The Rise of Iron Thorns ex

Hello PokeBeach readers! Isaiah here, and I am happy to be writing another article for you!

Last time, I discussed one of my favourite decks that emerged from the North America International Championships (NAIC), [card name=”Regidrago VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card], and how it went from being a relatively weak archetype for the first year and a half of its existence to possibly the best deck heading into the upcoming World Championships in Hawaii. As I briefly mentioned in my previous article, the new addition of Kyurem in Shrouded Fable may be enough to propel the deck to the top of the format.

However, Regidrago VSTAR is not the only card that had an impressive and unexpected performance at NAIC. [card name=”Iron Thorns ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] also blew away my expectations. Following the success of Lugia VSTAR at the Japan National Championships the weekend before NAIC, I expected to see Iron Thorns ex pop up a bit more as a possible tech card in a variety of decks. My expectation for this idea went up significantly when Andrew Hedrick told me he was going to be playing an Iron Thorns ex in his deck list the night before we flew to the tournament. Of course, Andrew would go on to win the tournament, and Iron Thorns ex would claim its first International title at the first one it was ever Standard format legal for.

I think Iron Thorns ex was never expected to see much significant success when it was announced, but it has instead turned into one of the most powerful cards in the game. In this article, I want to examine why this is the case, as well as two decks that are able to take greater advantage of the card than Andrew’s Turbo Lost Zone deck was able to.

What Lead To Iron Thorns ex Being So Good?

[cardimg name=”Iron Thorns ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”196″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

When Iron Thorns ex was revealed, I distinctly remember the community being very split about the strength of this card. A lot of people thought the card was going to be unfair and broken, possibly warping the meta around itself. I think some people may have even claimed it would be the best card in Twilight Masquerade, but I guess those people may not have seen [card name=”Legacy Energy” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”167″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”141″ c=”name”][/card], or [card name=”Teal Mask Ogerpon ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card] yet. The other side of the community felt that the card was fairly underpowered, citing that the card might have a place in a quad Iron Thorns ex deck (more on that later!) and maybe as a [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”211″ c=”name”][/card] tech at best.

It was the latter group that was initially more correct, seeing that the card’s low damage output made it underwhelming as an attacker, and moving it out of the Active Spot with its Retreat Cost of four could be a nightmare without playing [card name=”Future Booster Energy Capsule” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card]. As we approached the inevitable release of Twilight Masquerade, it seemed almost everyone had forgotten that Iron Thorns ex even existed. I remember mentioning the card to a friend of mine while we were testing for NAIC, and they said that they did not even know that it was a real card. The card had faded off into obscurity almost entirely, but little did we know, a powerhouse was lurking in the shadows, just waiting for the right moment. Its moment finally arrived at the biggest North American event of all time.

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As I mentioned earlier, Lugia VSTAR put up a remarkable finish at the Japan National Championships. While Lugia VSTAR doing well was not exactly a surprise, some people were surprised by how deep of a run it was able to make. I know that I was certainly caught off guard. I already knew that I was playing Lugia VSTAR for NAIC at that point, so seeing the deck I planned on playing do so well the week before made me a bit nervous that the deck was going to be more on people’s radar. As expected, it was certainly more countered at NAIC, with a lot of players opting to include [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Temple of Sinnoh” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card], and, of course, Iron Thorns ex.

While the Japan National Championships list played a [card name=”Flutter Mane ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card], which could invalidate Iron Thorns ex, you still had to search for the card and get it to the Active Spot. If you failed to do so, Iron Thorns ex would give the user plenty of time to overrun you between the Ability lock and taking a one-hit Knock Out on every Pokemon in the Lugia VSTAR deck except for [card name=”Iron Hands ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card] and Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex. As we know, Iron Thorns ex found its best home in Turbo Lost Zone, replacing [card name=”Raikou V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”48″ c=”name”][/card] as the deck’s key Lightning-type attacker in favor of being a more direct answer to a few of the deck’s problems, including Lugia VSTAR. A few other decks emerged to use Iron Thorns ex, though. Ian Robb was able to take a [card name=”Miraidon ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”81″ c=”name”][/card] deck list to a 19th place finish that played a single Iron Thorns ex to solidify the Lugia VSTAR matchup and slow down [card name=”Raging Bolt ex ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] if needed.

