Exodia in Pokémon – Taking All Six Prizes Without a Knock Out!
Hello everyone! This is Grant Manley back again with one of the coolest decks I’ve ever made in my 10-plus-year-long history in the game. I know I just wrote about Expanded, so I was originally planning to go back to Standard, but this deck is just too insane to pass up. Recently, I saw my friend Chip work on an interesting [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] deck in Expanded, one that included [card name=”Jirachi Prism Star” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Greedy Dice” set=”Steam Siege” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] as a cheeky way to take extra Prize cards. Zacian’s Brave Blade can easily take out any Pokemon worth two or fewer Prize cards, so the idea was that with just one or two attacks, you could close out the game.
[cardimg name=”Peonia” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”196″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
[card name=”Peonia” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”149″ c=”name”][/card] is a Supporter card with the potential to breathe life into sneaky cards like Jirachi Prism Star and Greedy Dice, as well as [card name=”Dream Ball” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”146″ c=”name”][/card] (which I’ve written about before). Thanks to Peonia, these incredibly strong cards, which normally could never be used, are now playable and consistent.
When I saw the Peonia / Greedy Dice combo in action, it immediately set the gears turning in my brain. Was Zacian the optimal attacker? Was there a consistent way to use Greedy Dice, or even multiple copies of it in a turn? I was thinking hard about whether there was a way to reliably take all six Prizes at once.
So far, I’ve come up with just one solution to this puzzle, and it’s pretty complex. The good news is yes, there is a way to set up your board so that you can take six Prizes in one turn! It involves taking zero Knock Outs on your opponent’s Pokemon. And even better, it’s possible to do it consistently.
The Combo
In order to set up the Exodia combo, you must use Peonia twice. Into your Prizes you must put Jirachi Prism Star, Dream Ball, and two Greedy Dice. It doesn’t really matter what order you put them in, but it’s extremely important that you remember their exact locations. The rest of the setup simply involves accumulating the right cards in your hand. Once you’ve done that, you activate the one turn combo and win the game. [card name=”Milotic” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”38″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Steven’s Resolve” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card] make sure you’re able to do this, but we’ll get into the specifics of the list shortly.
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[card name=”Missing Clover” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”129″ c=”name”][/card] allows you to take a Prize card if you play all four copies of it at once. This is what starts off our combo. However, before using Missing Clover, we must first play [card name=”Will” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”208″ c=”name”][/card]. Will is the only card that ensures that our Greedy Dice flip will be heads, which is critical to the combo working. From Missing Clover we will take Jirachi Prism Star, and use Jirachi’s Ability to take Greedy Dice. Greedy Dice works because of Will. Then, from Greedy Dice’s Prize, we will activate Dream Ball. Also worth noting is that you can use Greedy Dice first and then Jirachi Prism Star. The order of those two specifically doesn’t matter. Dream Ball must be your third Prize taken. You will know where everything is because of Peonia.
Now we’ve taken three Prize cards, and Dream Ball searches [card name=”Magnezone” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”46″ c=”name”][/card] out of the deck. Magnezone is one of the only cards in the format that allows us to play two Supporters in one turn. Our second Supporter is, of course, another Will. We use [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card] to pick up Jirachi Prism Star. [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card]’s Primate Wisdom moves Jirachi from our hand to the top of the deck. Mr. Mime‘s Ability moves it from the top of the deck to the Prizes. Remember where Jirachi is, and don’t move the Greedy Dice out of the Prizes.
Finally, our attack is [card name=”Kartana-GX” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card]’s Blade GX, which takes a Prize card. From this we do the familiar combo with Jirachi Prism Star and Greedy Dice, which flips heads because of the second Will. And like that, all six Prizes have been taken in one turn without a single Knock Out.
