Good Today, Good Tomorrow — Dragapult ex Before and After Rotation
Hello everyone! We’re into the last stretch of the season before we get hit by the Standard rotation, which will finally bring to a close the Sword & Shield era of the Pokemon TCG. It was a bit of a rocky run, with the first part of the era being frankly terrible to play (not to mention being during that whole global pandemic thing), but with the latter half being among the best that the Pokemon TCG has had to offer. While most of the format has moved on to be more ex-focused, we will nonetheless be losing some important cards. In addition to the attackers, the Radiant cards, such as [card name=”Radiant Greninja” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”46″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Radiant Charizard” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”11″ c=”name”][/card], will all be leaving us, as will the entire Lost Zone engine, [card name=”Double Turbo Energy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”151″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Forest Seal Stone” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card], and some nice Trainers. We do still have some time left before the rotation hits, so we’re in a bit of a weird time between looking to the future and making sure we’re prepared for tournaments in the present.
[cardimg name=”Dragapult ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”200″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
I will say, I’ve been relatively happy thus far with the new Prismatic Evolutions format. Even if we did only get a card or two that were playable, Budew has done its job and slowed the format down enough to make games a little bit less abrupt. In my last article, I went over the impact of the newly released Budew, and how it would affect many of the Standard-format decks in the meta. One of the decks I highlighted as particularly benefitting from the addition of Budew was [card name=”Dragapult ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card], as it is an archetype that is well set up to take advantage of the early-game Item lock. Dragapult ex has gone through a number of different iterations since being released, starting with Dragapult ex / Lost Zone Box and Dragapult ex / [card name=”Pidgeot ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card]; a refinement to a stronger build in Dragapult ex / [card name=”Dusknoir” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card]; and, more recently, the cool anti-meta build of Dragapult ex / [card name=”Iron Thorns ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card]. With the release of Budew, however, most Dragapult lists are returning to the Dusknoir build, as it is the one that best takes advantage of Budew’s Item-lock attack. The Budew build helps give the deck a bit of the best of both worlds, as it slows down the game similarly to the Iron Thorns list to help give you time to set up an overwhelming board while also letting the deck use the explosive Dusknoir plays that help put it over the top. In this article, I’m going to be taking a closer look at that deck and how it plays in the current meta.
There’s also a second reason I want to go over Dragapult ex: in addition to being a strong pre-rotation deck, it is also one of the best decks to play in the post-rotation format. Dragapult ex doesn’t lose all that much from the rotation, and its strong attacking strategy is great into a relatively unexplored meta. Of all of those important cards that are leaving, relatively few of them are in Dragapult ex decks to start with, so it’s fairly easy to adapt the lists from pre-rotation builds to post-rotation ones. For those of you who aren’t going to a major event in this quarter, it makes a lot more sense to look ahead a bit so you can try to gain an advantage heading into the new post-rotation format. Of course, for those of you who are, you don’t want to ignore the current format, lest you put yourself at a disadvantage. The nice part about playing Dragapult ex is that you can effectively prepare for both formats at the same time; that is, you don’t necessarily have to sacrifice your performance in the current meta in order to practice the deck you might be playing in the future. On the contrary, having that kind of continuity can pay dividends going forward.