Right behind Ian Robb was Nicholas Gist, who played a fairly standard Iron Hands ex / [card name=”Iron Crown ex ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”81″ c=”name”][/card] deck list with a single copy of Iron Thorns ex. I liked Cameron Shenoy’s approach a bit more, which played three copies of Iron Thorns ex, making it a more threatening attacker if you boost Iron Thorn’s ex attack Volt Cyclone with Iron Crown’s Ability Cobalt Command. If three copies of Iron Thorns ex aren’t enough for you, you might like Ross Cawthon’s Top 128 deck list, which was just four Iron Thorns ex and nothing else. I think this idea was a fairly common one once the card came out in Japan, but almost everyone wrote the deck off as a joke. However, I had the recent thought that, if one of the best players of all time decided to bring the deck to NAIC, maybe it is better than I thought. So, I gave it a try recently, and to my surprise, the deck works really well! With that in mind, how about we take a look at this deck and what makes it tick.

Quad Iron Thorns

The strategy of this deck is as simple as it gets: attach, attack, and occasionally play [card name=”Judge” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”176″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”168″ c=”name”][/card] to disrupt your opponent. Despite only doing one thing, this deck does that one thing exceptionally well, and for that reason, I think quad Iron Thorns ex has some merit going forward. Of course, the deck naturally obliterates Lugia VSTAR, with an 89% win rate in the matchup in online tournaments. It is also pretty strong against [card name=”Charizard ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] and Raging Bolt ex, both of which have been picking up a lot of steam lately. Unfortunately, the deck struggles against [card name=”Gardevoir ex” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”29″ c=”name”][/card] and Lost Zone decks, so it may be incapable of winning a major tournament, but it can still achieve a decent finish. I am a huge fan of Ross Cawthon’s deck list for Iron Thorns ex, as I feel like he has it built pretty much perfectly. With so few techs and a focus on consistency, there is very little that can truly go wrong with this deck. As long as you hit a turn 1 Energy attachment, you are probably winning most games in your good matchups.

Deck List

[decklist name=”quad thorns” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Iron Thorns ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”77″][pokemon amt=”4″]4x [card name=”Iron Thorns ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”77″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”43″]4x [card name=”Arven” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”166″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Champion’s Path” no=”62″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”132″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”80″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Judge” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”176″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”168″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”186″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Techno Radar” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”180″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Lost Vacuum” set=”Lost Origin” no=”162″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Energy Loto” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”140″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Earthen Vessel” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Canceling Cologne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”136″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Future Booster Energy Capsule” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”164″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Technical Machine: Turbo Energize” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”179″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Lost City” set=”Lost Origin” no=”161″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”4″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”13″]8x [card name=”Lightning Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”118″ c=”deck2″ amt=”8″][/card]4x [card name=”Double Turbo Energy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”151″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Legacy Energy” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”167″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

Key Inclusions

Three Judge and Three Iono

[cardimg name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”269″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Pretty much since Pokemon came back from the pandemic, the format has been terrorized by the combination of [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Judge” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”176″ c=”name”][/card] alongside [card name=”Path to the Peak” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card]. With [card name=”Iron Thorns ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”196″ c=”name”][/card]’s Initialization Ability being pretty much identical to Path to the Peak, it was only natural for Judge or [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”name”][/card] to find their way into this deck, but why do you play both? The answer to this is surprisingly simple: Sometimes you just want both. In the early game, you may need to draw cards to find what you need, so playing Iono is better. Maybe you just want to reduce your opponent’s hand size, so playing Judge is better in this instance. Similarly, at the end of the game, Judge is now the one that gets you more cards, and Iono is better for keeping the opponent’s hand size small. Not just that, but in the middle of the game, the cards’ effects are nearly identical, so the cards are just worth playing in high quantities to make sure that you find them as needed.

