Rayquaza VMAX and other powerful cards from the new expansion are ready to soar in your next deck.
By Christopher Schemanske, Contributing Writer
Every new Pokémon
TCG expansion is an exciting opportunity for players to up their game, whether
that’s adopting the newest strategies or adapting reigning archetypes with new
options. Sword & Shield—Evolving Skies is no exception, and it comes at a
time where its stars could fuel a lot of evolution in the Standard format. As
the second expansion with exciting Single Strike and Rapid Strike Pokémon, we
get to see the options for Battle Styles-based archetypes get even more
interesting.
Let’s take a look at some of the most promising cards from Sword & Shield—Evolving Skies.
The highlight of
the expansion for many Trainers, Rayquaza VMAX has a tantalizing combo of high-damage attack and the
built-in capability to draw cards. Sure, the Azure Pulse Ability isn’t going to
fuel a game single-handedly, but the option to dig an extra three cards to find
that crucial Energy, Boss’s Orders, or Professor’s Research is worth having around. A Rayquaza
VMAX player might be reticent to put too many of the 3-Prize behemoths in play
at once, but the fact that Azure Pulse can be chained one-into-another provides
for some interesting, if risky, options.
However, Max Burst
is the root of why we’re here. While a base of 20 damage isn’t particularly
exciting, it’s Rayquaza VMAX’s capability to hit for limitless damage that
makes it such a heavyweight contender. Of course, accumulating Energy cards is
not always as easy as we’d like it to be, and having to attach 5 total (and
then discard 4 of them) to deal with popular threats like Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX, Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX, and Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX is certainly no small feat to
accomplish. But, the fact that Rayquaza VMAX can reach that one-hit Knock Out potential
at all is rather rare in the current Standard format, and it’s what sets it
apart as a true star from the set.
Fortunately,
Rayquaza VMAX has a supporting cast ready behind it. Flaaffy, the spiritual successor to one of my
favorite cards of all time, Eelektrik,
is ready to fuel Rayquaza VMAX’s rise with its Dynamotor Ability. Once upon a
time, Rayquaza-EX
and Eelektrik teamed up
to reasonable competitive success, and Rayquaza VMAX and Flaaffy look
well-positioned to emulate that in 2021. The task is a bit different, though,
as Rayquaza VMAX will probably be looking to take two big one-hit Knock Outs on
opposing Pokémon VMAX in most games, whereas Rayquaza-EX players knew
they needed to attack at least three times to win a game. This difference
actually has a huge impact on the way players think about building their decks,
as it will affect the overall usefulness of Flaaffy—a Stage 1 Pokémon requiring
significant setup investment—during a game.
Rayquaza V offers some low-level firepower of
its own, which will add a solid dimension to Rayquaza VMAX’s overall
playability. The flexibility to use a 2-Prize attacker instead of the 3-Prize Pokémon
VMAX adds some depth to the deck. I’m excited to see how high players end up
flying with Rayquaza VMAX!
Umbreon VMAX
isn’t necessarily an
obvious all-star, but it has the potential to shift the Standard format a good
bit. While its Max Darkness attack isn’t bad, there isn’t an apparent
way to power it up quickly, meaning it’s likely to lack significant impact. Instead,
Umbreon VMAX’s chance at stardom comes from its Dark Signal Ability.
Dark Signal is the
latest in a long line of “gust” effects that give a player control over who
occupies their opponent’s Active Spot—and, most of them have seen play in some
capacity! It’s truly a powerful effect. Right now, that niche is filled by
Boss’s Orders in the Standard format. On the scale of the Pokémon TCG’s
history, Boss’s Orders is a pretty simple-to-use, easy solution to fill this
role in most decks, so Umbreon VMAX’s impact will be a bit muted.
But in decks that
can afford to take advantage of Umbreon VMAX, the option to use an Ability to
achieve this effect, rather than a Supporter, opens a lot of other doors. Simply,
the extra Supporter-like action allows for turns to be more dynamic and
explosive, which can turn the tide of games! It especially opens more options
for decks that are reliant on a specific Supporter to make their strategy
happen—Welder-based decks are a great example.
Where will Umbreon
VMAX fit in? The Eternatus VMAX deck seems like a perfect match. Since it relies on
filling its Bench with Darkness-type Pokémon, Umbreon V and Umbreon VMAX are a perfect
addition. Eternatus VMAX gains a lot from these two Pokémon, freeing up its
Supporter slot in many turns to do something more productive than Boss’s
Orders. As a deck that’s often extremely reliant on hitting a combination of
cards all at once, this effect is particularly powerful.
Arguably,
Eternatus VMAX might struggle to establish itself in a Standard format that’s
dominated by Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX, but on the other hand, feasting on some
Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX sounds pretty fun. It seems likely that Umbreon VMAX’s
stock will mostly sink or swim with Eternatus VMAX, but don’t be surprised to
see it find some other slots of success over the next few years.
This is one of my
favorite cards in quite some time, which probably says more about me than it
does about Medicham V—but
nevertheless I’m very excited! Yoga Loop is the kind of unique attack that can
turn games around entirely, and as a Rapid Strike Pokémon, Medicham V has a pre-built
engine to slide right into. Most importantly, Rapid Strike Energy allows this
attack to come online in a single turn, which provides an essential edge of
flexibility.
I can’t understate
the importance of taking an extra turn—this is the kind of effect that I feel
like is usually included on a Stage 2’s attack that costs three different types
of Energy and is something we’ll likely never see in the competitive scene. Instead,
in this case, there’s already a pre-built home for Medicham V: the Rapid Strike
Urshifu VMAX deck.