My Current Dragapult ex List
The future is coming soon, but for now let’s start with the Dragapult ex deck of today’s meta. My current Dragapult ex list is pretty similar to the one I put in my last article, with only a small change, adding in [card name=”Temple of Sinnoh” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card] to improve the [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”211″ c=”name”][/card] matchup. Here’s the list:
[decklist name=”Pre-Rotation Dragapult” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Dreepy” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”128″][pokemon amt=”21″]3x [card name=”Dragapult ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Drakloak” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”129″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/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 Budew (PRE #4)1x [card name=”Radiant Alakazam” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”59″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Fezandipiti ex” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”38″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Lumineon V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”40″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”33″]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]2x [card name=”Boss’s Orders (Ghetsis)” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”172″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Lance” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”159″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Crispin” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”133″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Professor Turo’s Scenario” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”89″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Buddy-Buddy Poffin ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”144″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”91″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”84″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”160″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Earthen Vessel” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Night Stretcher” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”61″ c=”deck2″ 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]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=”Crown Zenith” no=”153″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Psychic Energy” set=”Crown Zenith” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/energy][/decklist]
While I went over this deck a bit in the past article, I’ll do so in more depth here. The Dragapult ex line is a full 4-4-3 line, as you don’t want to be going any lighter than that in a Budew meta. While most Dragapult decks have been trending this way anyway, especially the Iron Thorns builds, it’s a clear departure from the slimmer 4-2-3 lines that you might have seen in some Dragapult / Dusknoir lists in the past. The Dusknoir line itself is still fine at 2-1-2, as it’s a bit less important to evolve up manually. [card name=”Radiant Alakazam” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”59″ c=”name”][/card] is also still the Radiant of choice, as it gets even stronger with Budew. You can use it to move away the extra 10 damage from Itchy Pollen, which can come up a lot against evolving Basics with 70 HP, or you can use it in the mid-game in conjunction with Itchy Pollen to better take advantage of any turn you might try to buy with Budew at that point. For Budew, you want two copies, not one, as it’s quite important for this deck’s strategy when going second, and you don’t want to find yourself at a big disadvantage because you prized it.
[premium]
[cardimg name=”Lance” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”192″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
For the Trainers, the most notable new addition to this deck is the two copies of [card name=”Lance” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card]. Lance finds all the Dragon Pokemon you need, and most importantly does so while under Item lock, so if you find yourself up against a Budew, you can still easily search out your [card name=”Drakloak” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”129″ c=”name”][/card] even without being able to use [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card]. I’ve also added a Temple of Sinnoh to this list to improve one of this deck’s harder matchups: Lugia VSTAR. I’ll talk about this a bit more in the matchup section below, but now that Lugia VSTAR decks have Regigigas, the matchup becomes a good bit tougher. Temple of Sinnoh most importantly shuts off [card name=”Mist Energy ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”161″ c=”name”][/card], which will allow you to do your typical Phantom Dive shenanigans. It also has use against [card name=”Terapagos ex” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card] decks and anything else that might play Double Turbo Energy, as well as just generally as a counter Stadium.
Deck Matchups
Charizard ex
[card name=”Charizard ex” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] suffers greatly from the addition of Budew to the meta, but you should expect any Charizard player you run into to be aware of this, and doing what they can to adapt. They’ll likely be playing something like [card name=”Grand Tree” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card] or some combination of more Stage 1s and [card name=”Technical Machine: Evolution” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”178″ c=”name”][/card] — basically stuff that helps them evolve even while under Item lock. Realistically, though, even with tools to combat Budew, a Charizard player’s field is still going to be vulnerable to Phantom Dive until you break the lock, so long as you don’t wait until the opponent is set up to do so. If they aren’t using a Budew of their own, then you can use Cursed Blast to eliminate any Stage 1 Pokemon they might set up, such as [card name=”Charmeleon” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”8″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Pidgeotto” set=”151″ no=”17″ c=”name”][/card]. This plan tends to be better against a Technical Machine: Evolution strategy, but you can also use it in conjunction with Phantom Dive for a good old fashioned multi-KO on their unestablished board. If they do use Budew, then you’ll also set up a bit slower, but they’ll have basically given you a free Prize for later in the game. Charizard ex decks do play [card name=”Thorton” set=”Lost Origin” no=”167″ c=”name”][/card], so you’ll want to be aware that the Budew can potentially leave the field and turn into something more threatening. With that said, if they are forced to use the Thorton on Budew, that means they can’t use it on something like [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], so you might end up getting that Prize anyway. When you do break the lock and start attacking, you’ll want to aim for whatever does the most to prevent them from being able to threaten you back. That is, it’s often a good idea to aim for their [card name=”Duskull” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] so Charizard ex can’t OHKO you back (or, so that you don’t get hit by Cursed Blast to finish off a Dragapult ex that got hit by Burning Darkness). If you can wipe all of the [card name=”Charmander” set=”151″ no=”4″ c=”name”][/card] and Charmeleon off of their board, do that, but if one is going to be left, then it’s often a good idea to go after either Duskull or [card name=”Pidgey” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”162″ c=”name”][/card] instead. Additionally, if you can, you’ll want to use [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”185″ c=”name”][/card] on the turn you break the lock to send away all of the Items they’ve accumulated.