Is it cool? Of course! Is it practical? You may have some doubts. However, I wouldn’t be here talking to you if the combo was merely a pipe dream. I’ve worked on this deck live on my twitch channel at twitch.tv/tricroar, where I stream Pokemon every day! If you want to watch the process and some cool wins, you can view the VOD here before it goes away: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1287108452?filter=archives&sort=time
The List
[decklist name=”exodia!” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Kartana-GX” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”70″][pokemon amt=”18″]1x [card name=”Kartana-GX” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”70″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Milotic” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”38″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Feebas” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”28″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Zoroark” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”103″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Zorua” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x Mr. Mime (DET #11)1x [card name=”Mr. Mime” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Machoke” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”64″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Marowak” set=”Fates Collide” no=”37″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Magnezone” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”46″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Jirachi Prism Star” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Jirachi-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mewtwo” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”75″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”41″]4x [card name=”Steven’s Resolve” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”145″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Peonia” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”149″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Pokémon Ranger” set=”Steam Siege” no=”104″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Will” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”208″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Robo Substitute” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Missing Clover” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”129″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Lillie’s Poké Doll” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”197″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Level Ball” set=”Battle Styles” no=”129″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Greedy Dice” set=”Steam Siege” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Pokémon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”152″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Dream Ball” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”146″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Master Ball” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”94″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Viridian Forest” set=”Team Up” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”1″]1x [card name=”Metal Energy” set=”XY” no=”139″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/energy][/decklist]
I’ve already explained the deck and how it works, so let’s look at all the cards that are not direct pieces of the combo and may not be as obvious.
Two Milotic
[cardimg name=”Milotic” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”38″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
[card name=”Milotic” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”38″ c=”name”][/card] has a unique Ability that prevents hand disruption. This is absolutely crucial, as the deck’s win condition involves building a hand with a large number of specific cards in it. This is the only way to set up the combo, and Milotic prevents opponents from stopping you with cards like [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card]. Of course, Milotic can be Knocked Out, but this deck has ways to set up multiple Milotic in case some of them do.
Some decks, such as [card name=”Volcarona V” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”21″ c=”name”][/card], may not play hand disruption, so Milotic won’t be needed in those matchups. Most decks in Expanded play at least one Marnie or N, though, so prioritizing Milotic is the default game plan.
One Marowak
[card name=”Marowak” set=”Fates Collide” no=”37″ c=”name”][/card] is included primarily to counter [card name=”Vikavolt V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card], but it also works against all sorts of similar attacks, such as those from [card name=”Trevenant and Dusknoir-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM217″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Umbreon and Darkrai-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card], etc. Marowak can be set up with [card name=”Zoroark” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”103″ c=”name”][/card], which in turn can be set up with [card name=”Steven’s Resolve” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card].
One Machoke
[card name=”Machoke” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”64″ c=”name”][/card] protects your Bench against any Pokemon that may threaten it. It’s better than Mr. Mime because it also blocks damage counters, most notably [card name=”Giratina” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] in [card name=”Tsareena V” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”21″ c=”name”][/card] decks and [card name=”Shadow Rider Calyrex V” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card]’s Astral Barrage.
Two Zoroark
[card name=”Zoroark” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”103″ c=”name”][/card] is a flexible card that allows you to easily set up Marowak or Machoke in the matchups where either is needed. If not, your Zoroark are basically extra copies of Milotic, which are extremely useful.
One Mr. Mime
The Bench-protection Mr. Mime is an optional tech. It’s much weaker than Machoke, but it’s a lot faster and easier to set up. Mr. Mime completely swings matchups like [card name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card], which I have trauma from but may not be worth worrying about in your metagame.
One Jirachi-EX
[card name=”Jirachi-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] is the perfect consistency option for this deck. It essentially turns [card name=”Level Ball” set=”Battle Styles” no=”129″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”name”][/card] into Steven’s Resolve. Furthermore, you can use Scoop Up Net to reuse it or remove it from play. It can also search for the other Supporters in the situations where they’re useful, and can potentially save a Steven’s Resolve search for something else since it can find Supporters itself.
One Mewtwo
[card name=”Mewtwo” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM214″ c=”name”][/card] is basically your second Will, but with added versatility. Furthermore, it has synergy and extra utility with Quick Ball and Scoop Up Net. For these reasons, it’s better than a second Will. I found that oftentimes this deck will consume all four VS Seekers while setting up, so you usually won’t have one to spare for Will — hence the need for Mewtwo.
