So, our general strategy will be the following: Use Vaporeon
VMAX to recycle Energy onto Radiant Greninja, use Cheryl to remove any damage
the opponent did during their turn, attack with Radiant Greninja, and then repeat.
While doing so, set up a second Vaporeon VMAX for big Knock Outs where needed.
A card that is very important for this strategy is Tower of Waters. Since Vaporeon VMAX is a Rapid Strike
Pokémon, it can retreat for free while the Stadium card is in play, which allows
us to switch in our other Pokémon after using Bubble Pod.
Another important support card I’ve decided to include is Altaria. Cheryl is a key part of
the strategy, so we want a way to access it reliably when needed. Altaria’s
Tempting Tune Ability, when combined with Radiant Greninja’s Concealed Cards
Ability, can put Cheryl or any other Supporter card we want from the deck right
into our hand.
This engine around Altaria and Radiant Greninja makes it
possible to run a very diverse lineup of Supporter cards for different kinds of
situations. Professor’s Research
is the main draw Supporter of the deck and helps to set up Bubble Pod. Zinnia’s Resolve and Allister are two additional
options for drawing cards while setting up the discard pile. Nessa is used to recover Water
Energy for continued use of Radiant Greninja’s Ability. Raihan might seem a bit
redundant at first, but it makes it possible to set up an attacker without the
use of Bubble Pod and makes the deck more flexible in that way. Lastly, Bird Keeper gives us another
switching effect, while Boss’s Orders
is simply a good card in any deck.
The inclusion of a Pal Pad
makes it possible to get even more use out of our Supporter cards or
recover them after being discarded by an early Professor’s Research. We don’t
need all the resources in our deck to close out the game, but we’ll always be
discarding a lot of cards in the early game, so it’s nice to have a fallback in
case too many of our Cheryl cards find their way into the discard pile.
Besides the already mentioned Supporter cards, the deck has
four of both Quick Ball and
Ultra Ball for finding
our Pokémon and setting up Bubble Pod. After depleting our hand with all these
cards, we can use Snorlax,
the last Pokémon in this deck list, to let us draw right back up to seven cards!
Ideally, we want to be using its Gormandize Ability for the first turn or two,
and then, once it’s Knocked Out, proceed with our main strategy around Vaporeon VMAX and Radiant
Greninja.
Rounding out our draw-and-search engine are a few copies
each of Evolution Incense,
Capacious Bucket, and Trekking Shoes, cards that help
us find the cards we need and that draw through the deck faster. In particular,
Capacious Bucket is great because it guarantees us an Energy attachment and the
use of Radiant Greninja’s Ability at the same time.
Radiant Greninja is very important for this deck, both as an
attacker in combination with Vaporeon VMAX and as part of the consistency
engine with Altaria, so having it end up as a Prize card is a significant
problem. This is why the deck includes a Hisuian Heavy Ball, which can pull Radiant Greninja out
of the Prize cards and back into play. Unfortunately, we can’t search it out of
the deck because it’s an Item card, but our odds of finding it when needed while
drawing a lot of cards in the early game aren’t bad.
One card I haven’t mentioned yet is Elemental Badge. It allows
Vaporeon VMAX to attack for one less Energy, which means Bubble Pod can be used
for free. It’s not completely necessary for executing our strategy, but it does
have great synergy with Cheryl and makes the repeated healing and attacking
much easier than it would be otherwise.
Overall, I think this is an interesting deck with a unique
playstyle. Admittedly, it has some issues. Vaporeon VMAX’s 320 HP are a lot,
but despite that there are numerous decks that can deliver a Knock Out in a
single attack, which renders Cheryl useless against them and makes it almost
impossible for us to win. Manaphy
is another big problem, as its Wave Veil Ability makes it impossible for
our Radiant Greninja to set up damage on benched Pokémon. Decks with a high
count of Boss’s Orders can also make it difficult to effectively use the Bubble
Pod strategy. Despite all that, I think this a very fun deck to play with, and
one that can be very effective under the right circumstances!
Here, I’ll highlight a deck that makes use of both of Radiant
Greninja’s aspects. I use the Inteleon line from Sword & Shield for
its powerful Shady Dealings Ability. Moreover, it functions as a strong
attacker. Frosmoth, also
from Sword & Shield, provides Energy acceleration for the deck’s
powerful Water-type attackers, such as Crabominable V,
Starmie V, and Radiant
Greninja.
Source: Pokemon