Four Professor’s Research

Thirteen years since the card was originally released in Supporter form, [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Shining Fates” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] is still the best Supporter card in the game. With so many weak cards in this deck, something that is a natural consequence of playing a quad deck of any kind, Professor’s Research rarely has any true costs, instead almost entirely providing benefits by making your hand big and digging for cards that you need to stay in the game.

Two Lost Vacuum

I am not going to lie, I am not entirely certain of which cards and matchups that this card is truly intended for, but it comes up a lot. If the opponent prematurely puts [card name=”Forest Seal Stone” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] into play, possibly to protect themselves against Judge, you can remove the Forest Seal Stone from play, reducing the number of outs that they have. Similarly, you are able to remove cards like [card name=”PokéStop” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”68″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Rescue Board ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card] from play, which may help Lost Zone players stay in the game when you are trying to stick them on a dead hand with Judge and Iono. The card is also good against [card name=”Defiance Band” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card] in Charizard ex and Dragapult ex decks, denying the opponent the opportunity to take easy Knock Outs on your Iron Thorns ex if they ever set up. Lastly, the card is good against [card name=”Drifloon” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card] in [card name=”Gardevoir ex” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”29″ c=”name”][/card] since it removes [card name=”Bravery Charm” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”173″ c=”name”][/card] from the board, scoring a free Knock Out if the opponent is not careful. Overall, the card is simply one of the best utility cards in the game.

Canceling Cologne and Lost City

It is hard to talk about these cards separately, as one of their best use cases is when they are paired together. As one would probably expect, [card name=”Mimikyu” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] is sort of an existential problem for this deck. While Initialization shuts off [card name=”Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card], it does not stop Safeguard, so you need to play a [card name=”Canceling Cologne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card] in order to overcome a Mimikyu against Block [card name=”Snorlax” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] and other control decks. However, with only one copy of Canceling Cologne, it may not be clear how this deck is meant to deal with the opponent getting back their Mimikyu, but that is where [card name=”Lost City” set=”Lost Origin” no=”161″ c=”name”][/card] is the best! Now you can get rid of the Mimikyu forever, opening up a pretty clear path to victory. Block Snorlax is pretty much incapable of beating you without the help of Mimikyu, especially when you have Lost Vacuum to remove their important Pokemon Tool cards. Lost City is also very good against Lost Zone decks, as you can remove [card name=”Cramorant” set=”Lost Origin” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Sableye” set=”Lost Origin” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card] permanently, giving you a good chance in the matchup where you may not have one otherwise.

Technical Machine: Turbo Energize

This deck is really, really slow when it comes to attaching Energy cards. With no reliable form of Energy acceleration to play without dramatic alterations to the deck, the deck is forced to resort to almost exclusively manual attachments from hand, gaining a little speed if you can find a [card name=”Double Turbo Energy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”151″ c=”name”][/card]. I say “almost” here because there is one exception to that rule, being [card name=”Technical Machine: Turbo Energize” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”179″ c=”name”][/card]. A staple in the Gym Leader Challenge format, I never expected this card to see meaningful play in Standard, but it finds a home in quad Iron Thorns ex. When you go second, you do not have any meaningful play to make anyway, so you may as well include a one Energy attack that can power up your Pokemon. Now, if you open any Energy card or a way to find a second Iron Thorns ex, you can use [card name=”Arven” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”235″ c=”name”][/card] for the rest of the pieces needed to pull off a turn 1 Turbo Energize, speeding up your attachment game consistently, and making your deck much more threatening faster.

Legacy Energy

This card is both the most confusing inclusion in the deck list while also being the most sensible inclusion that I can possibly think of. In a deck with only Pokemon ex, you always want a way to force the opponent into a “seven Prize game” by making them Knock Out at least one non-ex Pokemon, which is why [card name=”Cleffa” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”80″ c=”name”][/card] is good in [card name=”Regidrago VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”201″ c=”name”][/card], for example. However, this deck never wants to play a fifth Pokemon, so it works around this by including a [card name=”Legacy Energy” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”167″ c=”name”][/card]. Now, your opponent will have to Knock Out all four copies of your Iron Hands ex in most games since one of them is going to be worth one Prize card. Additionally, if the opponent tries to skip the effect of Legacy Energy with an attack like Sableye’s Lost Mine, you even have the ability to manipulate where the Legacy Energy is at all times, opening up the opportunity to force the effect to activate. I have seen other quad Iron Thorns ex deck lists play cards like [card name=”Unfair Stamp” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card] as the ACE SPEC instead, but in my opinion, no option makes as much sense as Legacy Energy.

