Super Regeneration — A V-UNION Gains a Place in Standard

Hello PokeBeach readers! Isaiah here, and I am happy to be bringing you all yet another article! Last time, I talked about the power of the new [card name=”Miltank” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”126″ c=”name”][/card] from Astral Radiance, which remains one of the most underrated cards in Standard, and its applications in the [card name=”Blissey V” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card] archetype. That article released shortly after the North America International Championship, but unfortunately I omitted an excellent deck that used Miltank to resounding success there: the [card name=”Mewtwo V-UNION” set=”Sword and Shield Black Star Promos” no=”SWSH160 ” c=”name”][/card] stall deck. Created by 2015 World Championship Finalist Mees Brenninkmeijer and one of the game’s greatest stall/control pilots, Sander Wojcik, Mewtwo V-UNION Stall made a huge splash at NAIC, finishing third in Sander’s hands as well as 72nd in Mees’s.

Seeing this deck explode at NAIC mesmerized many players, myself included. Several people that I know gave the deck a shot and dismissed it after seeing little success with it, but I think they may not have given the deck enough time. As I have played the deck more and more, I have come to the conclusion that Mewtwo V-UNION Stall is not only very strong, but perhaps one of the best decks in the format. How about we take a look at the way it works?

How Does Mewtwo V-UNION Work?

[cardimg name=”Tool Jammer” set=”Battle Styles” no=”136″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Ultimately, the goal of Mewtwo V-UNION Stall is to make a board of solely a Mewtwo V-UNION, often with [card name=”Tool Jammer” set=”Battle Styles” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card] attached, repeatedly using its Super Regeneration attack. In the current state of the Standard format, largely made up of [card name=”Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Arceus VSTAR” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] decks, healing 200 damage is a perfect amount, almost always healing all of the damage that a Mewtwo V-UNION takes, leaving a stalemate board state. From this point, one of two objectives can be reached. Either you will win the game by using [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] to strand something in the Active Spot while the opponent slowly runs out of cards in the deck, or you will use Mewtwo V-UNION’s Psysplosion to slowly take all of your Prize cards. The right win condition varies based on a variety of factors, but how you get to this point always stays the same.

When I look at a game with Mewtwo V-UNION, I split it into two parts: the early game and the end game. The early game is the part of the game where you are working to your loop, getting the pieces of Mewtwo V-UNION, and more. The end game, on the other hand, is once you have already built your loop and have established your wall, be it Mewtwo V-UNION or Miltank.

The Early Game

The early game for this deck is quite different than for many stall decks, opening much more like the [card name=”Cinccino” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card] mill deck from early 2020. The simple version is that you want to aggressively turbo through your deck with [card name=”Snorlax” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Shining Fates” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Trekking Shoes” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card], and the newly released PokéStop from Pokémon GO. However, while doing this, you need to focus on five primary goals:

1. Get all four pieces of [card name=”Mewtwo V-UNION” set=”Sword and Shield Black Star Promos” no=”SWSH160 ” c=”name”][/card] in the discard pile
2. Get two Psychic Energy in the discard pile
3. Get your deck as small as possible
4. Conserve your [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”132″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Cyllene” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Team Yell’s Cheer” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”149″ c=”name”][/card]
5. Keep a [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card] around to pivot into Mewtwo V-UNION when the time comes

The first two goals are pretty obvious. In order for this deck to operate, you need to get all of the Mewtwo V-UNION pieces into the discard pile in order to assemble it and put it into play. However, the goal of the deck also is not to just shove Mewtwo V-UNION into play the second you can — you also need two Psychic Energy in your discard pile in order to get full value from the top left piece of [card name=”Mewtwo V-UNION” set=”Sword and Shield Black Star Promos” no=”SWSH159 ” c=”name”][/card]’s Union Gain, which powers up Super Regeneration instantly. The turbo discarding strategy is supported by the combination of tshe turbo draw tools the deck plays, such as Professor’s Research, as well as [card name=”Galarian Meowth” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”126″ c=”name”][/card]. While we do not play Galarian Perrserker, Galarian Meowth’s Evolution Roar still allows us to discard two cards from our hand, serving a dual purpose of removing clutter from our hand while also shuffling the deck if we happen to get hit with an unfortunately timed [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card].

