Old Moon, New Moon — How Roaring Moon ex Fares Post-Rotation

Hello everyone! We’re on the verge of our newest format rotation — or just past it, if you play online — and as usual, there’s a fair amount of shakeup, especially with Temporal Forces coming out at the same time. As players prepare for the EUIC, figuring out the new format is of paramount importance, as success in London will necessitate having a solid grasp on what to expect and what is good. Thankfully, the Japanese format can give us some pointers, as there’s been a solid month of play there in this format following the Champions League Fukuoka tournament, and thus a lot of time for innovation and refinement of the new post-rotation decks. Thus far, [card name=”Charizard ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] appears to still be the most dominant deck by a decent margin, though there are also a solid number of second-tier decks, such as [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Cinccino” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card], Lost Box, [card name=”Chien-Pao ex” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”61″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Arceus VSTAR” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Snorlax” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] Stall. New decks have also joined the mix, including [card name=”Great Tusk” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] Mill, Future Box / [card name=”Iron Hands ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card], and Ancient Box decks.

In this article, though, I want to go over a deck that has flown a bit under the radar in the pre-EUIC discourse: [card name=”Roaring Moon ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card]. Roaring Moon ex was actually the most popular deck of the final pre-rotation Regional Championships (in Vancouver), but despite that, it has been overshadowed by the new Ancient stuff from the new set. There are a few cool new Ancient Pokemon in Temporal Forces, including two new “Ancient Box” archetypes, one utilizing the new non-ex [card name=”Roaring Moon” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] and the other built around the explosive [card name=”Raging Bolt ex” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card]. The Roaring Moon deck has gotten some hype thanks to its Top 16 placement at Champions League Fukuoka, but if you look at the Japanese results from City League events, the older Roaring Moon ex decks have actually seen more success than the new Ancient Box lists. So, in this article, I’m going to be going over how Roaring Moon ex decks have adapted from the rotation losses, and what new tricks the archetype has gained from Temporal Forces.

What Has Changed?

Both the format rotation and Temporal Forces have had an impact on how Roaring Moon ex decks are built. The deck saw two major losses from the rotation: [card name=”Battle VIP Pass” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”225″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Galarian Moltres V” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card]. Moltres is a particularly painful loss, since it takes away a key piece of the deck’s Energy acceleration, and also makes it more difficult to use [card name=”Forest Seal Stone” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card]. The good news is that these are the only cards we lost. Since the deck doesn’t require a ton of setup, it can survive the loss of Battle VIP Pass without too big a consistency drop. And, with the additions from Temporal Forces, Roaring Moon ex seems to be in good shape — I wouldn’t be writing about it otherwise!

[cardimg name=”Roaring Moon” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”109″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

The major new addition to the deck is the new non-ex Roaring Moon. The addition of a legitimate single-Prize attacker has revolutionized how Roaring Moon ex can approach its matchups, and helps to shore up a number of the deck’s poorer ones. Roaring Moon fits perfectly into Roaring Moon ex’s existing strategy of aggressively burning through your deck and discarding a bunch of stuff, and it can be accelerated to with the exact same cards as Roaring Moon ex. Its two-Energy attack cost is a bit easier to achieve than Roaring Moon ex’s three-Energy cost, which helps alleviate some of the downside of losing the acceleration from Galarian Moltres V.

Roaring Moon is strong enough that you can build around it on its own, but by combining it with Roaring Moon ex, you get the best of both worlds. Roaring Moon ex can take down big Pokemon early while you build up your Vengeance Fletching damage, and it can take out those massive Stage 2 Pokemon ex that the non-ex Roaring Moon might struggle with. At the same time, you can use the baby Roaring Moon to take out the non-ex Pokemon that can give Roaring Moon ex trouble, and you can give your opponent fits in the late game by transitioning away from the ex to a non-ex attacking strategy. The two complement each other extremely well!

