Adapt and Overcome – The Future of Dragapult ex Without Pidgeot ex

What’s up everyone! It’s Charlie and I’m happy to be back with another article. I recently took some heat for my last article on here where I wrote about why I thought [card name=”Dragapult ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] was a terrible deck, and that article was published the day after Ryuki Okada won Dortmund Regionals with the deck. While poor timing, I still think all the points I made in that article are valid and Ryuki made some big changes to the core of the deck that made it so strong. The biggest change he made was cutting [card name=”Pidgeot ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card] from the deck and replacing it with better cards, like more [card name=”Drakloak” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”129″ c=”name”][/card], a thicker [card name=”Dusknoir” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] line, and a simpler consistency engine based around [card name=”Tatsugiri” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card]. This lets you allocate all your [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card] to Dragapult ex and Dusknoir instead of to Pidgeot ex, which makes setting up attackers much easier.

Okada’s Winning List

Let’s take a quick look at Okada’s winning list:

[decklist name=”Dragapult ex (Ryuki Okada)” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Tatsugiri” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”131″][pokemon amt=”21″]3x [card name=”Dragapult ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Drakloak” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”129″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Dreepy” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”128″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Dusknoir” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”20″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Dusclops” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”19″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Duskull” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”18″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Rotom V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”58″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Lumineon V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”40″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Fezandipiti ex” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”38″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Radiant Alakazam” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”59″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Tatsugiri” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”131″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”33″]4x [card name=”Buddy-Buddy Poffin ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”144″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”89″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”91″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”123″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Earthen Vessel” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”91″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Night Stretcher” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”61″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Switch” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”132″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Rescue Board ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”159″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Forest Seal Stone” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Sparkling Crystal” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”142″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Arven” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”166″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Crispin” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”133″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Roxanne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”150″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Temple of Sinnoh” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”155″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”6″]3x [card name=”Fire Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”116″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Psychic Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”119″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/energy][/decklist]Unlike every [card name=”Dragapult ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] list I had ever tested before this one, this deck has incredible speed, power, and consistency with its early attacks. Dragapult ex is at its best when you can use Phantom Dive on the second turn of the game, allowing you to take better advantage of its 320 HP by getting off multiple attacks with the same Dragapult ex. If you can’t Phantom Dive on turn two, you risk getting too far behind, losing many of your [card name=”Dreepy” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Drakloak” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”129″ c=”name”][/card] to opposing Phantom Dive or even [card name=”Kyurem” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”47″ c=”name”][/card]’s Trifrost, or if you have Dragapult ex in play, allowing it to take a hit and then being forced to commit resources to a Dragapult ex that will only attack once. This deck is by far the best when you’re building up damage counters over time, and for that to work, every single Phantom Dive counts.

[cardimg name=”Pidgeot ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”225″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

The more I think about it, maybe the issue with [card name=”Pidgeot ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card] in Dragapult ex for me is priorities. Setting up Pidgeot ex and a Phantom Dive attack on turn two truly felt like an impossible task, but maybe that was never the intent? I recently revisited the list I talked about in my last article and played more games with it, specifically trying to not set up Pidgeot ex until I had my Phantom Dive ready. I had a bit more success, albeit still not as much as with the non-Pidgeot ex version. Pidgeot ex felt like a strong luxury card or insurance policy on my board state if I was to be disrupted by [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Unfair Stamp” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card] and need to find something specific next turn, but rarely like the only reason I was still in the game. [card name=”Fezandipiti ex” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”38″ c=”name”][/card] oftentimes felt like it was offering more value, as simply getting some card volume back into my hand after losing a Dragapult ex was great. As I explained in my last article, card volume is much, much more important with Dragapult ex than it is with [card name=”Charizard ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] due to Infernal Reign. Cherry-picking a single card out of the deck will rarely guarantee me a new attacker, but seeing six or seven cards with [card name=”Fezandipiti ex” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”38″ c=”name”][/card] and Drakloak gives me a much better chance at that attack. Add in something like [card name=”Tatsugiri” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card] and you can dig for a specific Supporter you might want; [card name=”Arven” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”166″ c=”name”][/card] will usually find you pieces needed for your attack, and [card name=”Crispin” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”133″ c=”name”][/card] can help you get a Dragapult ex out of nowhere. All in all, this package may not get you the exact card you want 100% of the time like Pidgeot ex will, but it’s lightweight, fits into your deck easily, and gives you way more card volume and access than a Pidgeot ex engine would.

