Electrifying Old Archetypes With Surging Sparks

Hey PokeBeach readers! Our Stellar Crown format is coming to a close, and we have seen a plethora of decks see success in the format. I think it is awesome that there are almost ten decks that I could see taking down a major event any weekend! The other PokeBeach writers and I have done a great job breaking down those decks in the Stellar Crown format, and I think that analysis will stay pretty relevant to our new Surging Sparks format. Today I thought I’d look ahead to that Surging Sparks format and show you what I’ve been cooking!

Surging Sparks is now released, and we are about to get a plethora of cards to help shake up the meta! Similar to Stellar Crown, I don’t think the set is going to make a new Tier S deck, but I think there are a lot of cards that can bolster current meta decks or can make up completely new decks that can challenge some of the current mainstays of our format. I’ve been playing around with a lot of different deck ideas, and there are two cards I have mainly been focusing on, [card name=”Pikachu ex” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Magneton” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”59″ c=”name”][/card].

Pikachu ex and Magneton

[cardimg name=”Pikachu ex” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”238″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

While Pikachu ex has a paltry 200 HP, it compensates for that with its Resolute Heart Ability. The Pokemon TCG has evolved to the point where most decks in the format have a way to take a one-hit Knock Out, and having built-in protection from that is fantastic. Pikachu ex’s Ability is even featured on an ACE SPEC ([card name=”Survival Brace” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card]), which goes to show its potential. While there are cards such as [card name=”Canceling Cologne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card] that shut off Pikachu ex’s Ability and you can play around it by preemptively placing damage counters onto it using something like [card name=”Hawlucha” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”118″ c=”name”][/card]or [card name=”Dusknoir” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card], not every deck will have those options. Another use case for Pikachu ex is in decks that want to take advantage of [card name=”Area Zero Underdepths” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card] but didn’t have a good Tera Pokemon to use to enable it. Often you would have to resort to using [card name=”Terapagos ex” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card] so you could use the Stadium, but that was putting juicy two-Prize [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] targets on your Bench for your opponent to take advantage of. While Pikachu ex can still be taken out for two Prizes, it is a much safer Pokemon to have chilling on the Bench!

Outside of Pikachu ex’s stellar Ability, its Topaz Bolt attack does an impressive 300 damage! This is enough to Knock Out every meta-relevant VSTAR and Basic ex Pokemon in the format. With the help of damage modifiers such as [card name=”Defiance Band” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card] or the new [card name=”Gravity Mountain” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”177″ c=”name”][/card] Stadium, you can do enough damage to take out Stage 2 Pokemon such as [card name=”Charizard ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Dragapult ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card]. It does have difficulty fulfilling the Energy cost, using three different types of Energy, but cards that help with that such as [card name=”Mirage Gate” set=”Lost Origin” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Joltik” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card], Magneton, and [card name=”Sparkling Crystal” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”142″ c=”name”][/card] to name a few. Pikachu ex having the ability to Knock Out almost every Pokemon in the game combined with its amazing defensive Ability positions makes it poised to see success.

Let’s move on to looking at Magneton! Similar to Dusknoir, Magneton’s Overvolt Discharge requires you to Knock Out your own Magneton and give your opponent a Prize card. In exchange, you get the crazy powerful effect of accelerating three Energy of any type from your discard pile to your Lightning Pokemon. This obviously synergies well with Pikachu ex, but can also help to power up other powerful Lightning Pokemon such as [card name=”Iron Hands ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Raichu V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”45″ c=”name”][/card]. Giving your opponent a Prize can also help you activate powerful play from behind cards such as [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Counter Gain” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”170″ c=”name”][/card]. You can also offset the downside of Magneton by using it in a deck that focuses on two-Prize Pokemon. With a deck like that your opponent can take three Knock Outs to win so giving them one with Magneton doesn’t accelerate the game for them.

[cardimg name=”Magneton” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”59″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Magneton is also a great Pokemon to act as a soft disruption counter — a common strategy in the TCG is to play Iono and then Knock Out your opponent’s attacking threat. If you have a Magneton chilling on your Bench then you can power up your next attacker super easily. If your opponent targets Magneton instead of your attacker then you just get to keep your attacking threat and your opponent only takes a single Prize card.