Other new cards that have seen use with Roaring Moon ex are the new [card name=”Flutter Mane” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Explorer’s Guidance” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Prime Catcher” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”157″ c=”name”][/card]. Flutter Mane is particularly useful in the Lost Box matchup, and can also be useful in a few other niche scenarios. Explorer’s Guidance is great in conjunction with the new Roaring Moon, as it helps you discard cards faster while also providing decent consistency. Most decks like Prime Catcher, but it’s especially strong in this one, since Roaring Moon ex decks can struggle to be able to use [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] with how reliant they are on [card name=”Professor Sada’s Vitality” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”170″ c=”name”][/card]. Now, you don’t have to hope for a good Pokemon Catcher flip, since you have Prime Catcher to guarantee that gust effect.

New Roaring Moon Lists

So far, there are two main styles of Roaring Moon ex decks that have seen play in Japan. The first is more like the pre-rotation decks in that it uses multi-Prize Pokemon such as [card name=”Squawkabilly ex” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Mew ex” set=”151″ no=”151″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Lumineon V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] to dig through the deck as aggressively as possible in order to get KOs as quickly as it can. The other style is closer to Ancient Box decks in that it plays as a single-Prize deck for most of the game, focusing mainly on the new Roaring Moon. In this deck, Roaring Moon ex is more of a secondary attacker, though it can still be extremely important depending on the matchup. Both of these decks are actually pretty similar in their lists. The main difference is that the latter deck plays no Pokemon ex or V aside from Roaring Moon ex, and thus has a slightly different Trainer lineup to make up for it. Of the two, I tend to prefer the non-ex-focused deck in the current format, but both are solid.

[premium]

To start, let’s take a look at the non-ex-focused list, as it represents the more dramatic departure from the pre-rotation build. Here’s the list:

[decklist name=”Dark Ancient Box” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Roaring Moon” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”109″][pokemon amt=”12″]4x [card name=”Roaring Moon” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”109″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Roaring Moon ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”124″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Flutter Mane” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”78″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Cyclizar” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”164″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Radiant Greninja” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”46″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”40″]4x [card name=”Professor Sada’s Vitality” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”170″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Explorer’s Guidance” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”147″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”186″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”91″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”84″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Dark Patch” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”139″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Earthen Vessel” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”160″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Prime Catcher” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”157″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”188″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]3x [card name=”Ancient Booster Energy Capsule” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”159″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”PokéStop” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”68″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”8″]8x [card name=”Darkness Energy” set=”Crown Zenith” no=”158″ c=”deck2″ amt=”8″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

As you can see, the Pokemon lineup is Roaring Moon ex, a bunch of single-Prize attackers, and a few Pokemon for consistency. Without the other multi-Prize Pokemon, the Trainer lineup is focused more on the consistency side, with a lot of four-ofs. With this Trainer line, the deck remains quick and rarely suffers from bricked hands at any point in the game.

Your main Pokemon are going to be your Roaring Moon and your Roaring Moon ex, and which one you want to focus on will depend on the matchup and the specific situation. Four Roaring Moon are needed for the matchups where it’s your main attacker, whereas you can cut the ex down to three since it’s no longer your only option. By playing one fewer ex, you can also reduce your chances of starting with it, which is something you typically don’t want to do.

[cardimg name=”Flutter Mane” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”78″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

You want three Flutter Mane so you can ensure that you have two in play whenever you need it. Otherwise, the Lost Box player can use [card name=”Iron Bundle” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card]’s Hyper Blower to simply move the Flutter Mane to the Bench and get around its Ability. For matchups where you don’t need it, the Flutter Mane can simply be discarded to provide more damage for Vengeance Fletching, so there isn’t much downside to playing a few of them. You also increase your chances of starting it by playing three; you have roughly a 39% chance of being able to start with it by playing three, which is better than the 28.5% you get by playing two.

I’ve chosen to include [card name=”Cyclizar” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card] in the deck as the free-retreat option. You don’t want to play Mew ex in this list, since you want to keep your board free of multi-Prize targets, but you do still need a free retreater to go into after your Active Roaring Moon gets KO’d. Otherwise, you won’t be able to use [card name=”Dark Patch” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card] as effectively, which can become a problem. Many earlier lists used [card name=”Morpeko” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] in this spot, which has the advantage of being able to deal damage if needed, but it also has a downside in that its Ability can be shut off by Flutter Mane. Since you no longer need the damaging attack (given that you have the new Roaring Moon), there isn’t much upside to playing it over Cyclizar. Cyclizar has more HP, which can come in handy — specifically, [card name=”Sableye” set=”Lost Origin” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card] cannot both KO Cyclizar and set up a Roaring Moon to be KO’d by [card name=”Iron Hands ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card] — and the attack can get you out of a jam in the rare cases where you aren’t drawing well.