One Pokemon Ranger
As usual for Expanded, [card name=”Pokémon Ranger” set=”Steam Siege” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] is your [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] counter, which is a card that would otherwise truck you. Ranger can also be useful against Vikavolt V and other similar cards.
Four Steven’s Resolve, Four VS Seeker
Setting up is simply a matter of spamming Steven’s Resolve until your combo is ready to go. You will ideally use Steven’s Resolve every turn, except for when you need to use a different Supporter such as Peonia. I tested with three VS Seeker and with Pal Pad, but those options simply did not work. You need all four Steven and all four VS Seeker.
Four Scoop Up Net
Aside from one of them serving a combo role with Jirachi Prism Star, [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card] is a surprisingly strong card for the deck as a whole. Notably, it clears Bench space for the combo to work, which in general gives you a lot of options and versatility throughout your setup. I tested the deck with lower counts, but after playing with four, I decided that it’s clearly the best number.
Four Robo Substitute, Three Lillie’s Poke Doll
These walls are what allow you so much time to build up the combo. Simply sacrifice [card name=”Lillie’s Poké Doll” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”197″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Robo Substitute” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] for as many turns as you can while spamming Steven’s Resolve. In addition to the seven walls, you can freely sacrifice up to five Prize cards. I slightly favor Substitute in the counts because its ability to discard itself off the Bench could be useful when freeing Bench space for the combo turn. I can’t see myself ever using the Doll’s Ability in a relevant way, and there isn’t enough deck space for four of each.
Three Quick Ball, Three Level Ball
These cards are the most efficient for setup because they can get [card name=”Zorua” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Feebas” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”28″ c=”name”][/card], and Jirachi-EX. Quick Ball’s discard is a bit painful, but it’s more useful than Level Ball later on for finding combo pieces.
Two Rescue Stretcher
[card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] is important to keep Milotic in play, as well as recover any combo pieces that may have been discarded or Knocked Out.
One Pokemon Communication
[card name=”Pokémon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”152″ c=”name”][/card] is a solid consistency card, and also provides a way to put Magnezone back into the deck in case you ever accidentally draw into it and don’t have extra Primate Wisdoms. Dream Ball for Magnezone doesn’t work if Magnezone is in your hand, so be careful!
Master Ball
[card name=”Master Ball” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card] is unironically the preferred Ace Spec because the discards from [card name=”Computer Search” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] are too painful. Master Ball helps with setup, and can essentially become anything via Jirachi-EX into Steven’s Resolve.
One Viridian Forest
One Stadium is necessary in order to bump opposing [card name=”Silent Lab” set=”Primal Clash” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card]s on your combo turn, so that you can use Oranguru’s and Mr. Mime’s Abilities. [card name=”Viridian Forest” set=”Team Up” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] is the best candidate because it’s an out to a combo piece (Metal Energy). Furthermore, it functions as a way to discard Marowak under Item lock, which can be useful against Vikavolt V. Zoroark can only transform into discarded Pokemon, and the only other way to discard is via Quick Ball, which cannot be used against Vikavolt’s Paralyzing Bolt.
Matchups
This deck approaches matchups a bit differently than others. Most decks simply attack, which this deck deals with easily. However, most decks also have limited uses of [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] and N. Therefore, you must be diligent with keeping your Milotic in play. Sometimes Milotic will go down, but Zoroark and Rescue Stretcher can compensate for that. That strategy is sufficient for most matchups, but there are other specific cards that can cause issues. I’ll go over them now.
Vikavolt V (Threat Level: Medium)
In and of itself, Vikavolt V is no problem since we have Marowak and Pokemon Ranger. The real problem is a fast Vikavolt combined with early hand disruption. Their only chance is to stop Exodia from ever beginning to play the game. Once Milotic is set up and the Steven’s chain gets moving, it’s no problem. Unfortunately, there’s no way to counter-play if your opponent does manage to brick you. For this reason, it’s a medium threat instead of a low one. Vikavolt is the most threatening of the Item lock Pokemon because it’s the most prominent in the metagame and also hits Milotic for Weakness (as opposed to the likes of Seismitoad-EX and [card name=”Noivern-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card]).