Personally, I think Okada’s list is unbelievably good. Once I started playing with it, I realized this version of Dragapult ex fixed almost every single issue I had with the deck; adding so much aggression in place of the Pidgeot ex.

[premium]

List Breakdown

Let’s take a detailed look at his card choices:

Four Dreepy, Three Drakloak, Three Dragapult ex

When you don’t have to allocate space for a 2-2 Pidgeot ex, you can have a much thicker attacker line as we see here with a 4-3-3. This means that we won’t need to use [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”191″ c=”name”][/card] nearly as much in the late game, and also get to take advantage of Drakloak’s Recon Directive much more. Recon Directive lets you look at the top two cards of your deck, put one into your hand, and put the other on the bottom of the deck. Each Drakloak guarantees you at least one extra card for a turn, and you get to pick it from the top two cards, similar to [card name=”Comfey” set=”Lost Origin” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card]’s Flower Selecting. Having this as a built-in part of your core is awesome, and I know that was one of the things most talked about when Dragapult ex was first released. Decks used to be built with engines like this that were only there for consistency; [card name=”Pidgeotto” set=”Team Up” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] control comes to mind as an example. If you can evolve your consistency engine into your attacker, you have an amazing deck! [card name=”Gardevoir ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card] has been doing this for a while now with [card name=”Kirlia” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”68″ c=”name”][/card] and it’s almost always been good, so there’s no reason it shouldn’t work with an attacker as strong as Dragapult ex.

Two Duskull, One Dusclops, Two Dusknoir

[card name=”Dusknoir” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] is such a huge part of why [card name=”Dragapult ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] is good. As we’ve seen recently, Cursed Blast is an absolutely ridiculous Ability, allowing decks like [card name=”Terapagos ex” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] to pull off absurd combos and consistent multi-Prize turns. With all the [card name=”Drakloak” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”129″ c=”name”][/card] you play, Dusknoir also gets to use your Rare Candy much more often, which makes the 2-1-2 line fit a bit better. In the Pidgeot ex variant, your four Rare Candy were unbelievably precious resources because you wanted one or two for Dragapult ex and one for Pidgeot ex. Of course, there was a pretty reasonable chance one was prized, and sometimes they’d have to be discarded, so finding one that can be used for [card name=”Dusknoir” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] was already tough. Here, you only need to use Rare Candy once on Dragapult ex (maybe twice), but all the other Rare Candy are for Dusknoir to abuse. This lets you reliably use two Cursed Blasts for 13 damage counters each in a game, giving you so, so much more value than only getting one that would oftentimes only be from [card name=”Dusclops” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”19″ c=”name”][/card]. This new engine lets you utilize Dusknoir to its full potential, making your turns even more aggressive and destructive.

Two Rotom V

[card name=”Rotom V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card] has become a key staple in most Stage 2 decks, giving you a great way to increase your hand size after your first turn. As almost every Stage 2 deck wants to go first so you can get your Basic Pokemon out and evolve first, you can’t use Supporters to improve your hand or attacks like [card name=”Cleffa” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”80″ c=”name”][/card] ‘s Grasping Draw to set you up for the next turn. Rotom’s Instant Charge is a great option to give you a nice boost for next turn, however, making it so much more likely that you’re able to find Rare Candy, Dragapult ex, [card name=”Sparkling Crystal” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”142″ c=”name”][/card], and an Energy to attack. Two copies are here simply as insurance for prizing one, which is better than [card name=”Hisuian Heavy Ball” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”146″ c=”name”][/card] because that card can’t be searched by a Supporter on the first turn. It’s also useful as a Pokemon V that can use [card name=”Forest Seal Stone” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card], which means you don’t have to put [card name=”Lumineon V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] in play prematurely. Overall, I think Rotom is a huge reason as to why this deck hits the turn-two attack so consistently.