[card name=”Pikachu ex” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Magneton” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”59″ c=”name”][/card] seem like a perfect pair together, but from my testing, they haven’t worked that great as a duo. The problem is you need to pop multiple Magneton a game to consistently power up the Pikachu ex, but then you are giving your opponent two to three free Prize cards a game. Even with Pikachu ex’s Ability your opponent normally has enough time to out-pace you in the Prize trade. Instead of pairing them together, I have a couple of decks that I think take advantage of the cards much better!

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Lost Zone Pikachu

List Breakdown

While this looks like a normal Lost Zone deck with [card name=”Pikachu ex” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] thrown in, I can’t stress enough how much of a buff Pikachu ex is for this archetype. One of the big problems Lost Zone had before Stellar Crown is that there is no good way to deal with high HP attacking threats without including [card name=”Roaring Moon ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card]. While Frenzied Gouging can take out anything in the game it also leaves a two-Prize Pokemon with 30 HP remaining. In a format where [card name=”Dragapult ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] and the [card name=”Dusknoir” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] line are running rampant, you are making it too easy for your opponent to take advantage. Pikachu ex lets the deck hit larger numbers and pairs perfectly with [card name=”Mirage Gate” set=”Lost Origin” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card] to handle Pikachu ex’s awkward Energy requirements. The other nice thing about Mirage Gate is that you can wait to bench Pikachu ex until the turn you are ready to use it. This helps keep Pikachu ex safe from damage counter-spreading attacks and Abilities. There are also a lot of decks like [card name=”Raging Bolt ex ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] that cannot answer a Pikachu ex unless they run a tech card such as [card name=”Slither Wing” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card]. [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card] decks for example cannot cleanly Knock Out a Pikachu ex ever!

[cardimg name=”Gravity Mountain” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”177″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

While 300 damage is a lot from Topaz Bolt, it still isn’t enough to Knock Out [card name=”Charizard ex” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Dragapult ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card], so I’ve kept the [card name=”Sableye” set=”Lost Origin” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card] package in the deck to help soften up or finish the big attackers. I’ve considered playing [card name=”Gravity Mountain” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”177″ c=”name”][/card] to put these Pokemon into one-shot range, but the deck relies so heavily on [card name=”PokéStop” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”68″ c=”name”][/card] as its engine so I decided against it. Sableye is a strong card in general and can put pressure on the Evolution decks if they have any Pokemon that haven’t evolved yet.

Another thing I love about Lost Zone is that [card name=”Radiant Greninja” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”46″ c=”name”][/card] is a fantastic attacker in the format. So many decks are foregoing playing [card name=”Manaphy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] and Radiant Greninja lets you take two Prize cards with a one-Prize Pokemon, while also putting immense pressure on decks that play evolving Pokemon such as [card name=”Terapagos ex” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card], Charizard ex, and Dragapult ex. Radiant Greninja is also a good attacker for softening up bulky Pokemon and then finishing them off later with a [card name=”Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”141″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Iron Hands ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card].

While this deck has immense flexibility with its attackers, one of the big weaknesses is how many different Energy types are in it. There are five different types of Energy! When playing this deck you need to be hyper-aware of your Prize cards since there are only two copies of each of Pikachu ex’s necessary Energy. There are some painful Flower Selecting decisions you need to make, especially when you haven’t had a chance to check your Prize cards. Early in the game I normally play it safe and pick Energy if I haven’t checked if its pair is in the Prize cards unless the other card is something like a [card name=”Colress’s Experiment” set=”Lost Origin” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card]. To alleviate this issue we could change the Water Energy to one more of each of Lightning, Metal, and Grass. We could also cut the Sableye package, and bump up the Lightning Energy count plus play another card in Sableye’s slot, however, I’ve found that Radiant Greninja and Sableye unlock so much of this deck’s potential. They are both single-Prize attackers and enable plays that put on a lot of pressure. Learning how to manage Energy and resources is something to practice if you end up playing this deck. The odds of prizing two copies of each specific Eenrgy Pikachu ex needs is less than 1%, so it is a risk I am fine taking. As long as you have one of each in the deck you are good to go!

