The Deck that Doesn’t Lose? Everything You Need to Know about Arceus VSTAR / Inteleon

Hello everyone! Today I’m going to be covering one of the normal meta decks for a change. [card name=”Arceus VSTAR” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card] is a consistent and well-rounded deck that you are no doubt already familiar with if you’ve played competitively since Arceus VSTAR’s release. Arceus VSTAR / Inteleon was one of the top two decks in the Brilliant Stars format before this one, and continues to dominate in the Astral Radiance format as one of the most popular decks. I personally played this deck at NAIC, and was only one win away from making Top 8! Some Arceus VSTAR / Inteleon did end up making Top 8, but they probably didn’t end up facing [card name=”Mewtwo V-UNION” set=”Sword and Shield Black Star Promos” no=”SWSH160 ” c=”name”][/card] twice!

[cardimg name=”Arceus VSTAR” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”123″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

In any case, what makes Arceus VSTAR / Inteleon so strong is how difficult it is to take down. It is very much a deck that wins by not losing. With cards like [card name=”Cheren’s Care” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”134″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Big Charm” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”158″ c=”name”][/card], the deck aims to simply outlast the opponent and attack with Trinity Nova over and over again. While Trinity Nova is a great attack, its damage output is rather modest compared to the damage ceilings of other meta decks. Arceus VSTAR has barely enough power but extremely high levels of survivability. Now, this strategy leads one to think that any deck that can take out Arceus VSTAR in one shot would make for a bad matchup, and you wouldn’t be wrong, however, the current meta decks have difficulty with this for some reason or another. [card name=”Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] , [card name=”Flying Pikachu VMAX” set=”Celebrations” no=”7″ c=”name”][/card], and others have low enough damage output to where they cannot OHKO Arceus VSTAR. The decks that can, such as [card name=”Mew VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Blissey V” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card], are taken care of by various tech cards.

The Deck’s Place in the Meta

With Arceus STAR / Inteleon’s immense popularity, it should have a large target on its back and be countered by some of the other decks. This is where the deck’s other strength shows itself, however; the deck is nearly uncounterable. [card name=”Dunsparce” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”207″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Ordinary Rod” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card] are organically-included cards that allow the deck to completely disregard its Fighting-type weakness. That said, some lists have been cutting Dunsparce because Fighting Pokemon are extremely uncommon in the current meta. In any case, the fact that Arceus VSTAR / Inteleon has access to a one-card answer to its Fighting Weakness is absurd. The other card that would typically counter Arceus VSTAR, [card name=”Miltank” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”126″ c=”name”][/card], is easily handled by Inteleon’s Aqua Bullet. With Arceus VSTAR / Inteleon’s well-roundedness, it’s extremely difficult to counter. This also makes it a gatekeeper. It’s one of the decks that keeps many other decks out of the meta due to their inability to beat Arceus VSTAR / Inteleon.

In my opinion, NAIC is where the meta started to solve itself. The weaker decks (or Mickey Mouse decks, as some like to call them) were almost completely phased out, such as [card name=”Regigigas” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Duraludon VMAX” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Blissey V” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card]. Although these decks dominated in Milwaukee Regionals the week before NAIC, they were nowhere to be seen at the top tables of NAIC. Instead, the event was flooded by Arceus VSTAR and Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR variants. In fact, of the Top 32, only six were not Arceus VSTAR or Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR — most of these decks were the traditional Inteleon builds, with three [card name=”Flying Pikachu VMAX” set=”Celebrations” no=”7″ c=”name”][/card] variants of Arceus VSTAR among them. [card name=”Mew VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”269″ c=”name”][/card] noticeably underperformed, as the deck usually takes a Top 8 spot or two due to the sheer number of people who play it at every event. This time, Mew VMAX only had one placement in Top 32. The same amount of [card name=”Malamar” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card]! I love to see it. Mew VMAX’s matchup against Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR is solidly in the latter’s favor, which made Mew VMAX suffer for this tournament.