Finally, you definitely want [card name=”Radiant Greninja” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”46″ c=”name”][/card] in this deck, as so much of your strategy revolves around getting Energy into the discard pile for Professor Sada’s Vitality and Dark Patch. You may only actually get to draw cards with Concealed Cards once or twice, but having that extra way to discard Darkness Energy can be critical.

The Supporters in this deck are Professor Sada’s Vitality and the aforementioned Explorer’s Guidance, both of which are Ancient cards that can help contribute to Roaring Moon’s damage output. To increase our chances of finding them, Vitality in particular, this list has four [card name=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”182″ c=”name”][/card]. You can cut down on these somewhat if you want to include a tech Supporter or two, such as [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”name”][/card] or Boss’s Orders, but I’ve found those to be less necessary in most cases. Since this list doesn’t play Lumineon V or Squawkabilly ex, it can be harder to find Professor Sada’s Vitality, so the extra Pokegear 3.0 helps balance that particular downside of this list.

Without Battle VIP Pass, you want to have a full four each of [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”84″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card]; Ultra Ball also helps you discard cards, either to add more Ancient cards to your discard pile, or to discard Energy for recovery with Vitality and Dark Patch. Likewise, we have four [card name=”Earthen Vessel” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card] in this list so we can easily find those Energy to discard.

When it comes to your ACE SPEC, Prime Catcher is the clear choice. Having the extra Catcher effect is much stronger than the draw effect of [card name=”Awakening Drum” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”141″ c=”name”][/card], especially since you’ll rarely have more than three Ancient Pokemon in play. None of the other ACE SPECs are particularly impactful for this deck, so it’s an easy decision to go with Prime Catcher. The gust effect is strong in this deck, and it also acts as a switching card in case you need it, which can come up on occasion.

[card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card] is your other go-to gust option, and it’s quite a good one to have. Since this deck plays as a single-Prize deck a lot of the time, there are quite a few scenarios where you’ll go down a Prize before taking out a Pokemon ex or V to get back ahead. Importantly, you can use Counter Catcher on the same turn as you use Professor Sada’s Vitality, and by using it instead of your Prime Catcher, you can save your Prime Catcher for a scenario where you aren’t behind. Likewise, it means you can use your Prime Catcher early if needed and still know that you have potential gust effects later on.

The four [card name=”PokéStop” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”68″ c=”name”][/card] are this deck’s Stadium of choice, for consistency. You want four Stadiums so you can reliably use Calamity Storm for its full effect, and PokeStop is perfect in how it both reliably gets you cards (especially since nearly half of this deck is made up of Items) and helps to get Darkness Energy and Ancient cards into your discard pile. You could swap out one of the PokeStop for [card name=”Temple of Sinnoh” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card] as an anti-Lugia tech, since it gives you a way to get around [card name=”Mist Energy” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”161″ c=”name”][/card], but for now, I would stick with the four PokeStop. If Lugia gets big — or if Roaring Moon itself gets big, in which case Mist Energy might see more play as a tech card — you might want to go with Temple of Sinnoh then.

Eight Darkness Energy is about as low as I would be comfortable going, but it’s enough for you to reliably find them, especially since you have the four Earthen Vessel.

With this variant, you can effectively play as a single-Prize deck for most of the game. You do miss out on some of the more useful consistency Abilities by doing so, but you eliminate the liability that those Pokemon often become. As a result, you can pick and choose when you want to go in with Roaring Moon ex and when you want to simply hang back and attack with your little guys.