Goal three also synergizes well with the first two goals. Getting the deck as small as possible is absolutely critical to accomplish the deck’s end-game objectives, so just throwing away everything to accomplish the deck’s ultimate strategy is often ideal, even if it could seem wasteful. Have a Pokemon Tool in your hand that you know you will need later, but is clogging up your hand now? Pitch it. Extra Supporters that you know you will not need in the next turn or two? Pitch them. You get the idea.

Goals four and five are the only absolutely critical conservation goals in the entire deck. This deck ceases to function if it cannot “infinitely” loop Cyllene and Pal Pad, so losing all of the copies of these is game-losing. On the other hand, keeping around a Scoop Up Net, while not an absolute necessity, is generally wise to both remove a Pokemon from the field and provide an immediate pivot into Mewtwo V-UNION. However, if all else fails, using a [card name=”Twin Energy” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”174″ c=”name”][/card] to retreat with Galarian Meowth or Miltank will suffice.

Lastly, while I did not include it in the goals, it is critical to check on the cards in your Prizes, as [card name=”Peonia” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”149″ c=”name”][/card] usually needs to be incorporated into the deck-thinning process in order to make sure all critical pieces are in the deck. During your first deck search, it is absolutely critical to check for all four Mewtwo V-UNION pieces, both Cyllene, both Pal Pad, Team Yell’s Cheer, and at least three Energy cards, with two or more being Psychic Energy. If any of these are not in your deck, you must Peonia during the game to make sure you have access to them during the end game.

Once we have accomplished all of our goals, we can finally assemble Mewtwo V-UNION, Scoop Up Net to make it our Active Pokemon, attach an Energy, use Union Gain, and move from the early game into the end game.

The End Game

Now that Mewtwo V-UNION is in play, it becomes mostly self-sufficient, endlessly using Super Regeneration to heal itself. Where things can get difficult is when we need to weave [card name=”Cook” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”228″ c=”name”][/card] into our loop, but to understand that, I must explain the loop itself.

[cardimg name=”Cyllene” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”183″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Through some careful maneuvering of your [card name=”Cyllene” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”132″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Team Yell’s Cheer” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”149″ c=”name”][/card], you will inevitably have four of five of these cards in your deck and hand (the last one in the discard pile will be a Cyllene), often alongside [card name=”Pyukumuku” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] (which is not a necessary card for the loop, but it is nice for instant access to a card off of Cyllene if necessary) as well as some extra resources.

At this point, you play Cyllene. If you flip at least one heads, get back your other Cyllene. If you ever flip two tails, you play Team Yell’s Cheer on the following turn, getting back both Cyllene and a third card if necessary. Then you Cyllene again on the following turn, recovering at least Team Yell’s Cheer if you get at least one heads.

In the event of both Cyllene flipping tails, then use Pal Pad to recover a Team Yell’s Cheer and a Cyllene. Then, if Cyllene flips heads, recover the Pal Pad. However, unless Cyllene flips two heads, you always play Team Yell’s Cheer on the following turn to recover both Cyllene again.

If you flip two tails on the Cyllene and flip four tails on the Cyllene you got back with Team Yell’s Cheer, you use the second Pal Pad to recover Team Yell’s Cheer and Cyllene again. Cyllene will continue being used to recover Pal Pad, which recovers a Team Yell’s Cheer and a Cyllene, and eventually the cards refill themselves back into your hand.

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In the extremely unlikely event of a second set of six tails in a row after the second Pal Pad, you do end up losing the game, with no way to stop yourself from running out of cards unless you can start taking Prize cards fast enough to win the game that way. However, going through this loop, you may have noticed it took a rather large number of consecutive tails flips (18, to be exact) to ever reach the point where you would ever run out of cards in your deck. There’s a 0.00038%, or one in 262,144, chance of this loop ever failing from the point that you have two Pal Pad, Team Yell’s Cheer, and one Cyllene in your hand. To put this into perspective, these odds are similar to the odds of a plane crashing into someone’s home. If you have the second Cyllene in your hand in addition to the other four pieces, this becomes 20 consecutive tails, which is less than a one-in-a-million chance. Simply put, the odds of this loop failing are next to none.