My point is that I believe the meta to be solved or mostly solved. The highest level of competition, NAIC, has given us this data. I played Arceus VSTAR / Inteleon for that event because it had no unfavorable matchups. That is, aside from the wildcard Mewtwo VUNION deck that popped up. I doubt that Mewtwo VUNION will become a popular deck, at least in the short time period before Worlds. I believe the same line of thinking of NAIC applies for the future of Arceus VSTAR / Inteleon. You should play it because it has no bad matchups. This is why Arceus VSTAR / Inteleon did so well at NAIC, and why it continues to flourish in online events.

The introduction of the Pokemon GO set gave us some interesting cards, but there isn’t anything meta-defining in there. Pokemon GO may have a minimal impact on the meta, but it’s not impactful enough to shake up the game in a major way. I hope to be proven wrong about this.

The List

I’ll give a brief explanation of the list I used for NAIC and then I’ll talk about the current list. There are quite a number of changes. This way, you can follow along the thought process of why and when cards are included and excluded.

[decklist name=”arc intel naic” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Starmie V” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”30″][pokemon amt=”19″]3x [card name=”Arceus VSTAR” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”123″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Arceus V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”122″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”58″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Drizzile” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”56″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Sobble” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”41″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Manaphy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”41″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Dunsparce” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”207″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Starmie V” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”30″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”31″]2x [card name=”Cheren’s Care” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”134″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Melony” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”146″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Marnie” set=”Champion’s Path” no=”56″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”147″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Roxanne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”150″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Level Ball” set=”Battle Styles” no=”129″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”150″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Evolution Incense” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Big Charm” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”158″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”172″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Ordinary Rod” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Path to the Peak” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Collapsed Stadium” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”10″]3x [card name=”Double Turbo Energy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”151″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]7x [card name=”Water Energy” set=”XY” no=”134″ c=”deck2″ amt=”7″][/card][/energy][/decklist][cardimg name=”Dunsparce” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”207″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

My NAIC list was heavily influenced by the preceding Milwaukee Regionals. The list itself is nearly identical to Justin Kulas’s Top 8 list from that event, but with a few changes. I played the trifecta of tech Pokemon being [card name=”Dunsparce” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”207″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Manaphy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Starmie V” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”30″ c=”name”][/card]. Dunsparce and Manaphy are highly useful against the [card name=”Regigigas” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] deck, one of which I actually ended up playing against. I guess I got rewarded for a questionable deck-building decision. Dunsparce was mostly included for [card name=”Regirock” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card], but at NAIC, you never know what random Fighting-type Pokemon you might run up against. It seemed like too strong of a tech to not include. [card name=”Manaphy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] was a bit more questionable, as it’s not even that useful against [card name=”Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX” set=”Battle Styles” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] had been completely phased out of the meta at that point.

[card name=”Starmie V” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”30″ c=”name”][/card] seemed like an obvious pick since [card name=”Blissey V” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card] had been popular at Milwaukee and was predicted to be popular at NAIC. Starmie V turns that matchup from a near auto-loss to a near auto-win, making it seem like a high-value card. I ended up playing against zero Blissey V, but Starmie V was useful for a win in a different matchup (though it’s not expected to be).

Only a single [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] made its way into the list with the thought process of “this deck isn’t supposed to be too aggressive, simply heal and attack until you win”. This was the biggest regret I have with the list… a second Boss’s Orders would have been helpful in nearly every match. The same logic was applied when cutting the Quick Shooting [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card] out of the list, but I do not regret that at all. In my opinion, Quick Shooting Inteleon is terrible in this deck. The rest of the list is fairly standard. Let’s look at the current list.