Another weakness of Lost Zone decks is their poor matchup into [card name=”Regidrago VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card]. The combination of [card name=”Kyurem” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”47″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Dragapult ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] can be difficult to overcome. I’ve included a copy of Manaphy to give yourself a chance, and also to protect against other decks playing Radiant Greninja. I think Pikachu ex makes the matchup winnable, albeit still not good. Before Pikachu ex, Lost Zone decks had no way to cleanly Knock Out a Regidrago VSTAR, but now you can try and Prize trade with them. It isn’t trivial for your opponent to constantly make new Regidrago VSTARS. If they have to burn their VSTAR Power early you can maybe force them to forego an attack in the middle of the game. The Manaphy forces your opponent to extend for the [card name=”Canceling Cologne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card] plus gust combo if they want a big swing turn. Again, it is still an uphill battle, but I think Pikachu ex gives you a lot more counter-play.

Another thing you probably noticed is that I decided to forego playing [card name=”Roxanne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”150″ c=”name”][/card] or any disruption at all. I decided to take a more streamlined approach and focus purely on consistency. I put in two copies of [card name=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”186″ c=”name”][/card] to help hit [card name=”Colress’s Experiment” set=”Lost Origin” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card] on our first couple of turns. I favour early-game consistency more than late-game power, as you can’t get value from late-game cards if you didn’t set up in the early phases of the game! I also think you should be playing from ahead with Lost Zone due to trading favourably with one-Prize attackers. Normally you need to be taking Knock Outs every turn and don’t need disruption. I also think disruption has been devalued a lot ever since [card name=”Fezandipiti ex” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”38″ c=”name”][/card] came out — even if you Roxanne your opponent to two cards, they effectively get to look at six between their draw for turn and Flip the Script!

A couple of other cards I’ve considered playing are [card name=”Tatsugiri” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card], and a second copy of [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card]. I think the most cuttable cards from the list are the [card name=”Iron Bundle” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card], Sableye package, a second [card name=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”186″ c=”name”][/card], and the third [card name=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”186″ c=”name”][/card] if you want to try and find room.

This deck is probably the one that has been the most promising in my early testing, and I expect Lost Zone to contend for a spot in Tier 1 once again in the Surging Sparks metagame!

Magneton / Miraidon ex

[decklist name=”Pika Miraidon” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Pikachu ex” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”57″][pokemon amt=”16″]2x [card name=”Miraidon ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”81″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Iron Hands ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”70″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Pikachu ex” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”57″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Squawkabilly ex” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”141″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Fezandipiti ex” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”38″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Latias ex” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”76″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mew ex” set=”151″ no=”151″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Raikou V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”48″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Raichu V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”45″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Magnemite” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”58″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Magneton” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”59″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Zapdos” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”29″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Iron Bundle” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”56″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”27″]4x [card name=”Arven” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”166″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”132″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Electric Generator” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”170″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Switch Cart” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”181″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”91″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Hisuian Heavy Ball” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”146″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Lost Vacuum” set=”Lost Origin” no=”162″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”91″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Secret Box” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Forest Seal Stone” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Bravery Charm” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”173″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Area Zero Underdepths” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”131″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”17″]16x [card name=”Lightning Energy” set=”Crown Zenith” no=”155″ c=”deck2″ amt=”16″][/card]1x [card name=”Double Turbo Energy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”151″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

List Breakdown

This next deck is going to incorporate both [card name=”Pikachu ex” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Magneton” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”59″ c=”name”][/card]! Funny enough you actually don’t attack with Pikachu ex in this Lightning deck, instead it is used to enable [card name=”Area Zero Underdepths” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”174″ c=”name”][/card]. This deck has a crazy amount of Bench-sitters and set-up Pokemon, so extending our Bench to eight Pokemon lets this deck get going. To make drawing the Stadium easier we do have to forego [card name=”Prime Catcher ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”157″ c=”name”][/card] in favour of [card name=”Secret Box” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card] as the ACE SPEC in the deck. While it sucks to lose access to such a powerful card, I’ve tried to compensate by putting in a [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Iron Bundle” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card]. As mentioned earlier, Magneton helps us go down in Prize cards to use Counter Catcher more effectively!