For contrast, here is the more ex-focused build:

[decklist name=”Roaring Moon ex” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Roaring Moon ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”124″][pokemon amt=”15″]4x [card name=”Roaring Moon” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”109″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Roaring Moon ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”124″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Flutter Mane” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”78″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Mew ex” set=”151″ no=”151″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Cyclizar” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”164″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Squawkabilly ex” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Lumineon V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”40″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Radiant Greninja” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”46″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”37″]4x [card name=”Professor Sada’s Vitality” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”170″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/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=”Ciphermaniac’s Codebreaking” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”145″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Thorton” set=”Lost Origin” no=”167″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”196″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”181″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Dark Patch” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”139″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Earthen Vessel” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”186″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”160″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Prime Catcher” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”157″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”188″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]3x [card name=”Ancient Booster Energy Capsule” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”159″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”PokéStop” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”68″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Collapsed Stadium” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”8″]8x [card name=”Darkness Energy” set=”Crown Zenith” no=”158″ c=”deck2″ amt=”8″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

In this list, there are now three two-Prize consistency Pokemon: Mew ex, Squawkabilly ex, and Lumineon V. I have kept in the Cyclizar even though we have Mew ex now, as it can be nice to have a non-ex option for free retreat, particularly in those matchups or situations where you’re trying to avoid having Pokemon ex on the field. It also makes it slightly easier to use your [card name=”Collapsed Stadium” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card], since it gives you another non-ex to take up a Bench spot.

The Supporters are a bit different in this list. We no longer play Explorer’s Guidance, and instead we play a variety of tech Supporters. This deck doesn’t play from behind quite as well as the other list, so you want to have Boss’s Orders available. This list can also take better advantage of the new [card name=”Ciphermaniac’s Codebreaking” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card], which combos well with both Mew ex and Squawkabilly ex, on top of the already-included Radiant Greninja. With Radiant Greninja alone, I wasn’t finding it particularly usable, but now that you have more options for immediate draw, it’s a nice bonus Supporter to have.

Finally, this list plays both Collapsed Stadium and [card name=”Thorton” set=”Lost Origin” no=”167″ c=”name”][/card] in order to give you the option of removing your Pokemon ex from your field and transitioning to a non-ex game plan like the first list.

Playing Roaring Moon

With both lists, your early-game strategy will be to start digging through your deck so you can get Darkness Energy in the discard pile and activate Professor Sada’s Vitality. In addition to getting a Roaring Moon or two in play to attack with, you’ll want to find your Radiant Greninja, as well as your Cyclizar or Mew ex. You won’t need anything more than that in play, as there isn’t much advantage to having extra attackers on the field. If anything, it can make them vulnerable to spread attacks, and it prevents you from having them as discard fodder for Vengeance Fletching.

After that, the gameplay is fairly straightforward. You want to keep digging through your deck and adding more and more Ancient cards to your discard pile. Use your Dark Patch and Professor Sada’s Vitality to power up your Pokemon, and then start attacking. As you progress through the game, the cards you’ll be looking for are (a) more of your desired attacker, (b) more Energy, (c) more ways to accelerate Energy, and typically (d) your gust effects. You’ll want to discard any non-useful cards, both to thin things out in the event of hand disruption and because most of those cards will help increase your damage output by being in the discard pile.

When it comes to deciding which attacker to go with, your default will be the non-ex Roaring Moon, though you’ll use the ex a bit more often when playing the second list. Use the ex to take out multi-Prize Pokemon, particularly if you are in a situation where you can’t get an OHKO with Vengeance Fletching.

Matchups

Overall, Roaring Moon ex has a solid matchup spread, thanks to the new non-ex Ancient Pokemon shoring things up against the various non-ex matchups. Here’s how you can handle some of the format’s more popular decks.

Charizard ex

[cardimg name=”Charizard ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”223″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Charizard ex is this format’s biggest threat, and I would be wary of playing any deck that can’t match up to it. Like for most decks, the matchup here is tricky, especially given the number of tech options Charizard can play. A strategy that works against some Charizard lists may not work against other ones, so in a best-of-three format, it can be a good idea to go with a more “basic” strategy first, then adjust depending on what cards your opponent is playing. In particular, you’ll want to be on the lookout for what their ACE SPEC is (specifically, whether they play [card name=”Maximum Belt” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Hero’s Cape” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”152″ c=”name”][/card], or Prime Catcher), as well as if they play Mist Energy, Collapsed Stadium, or [card name=”Defiance Band” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card].