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[decklist name=”arc intel” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Galarian Zigzagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”117″][pokemon amt=”17″]3x [card name=”Arceus VSTAR” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”123″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Arceus V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”122″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”58″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Drizzile” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”56″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Sobble” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”41″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Galarian Zigzagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”117″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”33″]2x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Cheren’s Care” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”134″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Melony” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”146″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Marnie” set=”Champion’s Path” no=”56″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Roxanne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”150″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”147″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Level Ball” set=”Battle Styles” no=”129″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”150″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Evolution Incense” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Big Charm” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”158″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”172″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Choice Belt” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”135″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Path to the Peak” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Shopping Center” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”157″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”10″]3x [card name=”Double Turbo Energy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”151″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]7x [card name=”Water Energy” set=”XY” no=”134″ c=”deck2″ amt=”7″][/card][/energy][/decklist]There are a few things to say about this list here. First of all, the [card name=”Galarian Zigzagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Choice Belt” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”135″ c=”name”][/card] are the 59th and 60th cards in the deck. They don’t necessarily have to be here, but I believe the aggressive options are quite helpful. The deck can function normally, which is already good, but now it has more options. There are many situations where this deck can leverage the extra ten damage from Galarian Zigzagoon, such as hitting for 220 against Pokemon V, or KO’ing 190 HP Pokemon like Starmie V or an [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card] with [card name=”Big Charm” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”158″ c=”name”][/card]. Galarian Zigzagoon is much faster and easier to use than Quick Shooting. That said, if you wanted to make the deck more consistent instead, you could add a [card name=”Capture Energy” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card] and another [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card], and forego the aggressive options. Even if you do that, keep the [card name=”Shopping Center” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”157″ c=”name”][/card] around.

[card name=”Collapsed Stadium” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] is less useful than it would seem, even with all the Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR around. Although I did get a silly win with it at NAIC, it’s definitely not as good as Shopping Center. Shopping Center is the best [card name=”Path to the Peak” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card]-counter Stadium. There are many situations where you want to repurpose your Big Charm, especially when only one is available. Oftentimes, Big Charm will be KO’d or one will be prized. When you are looping [card name=”Cheren’s Care” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”134″ c=”name”][/card] with only one Big Charm between two Arceus VSTAR, the benched one becomes extremely vulnerable. Shopping Center helps to solve this problem, and it also has synergy with the newly added [card name=”Choice Belt” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”135″ c=”name”][/card].

One direction this deck could go is adding Radiant Charizard. There’s no particular synergy here. Radiant Charizard is a really strong card. You would play one copy of Fire Energy over one of the Water and Trinity Nova it into play early on. This would be the only way to search the Fire Energy, unless you also played [card name=”Raihan” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”152″ c=”name”][/card], which is an option as well. Then, you would play [card name=”Training Court” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card] as the Stadium over Collapsed Stadium so you could access the Fire Energy for Radiant Charizard later. As soon as Radiant Charizard activates due to its Ability, you can send it in to take a KO — you would also likely need to keep Choice Belt in the deck for Radiant Charizard so that it can hit for 280. I’m not convinced that this is the way to go, but don’t be surprised if you see Radiant Charizard pop up in an Arceus VSTAR / Inteleon deck here and there.

I’ve added the second [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”132″ c=”name”][/card], which some lists have already done. The second Pal Pad basically auto-wins the mirror for you, unless they also have two Pal Pad — if they also have the second Pal Pad, you at least bring it to a 50-50 rather than an auto-loss. At NAIC, one of my losses was to a mirror that had the second Pal Pad, and I did not. What an unpleasant surprise that was. I also added the second [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”132″ c=”name”][/card]. Even with two Pal Pad, I still want that second Boss’s Orders. It’s extremely impactful, and you often want to use Pal Pad on other Supporters.

I’ve cut the three tech Pokemon and the [card name=”Ordinary Rod” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card], which was mostly to reuse [card name=”Dunsparce” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”207″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Manaphy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] in the matchups where they are good. Based on the meta, those Pokemon shouldn’t be needed anymore. [card name=”Blissey V” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card] has also seen a sharp decline in play, so [card name=”Starmie V” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”30″ c=”name”][/card] becomes less useful, but Ordinary Rod could still be useful because it puts Energy back into the deck for Trinity Nova. If you’re in a matchup where you need to loop Cheren’s Care, such as mirror, be conservative with your Trinity Nova attachments; you’ll soon run out of Energy in the deck, and we no longer have Ordinary Rod. [card name=”Marnie” set=”Champion’s Path” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card] can help with this by putting Energy in hand back into the deck, but using Marnie means you aren’t using Cheren’s Care.