Gardevoir ex
[cardimg name=”Munkidori” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”95″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
Unlike in other matchups, you don’t necessarily want to use Budew against [card name=”Gardevoir ex” set=”Scarlet and Violet” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card] decks, as it becomes a free Prize for [card name=”Munkidori” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card] later down the line. Gardevoir decks also aren’t going to be slowed down much by Itchy Pollen anyway, since they’ll likely use Technical Machine: Evolution, and then take advantage of the extra draw power they have from [card name=”Kirlia” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”68″ c=”name”][/card]. Instead, this is a match where you want to try to rush a Dragapult ex into play and destroy their board early on. Between Phantom Dive and Dusknoir, you can take out a lot of their Pokemon before they get going with Gardevoir ex, ideally putting you in a position where you’re too far ahead for them to come back. Radiant Alakazam can use any extra damage to allow Kirlia to be KO’d by Phantom Dive’s Bench damage. If you can’t get a KO from that damage, it’s a good idea to spread it out 20-20-20 so that it limits the amount that Munkidori can move away while also giving you enough to move with Painful Spoons. In the later part of the game, you want to try to Knock Out Munkidori whenever possible, as its presence on the field greatly hurts any Phantom Dive spread strategy you might try to use. In general, I would say this matchup is favored for the Dragapult side, as you have a lot of ways to take multiple Knock Outs to finish out an early-game advantage. With that said, Gardevoir’s damage potential and ability to play around Phantom Dive’s spread damage can make it tough, particularly if you have a slower start.
Lugia VSTAR
Lugia VSTAR is one of the harder matchups for Dragapult ex to deal with, thanks to the other notable card to come out of Prismatic Evolutions, Regigigas. Regigigas is a bit of a nightmare for Dragapult ex decks, as it can OHKO the Dragapult ex, and this list does not have Iron Thorns ex to shut them down. Instead, you have to play the matchup straight up. Further exacerbating the issue is that Lugia VSTAR decks aren’t particularly fazed by Budew; while it can buy an extra turn occasionally, it doesn’t help if they are able to use their Items on turn 1 to get rid of the [card name=”Archeops” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card] that they need, or if they can just naturally draw into them then [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Champion’s Path” no=”62″ c=”name”][/card] them away. So, what was already a close matchup swings more toward the Lugia player thanks to their new tricks. With that said, while it is unfavorable, I wouldn’t call it overwhelmingly so, as Dragapult ex and Dusknoir can still put a lot of pressure on them.
One advantage that Dragapult ex has is that it can, with a single Phantom Dive and Cursed Blast, KO both of their Archeops in a single turn. Do that, and the opponent will be left with whatever Energy they have in play, plus only their manual attachments for the turn. If you can pull off that play on a turn where they don’t have much of an established board set up, or if you can manage to use two Cursed Blast in a turn to KO the Archeops and their attacker, then you can effectively end the game right then and there. Having Temple of Sinnoh makes things easier, as it lets you play around Mist Energy, which the opponent may try to put on their various Pokemon to prevent a multi-KO. Even if you can’t pull off a crazy double-Archeops KO, so long as you can take out one, you can prevent the opponent from being able to drop Regigigas out of nowhere, as it cannot OHKO Dragapult ex if it has a Double Turbo Energy attached, and it can’t be powered up in one turn without either a DTE or two Archeops.
Vs. Terapagos ex
[cardimg name=”Radiant Hisuian Sneasler” set=”Lost Origin” no=”123″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
[card name=”Terapagos ex” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card] can be a bit obnoxious, as their Budew can OHKO your Budew thanks to the bonus poison damage that the Terapagos player can utilize. With that said, Budew is also a huge liability against Phantom Dive, so it evens out. Terapagos’s real early-game threat comes from a different source, though. When playing against this deck, you should absolutely be aware of the danger of being donked when going second; between poison, Pecharunt, and [card name=”Radiant Hisuian Sneasler” set=”Lost Origin” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card], they can deal up to 80 damage on turn 1, enough to OHKO [card name=”Dreepy” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card], Duskull, or Budew. Once you’re set up, Dragapult ex has the advantage in this matchup, but that means little if you end up losing the game before you get a turn! Your Budew will also barely slow them down, as Terapagos is not an Item-reliant deck, and they’ll realistically be able to set up on the one turn of Items that they get. Ultimately, your goal in this matchup is to survive the early game, and then take advantage of the better Prize tradeoff you have in the late game to come back and win. Be sure to set up multiple Dreepy and Drakloak so you can still evolve even if you lose some of them.
