players taking their last Prize card at the same time. In this case, you set up a new game, including with a new coin flip, and whoever is ahead in Prize cards wins. Notably, on Pokemon TCG Live, you only play with one Prize card, but in tournaments you set out six Prize cards instead, largely to reduce the impact of cards such as Iono.
The reason why I bring this up is because it is fairly common for it to come up while playing Roaring Moon ex decks. Most of the time you will be forced to go into Sudden Death with Frenzied Gouging, but something that I found is that sometimes your opponent can force it by using Mew ex to copy Frenzied Gouging (I did this at Charlotte). It is really important to keep this in mind, because Roaring Moon ex is unlike most other decks in Standard format. This deck is very good at winning Sudden Death. As such, it can sometimes be to your advantage to force a Sudden Death because it is safer than making a risky play that could result in a loss. This is entirely case-by-case, but this relatively uncommon aspect of the game is actually a very viable part of this deck’s win conditions, so I felt it was important to mention.
Conclusion
As we enter the final months of the Paradox Rift format (and the last we will see of “E” regulation mark cards in the Standard Format), [card name=”Roaring Moon ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card] seems to have found itself some new footing in the format, finally living up to the success that it originally promised. With solid matchups and by being an unusually aggressive deck, the deck is a powerhouse in the current format and is certainly poised to make an incredible run at another Regional Championships soon.
With that, this article comes to a close. As always, I hope you enjoyed giving this article a read, and if you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out!
Until next time!
– Isaiah
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