As a fellow Rapid
Strike Pokémon, it’s well situated to receive the benefits Medicham V can add. More
importantly, G-Max Rapid Flow already focuses on spreading damage around. But,
most importantly, Inteleon
has become a fixture among many Urshifu players, and it’s the combination of G-Max
Rapid Flow and Inteleon’s
Quick Shooting that
really opens up options for Yoga Loop.
Perhaps it’s wise
to pack a bit of caution, and it’s possible that the situations where Medicham
V will win a game that you wouldn’t already win without it end up being too few
to justify. I think the potential is there, though, with the amount of
flexibility and inherent strength in the attack’s effects. I’m really excited
to see what players come up with working with Medicham V!
Deckbuilding in
the Standard format has been defined by a mix of Boss’s Orders, Professor’s
Research, and Marnie for
most of the last year. Sword & Shield—Evolving Skies offers a pair
of new options that could displace some of that status quo and provide players
some dynamic options for deckbuilding.
The first of those
is Raihan, which offers players a great way to
recover from a Pokémon being Knocked Out. Especially in today’s format,
featuring a lot of Pokémon that require two or three Energy attachments to
achieve their peak effect, the extra attachment Raihan provides could have
significant effect. Getting to search your deck for any one card is a great
companion effect—perhaps you need that Rapid Strike Energy, that Pokémon VMAX,
or another piece of a combo to make your turn come together. Raihan isn’t going
to be an automatic inclusion in every deck, but I think it’ll be a useful
option for a number of decks.
Zinnia’s Resolve
is a more traditional
draw Supporter than Raihan. The discard cost isn’t a huge deal for some decks
(Flaaffy-focused decks, for example, might be very excited!), but for others,
it could be a major obstacle. That difficulty will probably influence whether
players choose higher counts of Marnie or Zinnia’s Resolve. Obviously, they’re
very different cards, but Zinnia’s Resolve does have a major advantage of being
able to add to a hand without getting rid of what’s already there, making it
easier to assemble combos as needed. Especially after the Standard format
rotation, I’d expect Zinnia’s Resolve to be included in a few decks around the
format.
There are a few
Item cards that don’t have obvious places to succeed in the Standard format right
now, but they have effects that are unique and powerful enough to be worth
thinking about for the future. Let’s get into a trio.
Boost Shake
is pretty novel—instant Evolution,
but at the cost of the rest of your turn! Being able to threaten a Stage 2 Pokémon
via normal Evolution on Turn 2 is pretty good, especially when going first (since
you can’t attack anyway). I expect it’ll see play at some point paired with a
Stage 1 Pokémon that has an Ability important enough to justify the cost. In
the past, Garbodor‘s
Garbotoxin would’ve been
a very real application of this card, and that could still happen in the
Expanded format! For that matter, Trevenant‘s Forest
Curse could be an excellent Expanded application of this card. While an obvious
Standard role might not exist yet, this effect is powerful enough that I’m
confident an opportunity will arise.
Spirit Mask
may look underwhelming at
first, but in decks that aim to control an opponent’s hand, it has a lot of
potential. Admittedly, we don’t have any of those in Standard right now, but
it’s an archetype that always seems to sneak its way back into playability, so
file that away for future knowledge. Right now, if Garbodor VMAX
happens to find a way
into playability, I think Spirit Mask would be a big part of that. Discarding
one card is annoying, but discarding two is more likely to have a significant
effect on a player’s plans.
Rescue Carrier
looks like it should be
really strong if a deck focusing on smaller attackers comes back, but with “Mad
Party” back on the sidelines, there’s not really an obvious role for it in
today’s Standard. The Expanded format might be more kind, but regardless, I
fully believe something will eventually crop up that makes Rescue Carrier
worthwhile. Getting back two Pokémon directly to the hand isn’t really an
effect I can remember being on a card before, which I think should say
something about its future playability!
Glaceon VMAX
doesn’t jump off the page
as a powerhouse contender, but it may turn out to be the hidden gem of the set.
Immunity to Pokémon VMAX is an important factor in today’s game, but it’s going
to be extra valuable in the future, once Pokémon-GX have left the
Standard format. That immunity sets it up well, and access to Water-supporting
cards like Melony
and Capacious Bucket
will help get Glaceon rolling
quickly.
Max Icicle isn’t
going to set any damage records, but it’s the kind of attack that can steadily
wear down an opponent, especially if Glaceon VMAX’s Crystal Veil Ability is
stalling sufficiently. This might actually be a good use for Boost Shake, where
a player going second can get a Glaceon VMAX into the Active Spot before their
opponent has a chance to use their own Pokémon VMAX to attack Glaceon V. It reminds me so much of Glaceon-GX, which languished underplayed for
most of its life but still had a few moments in the spotlight. Keep an eye on
this Pokémon!
This is just a
taste of the potential power that players can find in Sword & Shield—Evolving Skies. For example, Wishiwashi
is a
creative card with little obvious competitive potential, but who knows, maybe someone will even make me
very happy and find a way to make it successful! I’m
excited to see where players head next.
For more Pokémon
TCG strategy and analysis, be sure to keep checking Pokemon.com/Strategy.
About the Writer
Christopher Schemanske
Christopher Schemanske is a contributing writer for Pokemon.com. He’s been playing the Pokémon TCG since 2010, with a streak of Worlds invitations between 2012–2018. Nowadays, he enjoys splitting his Pokémon time between playing and being part of the awesome Professor staff teams at major events.
Source: Pokemon