One Lumineon V

[card name=”Lumineon V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] rounds out our Pokemon V lineup doing what it’s always done best; find us key Supporter cards when we need them most. If the only way to attack is utilizing [card name=”Crispin” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”133″ c=”name”][/card], a single [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] can find it for you now and keep you on track. It’s also another Forest Seal Stone user and gets in the way only slightly more than Rotom V, so it’s a worthy inclusion here. While not [card name=”Pidgeot ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card], it can emulate some of its power in situations where you really need a specific Supporter, which usually only happens once in a game.

One Fezandipiti ex

[card name=”Fezandipiti ex” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”38″ c=”name”][/card] has been one of the best cards in the game ever since it came out in Shrouded Fable this August. After one of your Pokemon is KOd, finding three more cards is absolutely ridiculous and can win you the game outright. Imagine you’ve been reduced to and hand of two from [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”name”][/card] and need to find [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card], an Energy card, and Dragapult ex. You can draw for turn, Flip the Script for three, and use the two Drakloak you already have in play to find two more cards. You now have eight cards in hand and saw the top ten cards of your deck?!? That’s ridiculous!!! To top it all off, you could even promote [card name=”Tatsugiri” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card] at the beginning of your turn and use Attract Customers to fish for the game-winning Supporter. The unbelievable power of Fezandipiti ex is one of the key reasons why Pidgeot ex isn’t needed; you see so many cards that Quick Search is usually the icing on the cake.

One Radiant Alakazam

[cardimg name=”Radiant Alakazam” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”59″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

[card name=”Radiant Alakazam” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”59″ c=”name”][/card] is a fun card; being able to move 20 damage from one Pokemon to another each turn is quite cool — especially in [card name=”Dragapult ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card]. Not only does this let you reach 2HKOs on Pokemon like [card name=”Regidrago VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card], but you can easily take KOs in the middle of your turn without Cursed Blast. You can also use Radiant Alakazam to supplement a Cursed Blast, giving you an easy way to place up to 21 damage counters if you combine Cursed Blast, Painful Spoons, and six damage counters from Phantom Dive. This conveniently KOs a ton of popular support Pokemon, including Fezandipiti ex and [card name=”Teal Mask Ogerpon ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card].

Radiant Alakazam gives you an extra dimension to your damage control that lets you pull ridiculous Bench KOs out of your back pocket.

One Tatsugiri

I’ve been casually mentioning Tatsugiri a lot throughout this article already, but it’s such a huge piece of the deck. Attract Customers can find you a Supporter card off the top six cards of your deck, which is usually deeper into your deck than six cards if combined with Recon Directive. If you get to play the Supporter you want every turn, Pidgeot ex is truly never needed, and Tatsugiri gets you close to this reality. Having this power in a single Basic Pokemon that can be searched with [card name=”Buddy-Buddy Poffin ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”144″ c=”name”][/card] and only needs a [card name=”Rescue Board ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card] to provide value all game is so great. This deck makes its living off of integrating its consistency engine seamlessly into its core, and Tatsugiri is such a perfect fit.

Four Buddy-Buddy Poffin, Three Nest Ball

[card name=”Buddy-Buddy Poffin ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”144″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] are your three Pokemon search Items, and I don’t think these counts need to increase any further. While four copies of Buddy-Buddy Poffin is certainly a must, not every list plays nearly this many Nest Ball. I like Okada’s choice to play three here as it gives you more outs to Rotom on turn 1 and finding multiple [card name=”Dreepy” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card]. With [card name=”Drakloak” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”129″ c=”name”][/card] being so much more important in this build, finding as many as possible on the first turn is critical. Three Ultra Ball is also plenty when you have [card name=”Arven” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”166″ c=”name”][/card] and three hard copies of Dragapult ex. Overall, these counts are more than enough to get you set up in the vast majority of games.