Archaludon ex
Along with Lugia, [card name=”Archaludon ex” set=”Surging Sparks” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] decks are one of Dragapult’s bad matchups. You’ll need to use Dusknoir to get a OHKO, as otherwise they can just bounce away any damage with [card name=”Professor Turo’s Scenario” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”240″ c=”name”][/card]. [card name=”Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] is also liable to give them an extra turn at some point, which they can use to take out a Dragapult ex (effectively a OHKO, just over the two consecutive turns). All of their Pokemon are also outside of the 260-damage KO range of two Phantom Dives, so there’s little double-KO potential even if they miss the Professor Turo’s Scenario. Radiant Alakazam can, however, bring Dialga VSTAR into that range, and can also bring [card name=”Origin Forme Dialga V” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card] into Phantom Dive’s OHKO range. When up against Archaludon, you’ll want to try to KO their Dialga V whenever you can so they can’t evolve and get their double-turn Knock Out. If you can keep them from doing that, they can’t actually OHKO you, so you’ll have some room to work with if you can get ahead. This is another matchup where the 20-20-20 spread on your first Phantom Dive damage counters can come in handy, since they can’t scoop up all three of those Pokemon to prevent the Painful Spoons play. You do also want to keep in mind that you have a Professor Turo’s Scenario of your own, which you can use to put the opponent a turn behind. If you can’t power back up to attack in a single turn, you can consider using Budew to serve as a one-turn wall; if your opponent is on an even number of Prizes, then doing so won’t necessarily get them closer to winning, and it can also potentially activate your [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card], which can be quite helpful. With that said, it will make a game-winning Cursed Blast play more difficult, so only do so if you can map out a way to take your last two Prizes (such as by setting up Lumineon V and [card name=”Fezandipiti ex” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”38″ c=”name”][/card] in a way that they can’t both be scooped up), or if you don’t really have a choice. While unfavorable, you can win this match — it’s just a bit tricky.
Dragapult ex in the Post-Rotation Format
When it comes to the new meta, a lot of the decks that I wrote about above in the matchups section are still going to be around. Yes, Lugia VSTAR will be rotated out, and Terapagos ex becomes nigh unplayable due to losing Double Turbo Energy, but Raging Bolt ex, Charizard ex, Archalduon ex, and Gardevoir ex will all be sticking around. Looking at the current Japanese City League meta, there will also be several new decks in the format, such as the Hop archetype and Lillie’s Clefairy ex, as well as some more off-the-wall stuff in Slowking and Milotic ex. Dragapult ex has been one of the best performers so far, though, as it looks to continue being a top-tier deck after the rotation. The only real losses are Lumineon V, Forest Seal Stone, and the Radiant Pokemon (either Alakazam or Charizard). Everything else — the Pokemon core, the Trainer engine, and the various Energy acceleration options — that all stays. The meta also should stay promising, as one of Dragapult’s worse matchups in Lugia VSTAR is no longer a factor. With that said, there are a few anti-Dragapult decks out there. Lillie’s Clefairy ex decks can be obnoxious, since they can easily OHKO Dragapult ex, and Milotic ex walls the Dragapult decks fairly effectively if the Dragapult player doesn’t have a counter. These decks are a bit off-meta though, and will do worse if the meta ends up being diverse, as opposed to Dragapult-focused, which is likely. So, I anticipate things being rather favorable for Dragapult ex going forward.