Early on, you’ll want to use the baby Roaring Moon to get an early Prize or two to put yourself in the lead. Then, you can transition to using Roaring Moon ex against their Charizard ex in the later stages of the game. Vengeance Fletching can’t actually OHKO Charizard ex even during the endgame — Charizard is simply too bulky — but it can trade Prizes evenly with it, so if you can get an early lead, you will be able to maintain it, barring any shenanigans.

The main card you’ll need to watch out for when using the non-ex strategy is Collapsed Stadium, as it can prevent a 2HKO on Charizard ex or be used to knock [card name=”Rotom V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card] or Lumineon V off the board. Because of this, I like to take aim at those Pokemon as early as possible. Likewise, if you can take out a Charizard ex with Frenzied Gouging, that will be a safer play than going the 2HKO route, and if you’re on the right path with the Prize trade, you don’t mind taking a two-for-two exchange.

If you have taken only one Prize, then Roaring Moon ex can withstand a Burning Darkness, but that doesn’t work if the opponent plays Maximum Belt as their ACE SPEC, which some lists do. If they don’t, you can try to get a 2HKO by first using Calamity Storm, then switching into a non-ex Roaring Moon. This play can buy you an extra turn to set up your next attacker, as well as force your opponent to use up more resources to get that two-Prize KO, but it’s quite risky if your opponent plays damage modifiers, so I would only do it if you are confident that they can’t get the OHKO. Defiance Band you can play around by waiting to take your first KO, but Maximum Belt can OHKO a Roaring Moon ex even if you haven’t taken a Prize, so there isn’t much point in being conservative in that case.

Iono is another particularly annoying card, as it can be tricky to find everything you need to power up Roaring Moon ex after losing your hand, even if you’re in a situation where you’ve thinned out most of your deck. If you can, it’s often a good idea to set up multiple Roaring Moon ex on the field in the late game so you need fewer cards in order to pull off your final KO. If you only have one, it’s vulnerable to being gusted up and KO’d, so you realistically need two.

Your main paths to victory in the late game will be using a gust effect to take out a [card name=”Pidgeot ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card], Lumineon V, or Rotom V or using Frenzied Gouging to take down a Charizard ex. If your opponent plays Collapsed Stadium, the first option isn’t terribly reliable, so you should be going into the endgame with the idea that you’ll need to use Frenzied Gouging.

If possible, I always like to target my opponent’s consistency Pokemon, whether that’s [card name=”Bibarel” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] or Pidgeot ex. Attacking Bibarel only works if you are able to keep a non-ex board, since otherwise you may fall behind a bit too far, but Pidgeot ex can be taken down with Frenzied Gouging the same way as a Charizard. If you can take out those consistency pieces, you make it more difficult for your opponent to find late-game tricks like Iono and Collapsed Stadium — not to mention that you may be able to buy an extra turn or two if they can’t find a way to set up a second Charizard ex.

Lugia VSTAR / Cinccino

With the release of the new Cinccino, Lugia VSTAR has re-emerged as a hard-hitting single-Prize-attacker deck. The basis of their strategy is to use [card name=”Archeops” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card] to put plenty of Special Energy onto Cinccino, then use Special Roll to get an OHKO.

As Cinccino is a non-ex attacker, you’ll want to use your non-ex Roaring Moon to take it on. A big part of this matchup is being able to take the first KO, since it can quickly turn into a battle where both players are taking a Knock Out every turn. You can theoretically get ahead by KOing Lugia VSTAR, but your opponent can prevent Frenzied Gouging by playing Mist Energy, and by the time you get to a KO with Vengeance Fletching, they can remove it with Collapsed Stadium. Collapsed Stadium can also be the Lugia player’s way to get ahead, as they can attack with Lugia VSTAR, take a hit, then switch back to Cinccino and bump the Lugia off of the field to prevent the 2HKO.

Another potential route you can take is to use Counter Catcher to target their Archeops. If they only happen to get one in play, you should absolutely do this, but if they get both, it can be a bit more marginal. If my opponent has managed to get ahead of me, this is the route I like to take, as it can otherwise be extremely difficult to get back in the lead if your opponent can maintain a non-ex field.

Chien-Pao ex

[card name=”Chien-Pao ex” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”61″ c=”name”][/card] is a solid matchup for this deck, as you can quickly get to a point where you can OHKO them with Vengeance Fletching, and so you shouldn’t have any difficulty trading favorably with them. You can also slow them down a bit by putting Flutter Mane into the Active Spot early, which shuts down Chien-Pao ex’s Shivery Chill.