Alolan Muk (Threat Level: Low)
Alolan Muk looks like an immediate combo-breaker with no counter, but it’s actually completely fine. The trick to playing around Muk is just a slight alteration to your strategy. Jirachi Prism Star actually ignores Muk’s Ability lock, so all Muk is really doing is stopping Mr. Mime and Oranguru. To play around this, you’re going to break the combo into two turns instead of one.
On the first turn, you’ll take the first three Prizes as normal and set up Magnezone. You will scoop Jirachi Prism back to hand, and your second Supporter will be Peonia instead of Will. Peonia will put Jirachi Prism back into the Prizes, and you’ll hang onto Kartana-GX and Metal Energy. Next turn, you’ll play Will — which is the only Supporter you need, so it’s fine if Magnezone gets KO’d. Then, do the Blade GX combo for your remaining three Prize cards.
This strategy also works against Silent Lab, so Viridian Forest technically isn’t necessary. That said, it’s much better to do the combo in one turn, and Viridian is too convenient a card not to include.
Garbodor (Threat Level: High)
[cardimg name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
With the current list, Garbotoxin is unbeatable. The Ability lock itself matters primarily because it turns off Milotic’s Ability, which in turn allows your opponent to use hand disruption, which stops the combo from ever being assembled. [card name=”Stealthy Hood” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”186″ c=”name”][/card] could potentially solve this problem, but that also gets bopped by [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card]. Fortunately, Garbodor is a small part of the Expanded metagame at the moment. It’s somewhat unlikely that you’ll run into it, so it’s a calculated risk. All of this also applies to [card name=”Wobbuffet” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card], which isn’t huge either, but a little bit more common than Garbodor.
Vileplume (Threat Level: High)
[card name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card] is also impossible to beat, but it’s also quite uncommon nowadays. I think it would be too difficult to maneuver a tech [card name=”Galarian Weezing” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card] around Vileplume, but perhaps there is a way to make it work. I haven’t tried it yet because the list is too tight on space.
ADP and Snipers (Threat Level: Low)
I’m grouping these together because they’re both things that I’ve teched for in the list. For ADP, we have Pokemon Ranger. For snipers, we have Machoke and Mr. Mime. Thanks to the deck’s focus on Steven’s Resolve and Jirachi-EX, finding specific cards is fairly consistent, which is why these are low threat levels overall. That said, if for some reason you don’t get that early Pokemon Ranger or Machoke, these threats can wreck your board and apply overwhelming pressure. They need to be taken seriously, but at least you have answers for them.
Conclusion
Expanded is a very under-explored format. I always have fun finding weird decks and combos, and there’s enough variety that nothing seems to gatekeep the format too hard. Cards that would typically be a nuisance, such as Vileplume and Garbodor, thankfully don’t have too big a presence.
This Exodia combo is one of my favorite decks I’ve made, though it definitely isn’t Tier One. Exodia seems like a deck that would be unfair or broken, but it’s not. It simply operates differently than any other deck and has a unique win condition. Exodia definitely isn’t bad — I’ve won several games with it, and it has competitive matches against most of the meta decks. Just like any other deck, it has winning matchups, losing matchups, auto-wins, and auto-losses. Expanded is a wild west, so it can be difficult to make deck-building decisions based on what you expect to play against.
Games are decided solely on whether or not you can pull off the combo. Opponents have to identify that quickly and make correct decisions to try and stop you. That’s not to say that a smart opponent will always win, only that there’s an element of skill in terms of gameplay, both on the opponent’s part and on the user’s. With several uses of Steven’s Resolve, you often have complete control over the direction of your board. You have to prioritize different cards at different times, and try to predict and outwit your opponent with your own decisions. Of course, some games come down to luck, or bricking, as Pokemon games do.
If you want to try something different, or if you just like Expanded, definitely give this deck a try! I enjoy Expanded more than current Standard, so I’ve been playing and writing about it more. However, the fact remains that Standard is a bit more relevant and important to most people, so I’ll be switching back to Standard for the foreseeable future. I am excited about the new set and the changes that it hopefully brings to Standard, so stay tuned for new and improved Standard decks!
Thanks for reading!
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