The difficult part of this loop is weaving other critical cards into it so that you can find them when they are needed. Supporters like [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] or the aforementioned Cook are not too bad, as they generally can just be recovered by Team Yell’s Cheer, which barely affects the loop. However, incorporating cards like Scoop Up Net for extra Benched Pokemon can be concerning, as it is entirely reliant on luck with Cyllene flips. This is why it’s imperative that you do your best to avoid requiring extra heads flips to win the game, always doing the bare minimum to maintain the loop.

Now that the loop is understood, winning the game is very easy. All you have to do is make sure you never stick yourself in a situation where you can lose to a [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card], as well as maintaining constant healing as needed. After some time, the opponent will run out of cards, or they may even lose to a combination of [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Emerging Powers” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] and Boss’s Orders leaving them unable to attack, opening up the opportunity for Psysplosion to close out the game.

With extensive work having been done to explain how this deck works, it is now time to take a look at the deck list. This deck list is 59 of the 60 cards that Sander and Mees used at the North America International Championship, with the only change being a PokéStop over the [card name=”Rose Tower” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card].

The Deck

Deck List

[decklist name=”mewtwo stall” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Mewtwo V-UNION” set=”Sword and Shield Black Star Promos” no=”SWSH160 “][pokemon amt=”15″]1x [card name=”Mewtwo V-UNION” set=”Sword and Shield Black Star Promos” no=”SWSH159 ” c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mewtwo V-UNION” set=”Sword and Shield Black Star Promos” no=”SWSH160 ” c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mewtwo V-UNION” set=”Sword and Shield Black Star Promos” no=”SWSH161 ” c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mewtwo V-UNION” set=”Sword and Shield Black Star Promos” no=”SWSH162 ” c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Snorlax” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”131″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Galarian Meowth” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”126″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Miltank” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”126″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Yveltal” set=”Celebrations” no=”19″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Pyukumuku” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”77″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”39″]2x [card name=”Peonia” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”149″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Shining Fates” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Flannery” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”139″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Cyllene” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”138″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Team Yell’s Cheer” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”149″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Sidney” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”241″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Cook” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”228″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Avery” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Emerging Powers” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Trekking Shoes” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”132″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Tool Jammer” set=”Battle Styles” no=”136″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Big Parasol” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”157″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Cape of Toughness” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”160″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]1x PokéStop (PGO #068)[/trainers][energy amt=”6″]3x [card name=”Twin Energy” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”174″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Psychic Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”119″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

Card Inclusions

Two Miltank

[cardimg name=”Miltank” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”126″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

I have scarcely mentioned [card name=”Miltank” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”126″ c=”name”][/card] throughout this article, but I need to make it clear that it is one of the most important cards in the deck. In some matchups, [card name=”Mewtwo V-UNION” set=”Sword and Shield Black Star Promos” no=”SWSH160 ” c=”name”][/card] is not a sufficient wall, whether it be against [card name=”Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] because of its immense damage output, or against a deck like Azul Garcia Griego’s [card name=”Arceus VSTAR” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Flying Pikachu VMAX” set=”Celebrations” no=”7″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Crobat VMAX” set=”Shining Fates” no=”45″ c=”name”][/card] because of the threat of a Darkness-type Pokemon to hit Mewtwo V-UNION for Weakness. In these cases, Miltank is the direct replacement for Mewtwo V-UNION. Usually you will want to have both copies of Miltank in play if you can, since if the opponent does have a surprise answer, such as a copy of [card name=”Phoebe” set=”Battle Styles” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card], you want to avoid losing the game instantly. Other than having two Miltank in play, the rest of the deck plays very similarly from this point. However, you will often want to weave [card name=”Twin Energy” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”174″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Cape of Toughness” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card] into this loop in order to progress toward winning the game by attacking while also healing Miltank as necessary.

In addition to its uses as a secondary wall, Miltank can also act as a way to buy time while you are setting up in the event of a poor start, or just stalling out for a turn if you need to access Gormandize. Thanks to its Retreat Cost of two, Miltank also can use a Twin Energy to pivot into a [card name=”Snorlax” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card] if you did not have a second one in play when your first one was Knocked Out. However, [card name=”Galarian Meowth” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”126″ c=”name”][/card] can do this too, so this does not come up super frequently.