Two Earthen Vessel

I think my single largest complaint with the [card name=”Pidgeot ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card] variant of the deck was the inability to consistently find Energy. That build was way too similar to [card name=”Charizard ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] in that it didn’t have any ways to locate Energy besides a single [card name=”Earthen Vessel” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”96″ c=”name”][/card], and with a turn-one attachment being somewhat important, I’m happy to see a second copy added to this list. Earthen Vessel is one of the best Items in Standard and having an extra copy is rarely bad. I would even consider adding another (or more Energy), but it’s been much better already at finding Energy than the Pidgeot ex version, which likely comes from seeing so many more cards with Recon Directive.

Two Counter Catcher

[card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] is your main gust card in Dragapult ex because you almost always go behind in Prize cards. When you’re trying to set up multi-Prize turns, it’s best to avoid taking them as it keeps you safe from Iono and keeps your Counter Catcher active. The fact you effectively get to play pre-errata [card name=”Pokémon Catcher” set=”Emerging Powers” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card] whenever you’re behind is truly broken, and I’d even consider playing more if there was space.

One Night Stretcher

[card name=”Night Stretcher” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”61″ c=”name”][/card] has been a high-impact card in its short time in Standard, and it’s especially good in decks with [card name=”Dusknoir” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card].

While this list doesn’t include four like [card name=”Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] variants often do, one copy is strong and can help get you back a key Pokemon at the right moment. Recon Directive doesn’t discard cards like [card name=”PokéStop” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”68″ c=”name”][/card] does, so it’s rare that you’ll actually have too many Pokemon in the discard, and thus you don’t need extensive recovery options. Regardless, a single Night Stretcher is powerful, can be searched with Arven, and can also recover a key Energy card if you ever need it.

One Rescue Board

[card name=”Rescue Board ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card] is good all-around, but it’s by far the best when attached to [card name=”Tatsugiri” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card]. Having a Pokemon with free Retreat Cost on your Bench is always strong, but if that Pokemon can also dig for a Supporter card, it becomes a key piece of your consistency engine and helps you emulate the power of Pidgeot ex. We also have a copy of [card name=”Switch” set=”Black and White” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] if you need another way to move your Active, but if Rescue Board is attached to something that likely won’t get KOd, it’s all the movement you need in a game.

One Forest Seal Stone

We only have three [card name=”Forest Seal Stone” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] users, but with Arven being such a key piece of our engine, you’ll get value out of this card at some point in the game. When you have [card name=”Rotom V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Lumineon V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] down, which is like 90% of the time, Forest Seal Stone is almost like having a second ACE SPEC. This card will continue to be a staple in decks with a few Pokemon V that don’t already have a VSTAR Power until the end of its legality.

One Sparkling Crystal

I called [card name=”Sparkling Crystal” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”142″ c=”name”][/card] [card name=”Dragapult ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card]’s glimmer of hope in the last article, but I argued it wasn’t enough. In the Pidgeot ex version, it truly wasn’t, but in this list, we’re much more consistently able to attach Energy every turn. This makes Sparkling Crystal pretty much the perfect addition to the deck and smooths out your early game so much. Even if you miss an attachment on turn one, you can consistently attack on turn two, survive the hit, and then likely make a second attachment during your third turn. If you attach every turn from this point on, and your Dragapult ex isn’t OHKO’d, you won’t miss any attacks. Sparkling Crystal may not be the most broken ACE SPEC ever, but it’s the best one in Dragapult ex.

Four Arven

I’ve mentioned [card name=”Arven” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”166″ c=”name”][/card] a lot, and for all the criticism I gave it in the last article, I owe it a lot of praise in this one. I said before that Arven-based engines were amazing at finding two pieces that you need, but nothing more than that. With Recon Directive increasing our hand size, finding two pieces is much closer to finding what you need. Also, without trying to find [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Pidgeot ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card] together, those two cards you were looking for can be reallocated to cards that help you set up your attackers. Okada did such an amazing job at reinventing an Arven engine for Dragapult ex that actually fits Dragapult ex instead of retrofitting Charizard ex’s engine to work with Dragapult ex.