Matchups

Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR — Slightly Favorable

The [card name=”Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] matchup is favorable, but they can still win. The most annoying version to face is the Supporter toolbox list with [card name=”Cheryl” set=”Battle Styles” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Leon” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card], but that version isn’t seeing much play. You’re more likely to run into the [card name=”Cross Switcher” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”230″ c=”name”][/card] versions. The strategy in this matchup revolves around Prize denial; you want to keep your Bench low so that they cannot KO the [card name=”Arceus V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] on your Bench. You do not need to deny KO’s the entire game, but you do need to get value out of one or two Cheren’s Care to put you ahead in the Prize exchange. Basically, your attacks 2HKO them, and their attacks do not 2HKO you because of Cheren’s Care. This is the matchup at its core.

Specifically, you want to keep your Bench at exactly two Pokemon: a [card name=”Sobble” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Drizzile” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card], and an Arceus V with a Big Charm. You attack with your Active VSTAR, and then use Cheren’s Care after it becomes damaged. Do this enough times to pull ahead in the attack exchange, and make sure you’re attacking every turn. There are a few things the Origin Forme Palkia VTAR player can do to help them out, but each thing they do to gain an edge simply forces you to play more Cheren’s Care. Basically, even with Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR’s entire bag of tricks, [card name=”Arceus VSTAR” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] will still win with enough Cheren’s Care plays.

If they use [card name=”Radiant Greninja” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”46″ c=”name”][/card]’s Moonlight Shuriken to hit both of your Arceus VSTAR, you’re probably going to lose one of them. You need to use Cheren’s Care to heal one and make sure it’s able to attack next turn. Even if one Arceus VSTAR goes down, it’s not a big deal. You can fairly easily recover and maintain your ideal board state. They can also use [card name=”Choice Belt” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”135″ c=”name”][/card] plus Quick Shooting to take out a benched Arceus V with a Big Charm, but this occurrence is fairly rare. They typically play one Choice Belt, and often use it in other situations (such as for early pressure). Quick Shooting occupies a valuable Drizzile spot and doesn’t come into play until much later, so it usually isn’t a huge difference maker at that point. These are things to watch out for.

Another wildcard in the matchup is [card name=”Roxanne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”150″ c=”name”][/card], which can go both ways. Because of Roxanne, you want to get value out of as many Cheren’s Cares as possible before you go down to three Prize cards remaining. This way, you can set yourself up to win with your remaining board and multiple Arceus VSTAR powered up at the time of getting Roxanne’d. In some situations, such as if a Sobble and Arceus V are KO’d early, you may be in a position to Roxanne first. This is also something to watch out for. An early Roxanne may cripple Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR to the point of folding immediately, but it’s a helpful draw Supporter at the very least.

Arceus VSTAR / Inteleon mirror — Even to Auto-win

[cardimg name=”Cheren’s Care” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”168″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

This matchup is boring. It comes down to [card name=”Cheren’s Care” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”134″ c=”name”][/card] spam with the two [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”172″ c=”name”][/card]. The second Pal Pad is intended to allow you to outlast mirrors who only have one Pal Pad, which it absolutely does. There are a couple tricks which I’ll mention real quick. If the opponent neglects to leave [card name=”Big Charm” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”158″ c=”name”][/card] on one of their benched [card name=”Arceus V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card], you can snipe it with Zigzagoon and Choice Belt. Doing so is neglecting to use Cheren’s Care in favor of [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”132″ c=”name”][/card], so you are essentially trading two Prizes for two Prizes, however, you can then use that Cheren’s Care later, so you are gaining an advantage by taking this trade.

If the opponent doesn’t play Quick Shooting [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card] or have immediate access to it, you can attack with [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card] with Big Charm in spots where they are forced to attack with a [card name=”Double Turbo Energy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”151″ c=”name”][/card] Energy. In the mirror, you’re only committing one Energy off Trinity Nova at a time. This is so you can use Cheren’s Care plus attach Double Turbo Energy as many times as possible. Attaching more than one Energy off Trinity Nova is limiting the number of Cheren’s Care plus Trinity Nova plays you can do, as it takes Energy out of the deck.