Future Iron Thorns ex

I talked about this deck briefly earlier, but I really like Cameron Shenoy’s new approach to the Future archetype. While the classic [card name=”Iron Hands ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card] plus [card name=”Iron Crown ex ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”81″ c=”name”][/card] is still strong combination, [card name=”Iron Thorns ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] is such a natural fit into the deck, providing a massive impact in some of the deck’s harder matchups. [card name=”Charizard ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Raging Bolt ex ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card], and even [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card] are all fairly difficult to play against, but they become free matchups (or at least much easier) with a few copies of Iron Thorns ex. Other than the Iron Thorns ex themselves, the deck list does not deviate far from the typical style of Future decks that we have seen in the past, focusing on Arven and [card name=”Miraidon ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] to power up your attackers and force the aforementioned “seven Prize game”. [card name=”Electric Generator” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”170″ c=”name”][/card] also makes Iron Thorns ex much more threatening, as the card is able to start packing an aggressive punch much faster, putting the opponent on a much shorter clock than they would normally have if they played against quad Iron Thorns ex.

Deck List

[decklist name=”future” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Iron Crown ex ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”81″][pokemon amt=”13″]4x [card name=”Iron Crown ex ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”81″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Iron Thorns ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”77″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Iron Hands ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”70″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Miraidon ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”121″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Mew ex” set=”151″ no=”151″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Iron Bundle” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”56″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”32″]4x [card name=”Arven” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”166″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Champion’s Path” no=”62″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”132″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Electric Generator” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”170″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Techno Radar” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”180″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”181″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Lost Vacuum” set=”Lost Origin” no=”162″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Prime Catcher ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”157″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Switch Cart” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Future Booster Energy Capsule” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”164″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Heavy Baton ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”151″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Town Store” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”196″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”15″]15x [card name=”Lightning Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”118″ c=”deck2″ amt=”15″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

Key Inclusions

Iron Bundle

[cardimg name=”Iron Bundle” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”56″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

This deck’s primary goal is to take easy Knock Outs for extra Prize cards with Iron Hands ex in matchups where Iron Thorns ex is not super helpful. Iron Bundle is a great way to force the opponent to put up something small enough to the Active Spot that you can Knock Out. For example, if you are playing against [card name=”Regidrago VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”201″ c=”name”][/card], which has a ton of HP, you can play [card name=”Techno Radar” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”180″ c=”name”][/card] to search for Iron Bundle and immediately force the opponent to promote something that you can actually Knock Out with Iron Hands ex’s Amp You Very Much, such as a [card name=”Teal Mask Ogerpon ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”211″ c=”name”][/card].

Town Store

This card’s inclusion is quite simple: You just want a Stadium card. Town Store happens to be the best because you want as many outs to [card name=”Future Booster Energy Capsule” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card] as possible. Having one every turn thanks to a Stadium is perfect. Additionally, having Town Store means you can bump off your opponent’s Stadium, which can be crucial in disrupting their strategy and maintaining your advantage. An all-around great inclusion.

Conclusion

To the surprise of many, Iron Thorns ex has gone from a zero to a hero (unlike [card name=”Palafin” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card]) in the current Standard format. Initially, it was one of the most forgotten cards in Twilight Masquerade, but it has since become a format-defining form of disruption and a solid attacker overall. As we head into the World Championships, I expect Iron Thorns ex to continue to find its way into a variety of top decks and possibly even make an appearance printed in a World Championship deck this fall.

With that, this article comes to a close. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I really like this archetype a lot! If you have any questions or thoughts, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Until next time!

– Isaiah

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