One Crispin

[cardimg name=”Crispin” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”164″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

[card name=”Crispin” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”133″ c=”name”][/card] is a pretty underrated new Supporter, and it’s powerful in Dragapult ex. Crispin lets you search your deck for two different types of Energy cards, attach one of them, and put the other into your hand. If you have no Energy in your hand or in play, Crispin can power up a Dragapult ex.

If you ever get behind in attachments, Crispin can make up the deficit and is strong when attachments are so critical.

Two Iono

[card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”name”][/card] will continue to be a strong Supporter, even in a world with [card name=”Fezandipiti ex” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”38″ c=”name”][/card]. Filling your hand up with six cards in the early game without discarding your resources is great, and the disruption is much stronger in this deck than most because you’re oftentimes able to KO their Fezandipiti ex in the same turn. Iono is the best draw Supporter you can play and I’d keep this count right at two.

One Boss’s Orders

We might be using [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] as our main gust card, but not playing a copy of [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] would be a sin. Boss’s Orders gives us a gust that we can play even if our opponent isn’t drawing Prize cards, which can be great in the early game if you’re trying to board wipe your opponent. One is also plenty because of [card name=”Lumineon V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] and we can even fish out Boss’s Orders with Tatsugiri! I think one copy of Boss’s Orders is perfect here.

One Roxanne

[card name=”Roxanne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”150″ c=”name”][/card] has been falling out of favor recently due to Fezandipiti ex, but as I explained before with Iono, Roxanne is much better when you can KO the Fezandipiti ex in the same turn. I like including it as a different option, especially in games where you’re drawing Prize cards but still want to fill your hand up to six in the late game.

One Temple of Sinnoh

[card name=”Temple of Sinnoh” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card] is mostly here for [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card] decks to disable [card name=”Mist Energy ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”161″ c=”name”][/card], which is pretty important if you want to win. It also turns off all their other Energy cards, which can open up a window to disrupt them and potentially steal a win. Lastly, a counter-Stadium is good for disruption, especially against [card name=”Raging Bolt ex ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] which relies on [card name=”PokéStop” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”68″ c=”name”][/card] to resist Iono. It doesn’t  matter what Stadium you’re playing when you counter PokeStop, and Temple of Sinnoh is definitely the best generic Stadium in Dragapult ex.

Three Fire Energy, Three Psychic Energy

I heavily criticized the Energy count in the [card name=”Pidgeot ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card] version, and I still feel that it’s a bit low, but the extra [card name=”Earthen Vessel” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card] combined with more draw volume via Recon Directive makes me feel a bit better. In my testing with this deck, missing Energy is way less of an issue than it is in Pidgeot ex variants, so I understand why Okada decided not to raise this count any further. I guess the real question is if you played a seventh, which type would you play?!? (Yes, Psychic is better, but Fire would be funny…)

Conclusion

[cardimg name=”Dragapult ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”200″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

After all I said about [card name=”Dragapult ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card]’s flaws in the last article, have I come around? With such a good list put forth by Okada and his team in Dortmund, I’d say certainly. This list is brilliant, and I truly can’t find a great change to improve it any further. Dragapult ex felt like it was such a fundamentally flawed deck prior to playing with this variant; now it feels like it’s a well-oiled machine that spams Phantom Dive better than even [card name=”Regidrago VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card] does.

Thank you to everyone for your feedback on the last article; it got me to revisit the deck as soon as I saw Okada’s success and I love this variant in comparison to Pidgeot ex. As for Pidgeot ex by the way, it’s still seeing some success, judging by two Top 64 finishes in Louisville. Congratulations to those players! You guys must see something that I don’t in the deck, and props to you. If you’re new to Dragapult ex and want to try it, I highly, highly recommend you try this variant first – you’ll be glad you did.

Thanks again for reading! As always, you can reach out to me for any questions on X(@C4_TCG) or leave a comment below and I’ll try my best to respond. I hope to see you guys in the next one!

– Charlie

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