My Post-Rotation Dragapult ex List
As in the pre-rotation format, the Dusknoir variant of Dragapult ex is going to be your go-to build. The deck’s strategy doesn’t change all that much, as Dragapult ex keeps most of its cards and doesn’t add any new ones from Journey Together aside from perhaps a copy of Black Belt’s Practice. Here’s my post-rotation Dragapult ex deck:
[decklist name=”Post-Rotation Dragapult ex” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Dragapult ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”130″][pokemon amt=”21″]3x [card name=”Dragapult ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Drakloak” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”129″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/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 Budew (PRE #4)1x [card name=”Fezandipiti ex” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”38″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”141″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Munkidori” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”95″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”32″]4x [card name=”Arven” set=”Obsidian Flames” no=”186″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Iono” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”80″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Boss’s Orders (Ghetsis)” set=”Paldea Evolved” no=”172″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x Brock’s Scouting (JTG #145)1x [card name=”Crispin” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”133″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Professor Turo’s Scenario” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x Black Belt’s Training (PRE #99)4x [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”89″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Buddy-Buddy Poffin ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”144″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”91″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Paldean Fates” no=”84″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”160″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Earthen Vessel” set=”Paradox Rift” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Night Stretcher” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”61″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Rescue Board ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”159″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Sparkling Crystal” set=”Stellar Crown” no=”142″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”7″]3x [card name=”Psychic Energy” set=”Crown Zenith” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Fire Energy” set=”Crown Zenith” no=”153″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Basic Darkness Energy” set=”Shrouded Fable” no=”98″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/energy][/decklist]
The losses we have from the pre-rotation list are Lumineon V, Forest Seal Stone, Radiant Alakazam, and Lance. Losing the first two cards hurts the consistency a little bit, not enough to make the deck inconsistent, but you certainly do wish that they were still around. There aren’t any replacement cards, though, so it is what it is. You can turn them into other consistency cards, though in this list, I’ve turned them into more techs. One of those techs is Munkidori and a Darkness Energy, which is this deck’s replacement for Radiant Alakazam. It certainly isn’t a perfect replacement, but it does help get some extra damage on the field so you can get KOs and double-KOs with Phantom Dive more easily. Adrena-Brain also combos wonderfully with Itchy Pollen, as it means you can take even more advantage of an extra bought turn, especially if that turn is in the mid-game after one of your Dragapult has been damaged. It’s also nice if you get into a Budew war, as it lets you move off any damage that you’ve sustained from Itchy Pollen, either to KO their Budew faster or to simply set up more damage if you’re having no issues with establishing your Dragapult.
I’ve also added in a copy of [card name=”Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex” set=”Twilight Masquerade” no=”141″ c=”name”][/card]; this card gives you some more late-game damage potential, and also gives you a way to take on Milotic ex, which has been somewhat popular in Japan following the rotation. The Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex may end up not being necessary depending on how the meta changes once the rotation comes to the rest of the world, but it’s a solid attacker in general, so it doesn’t hurt much to have it in other matchups either. I’ve also taken out the Temple of Sinnoh, as we no longer need to worry about Lugia VSTAR and Regigigas. Instead, I’ve put in a new card: Black Belt’s Practice. I’ve been a big fan of this card in Dragapult ex, as it gives you the potential to OHKO [card name=”Raging Bolt ex ” set=”Temporal Forces” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card], and gives you the ability to set up anything with 300 HP or less to be KO’d with just one Phantom Dive Bench hit. It also makes the Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex more threatening, and is just generally a nice surprise to have in your back pocket. If your local League Cups or League Challenges happen to be best-of-one, then I highly recommend having surprise cards like this in your list, as they can easily give you a win out of nowhere when your opponent doesn’t see them coming. Even if they do, though, it isn’t easy to play around, and the threat of it can force your opponent to do some suboptimal things at times. It’s a bit of a luxury card, but I do like it. Finally, without the Lance, I’ve added in a fourth copy of Ultra Ball, as well as one copy of the new Brock’s Scouting, both of which help to find your Pokemon. They aren’t quite as good as Lance, but again, we make do. Overall, it’s a solid deck, and one that is well positioned to compete in the new format.
We’ve come to the end of this article, but as always, if you have any questions, be sure to ask below in the comment section! Best of luck to everyone, and stay safe! Thanks for reading!
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