You will want to be cautious about [card name=”Iron Hands ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card], as most Chien-Pao lists play at least one to help them deal with single-Prize attackers. Thankfully, Roaring Moon’s 140 HP puts it out of OHKO range, which means they’ll have to weaken it up first in order to get that two-Prize KO with Amp You Very Much. In most cases, this means that any advantage they might get from Iron Hands ex is gone, since they’re still only taking an average of one Prize per turn. The one way they have to accelerate this is if they use Radiant Greninja’s Moonlight Shuriken to soften up two Roaring Moon, then attack those on the two following turns with Amp You Very Much. This gives them four Prizes in three turns.

When it comes to using Roaring Moon ex, this matchup is nice in that you can take KOs with Calamity Storm. I would strongly advise against using Frenzied Gouging in this matchup unless absolutely necessary, though, as that can immediately be punished by Moonlight Shuriken or Amp You Very Much in a way that can lead to an extra Prize for the opponent. Roaring Moon thankfully has enough HP to not be KO’d by a Moonlight Shuriken / Amp You Very Much combo, so it can be effective to use if you want to push the pace early and OHKO a Chien-Pao ex.

Lost Box

The Lost Box matchup is the main reason we play Flutter Mane. By keeping Flutter Mane in the Active Spot, you prevent your opponent from using [card name=”Comfey” set=”Lost Origin” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card]’s Flower Selecting, which can slow them down a lot. As you might expect, you typically don’t want to use Roaring Moon ex in this matchup, unless it’s to end the game against one of their Pokemon ex, if they play any. At 140 HP, Roaring Moon isn’t easy for them to KO, and they can only do so by either setting up a 2HKO or by using a Pokemon ex or V. In either case, you’re fine with this, since the Prize trade will end up in your favor.

As against Chien-Pao, you’ll want to watch out for Iron Hands ex, but like with Chien-Pao, your opponent isn’t going to be able to get a OHKO with Amp You Very Much against Roaring Moon unless they set up a 2HKO first with either Radiant Greninja or Sableye. Sableye is a bit more dangerous, since it can put damage on a bunch of different Pokemon, so you’ll want to be conservative about putting attackers onto the Bench. Likewise, if your opening is such that you can’t effectively slow them down with Flutter Mane, you’ll want to avoid playing it down and focus on Roaring Moon instead, as Flutter Mane’s lower HP can make it a liability.

Snorlax Stall

[card name=”Snorlax” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] has been one of the rare stall decks to see a lot of success in Japan. Typically, these decks aren’t as strong in Japan due to the format’s time rules (everything is best-of-one and a tie means a double loss), but Snorlax has been good enough that it’s an exception. Luckily, it’s a fine matchup for Roaring Moon, so long as you start with your Roaring Moon. [card name=”Echoing Horn” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card] has rotated out, so the only way they have to force you to put more Pokemon into play is if you leave something in your hand, and then they hit it with [card name=”Erika’s Invitation” set=”151″ no=”160″ c=”name”][/card]. So, discard those Pokemon as quickly as you can! Radiant Greninja and Cyclizar are both dangerous, and you don’t want those to ever see the field. If you start with Flutter Mane, it isn’t necessarily awful, since Midnight Fluttering does shut off Block, so you can still win even in that case. Roaring Moon ex can also take KOs easily enough, and can get through Mimikyu’s Safeguard by using Frenzied Gouging. An amusing play you can make is to use Frenzied Gouging to KO yourself and give your opponent Prizes, which can shut off Counter Catcher and Defiance Vest in some important scenarios. With the second list, this matchup is even easier, since we play Thorton and thus can swap out any poor starting Pokemon or accidental Erika target for something better.

Conclusion

Roaring Moon ex may look a bit different after the rotation, but it’s still a powerful archetype primed for success. The deck’s new additions have given it a more robust matchup spread, and I believe it will remain a strong option going forward.

With this, we’ve come to the end of this article! As always, if you have any questions about Roaring Moon, the new format, or anything else, be sure to ask in the comments! Best of luck to everyone, and stay safe! Thanks for reading!

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