The point is that Energy in the deck is a resource, so Arceus VSTAR is usually doing 180 damage with the Double Turbo Energy. This is why the Aqua Bullet plus Big Charm play sometimes works. Otherwise, you typically don’t want them to be on odd Prizes, so you avoid feeding a single-Prize Pokemon. This is because they only have to KO two Arceus VSTAR instead of three to win the game. If they get an early Prize off a Sobble or something, they only need one easy Boss’s Orders KO to get back to even Prizes. You don’t go in with Aqua Bullet just because you can, but only in specific spots. Once Inteleon gets hit for 180, you can use [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card] on it, effectively wasting one of your opponent’s attacks.

Another opportunistic thing that you can do is try to deny their Starbirth with [card name=”Path to the Peak” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card], but be sure not to compromise your board in order to do this!

Throughout the game, try to thin out the deck with the opponent’s late-game Roxanne in mind. Sometimes, there’s nothing you can do against a well-timed Roxanne, but at least be cognizant of it and thin cards out when you can.

Flying Pikachu VMAX / Arceus VSTAR — Favorable

The [card name=”Flying Pikachu VMAX” set=”Celebrations” no=”7″ c=”name”][/card] deck is not built to be able to deal with [card name=”Arceus VSTAR” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] / Inteleon, and that is its greatest weakness. The two decks play the same game of attack with Arceus VSTAR and spam Cheren’s Care, but the Inteleon version does this a lot better. Now with the second Pal Pad, Inteleon’s advantage is amplified even more. Flying Pikachu VMAX has no realistic path to victory — they have to attack with Arceus VSTAR because that is their attacker that does the most damage and can use Cheren’s Care. Flying Pikachu VMAX and [card name=”Crobat VMAX” set=”Shining Fates” no=”45″ c=”name”][/card] are not useful besides being vanilla attackers, and the only thing you have to do is play around [card name=”Roxanne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”150″ c=”name”][/card] to the best of your ability. Once again, this is done by opportunistically thinning cards and by setting up your board with attackers when you predict an incoming Roxanne. At the very least, it’s easy to know when Roxanne is coming (when you take your third Prize card).

Mew VMAX — Even or Slightly Favorable

[cardimg name=”Meloetta” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”124″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

The [card name=”Mew VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] matchup can be a scary one, but it’s not bad. The general goal is to make them brick with [card name=”Marnie” set=”Champion’s Path” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card] or Roxanne plus Path to the Peak. With two Path to the Peak in the deck, you have two shots to brick them. Another thing to keep in mind is the quad [card name=”Fusion Strike Energy” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”244″ c=”name”][/card] play — you want to do everything in your power to stop this from happening, as quad Fusion Energy Melodious Echoes will rip through Arceus VSTAR with no problems. It’s quite a disaster, so target down Fusion Strike Energy if you ever get the chance. This is one matchup where you often want [card name=”Big Charm” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”158″ c=”name”][/card] on your attacking Arceus VSTAR instead of the benched one (but not always). Aside from the quad Fusion Energy play, it’s actually quite difficult for them to KO Arceus VSTAR with Big Charm, let alone multiple of them. Forcing that extra [card name=”Power Tablet” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”236″ c=”name”][/card] is often the difference between surviving and not.

Overall, Mew VMAX has to do a lot of work to win this matchup, and they also have to get lucky to avoid bricking off Path to the Peak. While Mew MVAX occasionally gets lucky and steamrolls Arceus VSTAR, Arceus VSTAR should be favored more often than not.

In Summary

Many of Arceus VSTAR / Inteleon’s matchups are close, but they are not bad. Arceus VSTAR has a slight edge against the format’s main meta decks, and it has plenty of tech options for threats that might arise. I definitely recommend trying this deck out and tweaking it to your liking. It might not be the most exciting deck in the game, but there’s no doubt that it is extremely strong in the current format. At the very least, be prepared to face Arceus at any event in the current format, and try to brick them with Roxanne! Thanks for reading!

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