Two Yveltal, Two Flannery, and Sidney

Another one of Mewtwo V-UNION’s most troubling matchups is the [card name=”Mew VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] matchup, because of their ability to play four [card name=”Power Tablet” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”236″ c=”name”][/card] in a single turn and take a one-hit Knock Out on your Mewtwo V-UNION, essentially ending the game instantly. However, unlike other decks that possess the capability of taking a one-hit Knock Out on Mewtwo V-UNION, Miltank also does nothing against Mew VMAX thanks to the combination of solid single-Prize attackers and Max Miracle. As such, we need to explore a different strategy, which is where running them out of Energy comes in.

[card name=”Yveltal” set=”Celebrations” no=”19″ c=”name”][/card] has historically been the card to include if you need a little extra swing in the Mew VMAX matchup. Cry of Destruction is perhaps one of the single greatest Energy removal attacks in the history of the Pokemon TCG. Against Mew VMAX, Cry of Destruction guarantees that you can remove several Energy from the board if you should wish to, but it still works if you only need to remove one.

After Cry of Destruction is used, usually the opponent can take one of two courses of action. Option one is to only attach one Energy at a time, which is where [card name=”Flannery” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card] comes in, instantly discarding that Energy and sending them back to square one. If that Energy is a basic Energy, things do get a bit more complicated, but it’s nothing a [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Emerging Powers” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] can’t fix. Alternatively, they may choose to save their Energy in their hand, in which case you can use [card name=”Sidney” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”241″ c=”name”][/card] to discard those Energy. Regardless of how they choose to play, you will get their Energy one way or another. Once their Energy are depleted, you can switch to the conventional Mewtwo V-UNION strategy to close out the game within a few attacks, not even having to bother with running the opponent out of cards.

Two Cyllene, Two Pal Pad, and a Team Yell’s Cheer

The purpose of this group has been pretty clearly outlined, but I did want to make note of why these counts are perfect. Removing either the second [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”132″ c=”name”][/card] or the [card name=”Team Yell’s Cheer” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”149″ c=”name”][/card] gives you a dramatic increase in the likelihood of the loop failing: the odds of failing with just two [card name=”Cyllene” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] and two Pal Pad are one in 4,096, which is the same as the odds of encountering a Shiny Pokemon in the mainline Pokemon video games; and if you have two Cyllene, one Team Yell’s Cheer, and just one Pal Pad, the odds are one in 16,384, which is slightly less risky than being struck by lightning in your lifetime. Going any lower than this is very risky. On the other hand, adding just a second Team Yell’s Cheer drops the odds of the loop failing down to one in 67 million, which is so extreme that it’s hard to even justify dropping the odds that much further at the expense of a deck slot. In short, while there is certainly a case for increasing the number of pieces of the loop that you play, it is absolutely unnecessary.

Big Parasol

For the longest time I could not figure out what [card name=”Big Parasol” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”157″ c=”name”][/card] was for in this deck, but recently I finally found a use. As you may notice, [card name=”Mewtwo V-UNION” set=”Sword and Shield Black Star Promos” no=”SWSH162 ” c=”name”][/card] has the Ability Photon Barrier, which effectively does the same thing as Big Parasol. However, in the case of a deck playing [card name=”Path to the Peak” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card], Photon Barrier is shut off. As such, effects of attacks can still get to you, and the most significant of these that I found was [card name=”Regice” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”37″ c=”name”][/card]’s Blizzard Bind. If the opponent uses Blizzard Bind, it stops Mewtwo V-UNION from being able to heal, opening up a two-hit Knock Out in the correct circumstances. In addition, Big Parasol also protects [card name=”Miltank” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”126″ c=”name”][/card] from attacks that could poison it to deal damage, such as [card name=”Crobat VMAX” set=”Shining Fates” no=”45″ c=”name”][/card]’s Stealth Poison.

Conclusion

In the weeks following NAIC, I quickly learned that [card name=”Mewtwo V-UNION” set=”Sword and Shield Black Star Promos” no=”SWSH160 ” c=”name”][/card] is one of the strongest decks in the game, due to its ability to stop many of the format’s top decks dead in their tracks. As we march toward the World Championship this August, I absolutely expect to see the deck bring strong results, and for it to perhaps win the entire tournament if the circumstances are right.

With that, this article draws to a close. I hope you enjoyed reading about this unique deck, as it is one of the most interesting decks to come out in the last few years. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out in the Subscriber’s Hideout, on Twitter (@ICheville), or on Facebook (Zaya Lee).

Until next time!

– Isaiah

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