[cardimg name=”Latias ex” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”239″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

One issue you can probably see is that the deck plays an absurd amount of one-of Pokemon and tech cards. Miraidon ex helps you find your one of Lightning Pokemon and I’ve included a [card name=”Hisuian Heavy Ball” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”146″ c=”name”][/card] to help with Prizes. [card name=”Arven” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”166″ c=”name”][/card] and Secret Box help you have explosive starts and find the tech Pokemon Tool cards as you need them as well. A turn-one or two Secret Box ensures this deck gets an ideal set-up. The deck also gained [card name=”Latias ex” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card] from Surging Sparks, which gives the deck insane maneuverability. The other nice thing about playing all these set-up Pokemon is that once your opponent bumps your Area Zero Underpaths you can discard the Pokemon you no longer require. [card name=”Raikou V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”48″ c=”name”][/card] already used [card name=”Forest Seal Stone” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card]? Miraidon ex pulled all your Lightning Pokemon out of the deck? Want to clear off that [card name=”Squawkabilly ex” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card]? All of these Pokemon can be discarded once your opponent bumps your Stadium. Pikachu ex being your Tera Pokemon is also nice since as mentioned earlier it isn’t a liability and it is searchable off of Miraidon ex’s Ability.

A problem [card name=”Miraidon ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”81″ c=”name”][/card] has had since it lost [card name=”Flaaffy” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] to rotation is that it solely relies on [card name=”Electric Generator” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”170″ c=”name”][/card] for Energy Acceleration. The deck hasn’t played [card name=”Raichu V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”45″ c=”name”][/card] in a long time because of this, but Magneton is a huge solver for this issue! Being able to get three Energy into play is an amazing buff for the deck, and since all your attackers are two-Prize Pokemon it isn’t a big deal to give your opponent a Prize card. It can even be beneficial sometimes! Getting three Energy into play makes Raichu V a much more viable finisher now. Magneton also makes it feasible to power up a second [card name=”Iron Hands ex” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card] if you need to! Miraidon ex’s big strength is that it puts on an insane amount of pressure, and the Magneton allows the deck to scale into the mid-late game much better than before. Normally if an opponent was able to match pace with Miraidon ex they would be able to out-scale the deck, but now Miraidon can take the lead and keep its foot on the gas.

One thing I would like to explore is beefing up the Magneton line or maybe playing more [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”196″ c=”name”][/card]. A 1-1 line can be annoying to use if you prize the Magneton or have to discard it early on in the game. If I did that I would maybe focus the deck more towards using Raichu V and Iron Hands ex as the attackers. Between those two you should be able to put a lot of pressure on throughout all stages of the game. Cuttable cards would be things like the Iron Bundle, [card name=”Zapdos” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”29″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Lost Vacuum” set=”Lost Origin” no=”162″ c=”name”][/card], and Counter Catcher. Those are all tech cards that could be removed for a more streamlined approach. At the end of the day, you have to decide if you want more power or consistency in your decks. I haven’t found it too difficult to set up with a more teched list, but I can appreciate a fast and consistent approach!

Conclusion

[cardimg name=”Azumarill” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”74″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

That is going to be all for today! Let me know what decks you’ve been trying out in the new format! There are still a lot of new decks I want to give a try such as [card name=”Azumarill” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Slaking ex” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Ceruledge ex” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card]. My gut instinct is that they aren’t going to be Tier 1 contenders, but I think they could be a lot of fun!

We have Sacramento Regionals immediately after LAIC so I’m not sure how much cooking players have been doing since a lot of people are probably focused on doing well at the International Championships. I think there is a great opportunity for players who have been exploring the Surging Sparks meta because of that reason. I don’t expect new decks to make up a large percentage of the meta early on in the format, but I predict top cuts will be filled with creative takes on old classics!

As always let me know if you have any questions, and until next time best of luck in all of your games and I’ll be writing again for you guys soon!

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