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The meta-game of thePokemon TCGis set and built around three or four strong decks, so it’s not a surprise that cards that, at first sight, don’t look like a big deal burst in the play mats of several tournaments and consolidate as reliable options to counter a tough deck.
Related:Pokemon TCG: Lost Zone Box Deck Guide
And one of those surprising decks is Flying Pikachu VMAX. Thanks to its combination with Lost Zone and Aerodactyl VSTAR, Flying Pikachu VMAX can get rid of most of the big deals of the current meta, mostly because of its Electric-type and its bulkiness, which allows it to handle in the field for a long time.
Comfey (x4)
Oranguru (x2)
Cramorant (x2)
Sableye (x1)
Temple of Sinnoh (x2)
Switch (x1)
Raihan (x1)
Thorton (x1)
Flying Pikachu VMAX Key Cards
Flying Pikachu VMAX
The protagonist of this deck isFlying Pikachu VMAX. It’s a big and chunky card that candeal 160 damagewith its attack,Max Balloon, and alsoprevents Pikachu from receiving damage from attacks of basic Pokemon cards.This means that cards like Radiant Greninja, Lost Zone Sableye, the Regis, Galarian Weezing, and Lost Zone Cramorant can’t land a hit on it, giving you a big advantage against those decks.
Aerodactyl VSTAR
This deck is annoying to play against because ofAerodactyl VSTAR, which has to be your option when facing a Lugia VSTAR or an Arceus VSTAR. Aerodactyl VSTAR is very special because of two reasons: Its attack, Lost Dive, and its VSTAR Power, Ancient Star.Lost Dive deals 240 damage(more than enough to one-hit KO most of the VMAX out there) andforces you to put the top three cards of your deck on the Lost Zone.
Ancient Star will suppress all the abilities of your opponent’s V Pokemon, so Pokemon like Lugia VSTAR, Palkia VSTAR, Eternatus VMAX, or Genesect V can’t use their abilities. Nonetheless, this has a drawback;you may use it only once during the match,and if your opponent manages to switch Aerodactyl through an Escape Rope or a Boss Orders, the effect will end, and you can’t use it again.
Comfey And Colress Experiment
These two cards are the most important part of the Lost Zone engine; without them, you can’t extract the full potential of the Lost Zone!
The most important card here isComfey, which has an ability namedFlower Selection. With this ability,you can pick the first two cardsof your deck, thenkeep a card in your handandsend the other one to another pile named the Lost Zone.The cards you send to the Lost Zonecan’t be played anymore, hence you have to be careful with the cards you send there.
Colress Experimentworks the same way as Comfey, but instead of keeping a card and sending another one to the Lost Zone pile, you draw five, and then you have tokeep three cards and send two to the Lost Zone.
Mirage Gate
You might be wondering why you should use the Lost Zone engine with a card like Pikachu VMAX. It’s because of theMirage Gate. With Mirage Gate, you cansearch for two different basic Energy cards on your deck and attach them to any Pokemon you want. you may use this card only if you have seven cards (or more) on your Lost Zone pile.
Oranguru
Oranguruwill work well combined with Comfey and Colress Experiment because of its ability,Primate Wisdom, which lets youswitch the top card of your deck for any card you have on your hand.
The idea with this ability is to send a card you have in your hand that you know you will not use to the top of your deck and then use Comfey or Colress Experiment to send it to the Lost Zone.
Sableye And Cramorant
You need to attach energies to Pikachu if you want to attack with it. The problem is that Pikachu can’t attack properly before evolving and getting some Energy cards. Hence you needSableye and Cramorant, two cards that use the Lost Zone mechanic to attack.
Sableyehas an attack namedLost Mine, whichlets you distribute twelve damage counters(which means 120 damage)to all of your opponent’s Pokemon. To use it, you need to have ten cards in your Lost Zone. This card is excellent for attacking benched Pokemon. On the other hand, you haveCramorant, which has an attack namedSpit Innocently, which deals 110 damage.
If you want Cramorant to use Spit Innocently, you’ll have to attach two Water Energy cards and a Colorless one. But,if you have four or more cards in the Lost Zone, Cramorant can attack for free.
It’s pretty easy to accumulate four cards in the Lost Zone in your first turn if you look and find two Comfey cards and a Colress Experiment.
Radiant Greninja
Radiant Greninjais in almost every deck of this meta-game, and it’s only because of its ability, Concealed Cards, whichlets you draw two cards from your deck but only if you send an Energy card to the Discard Pile.Whenever you feel stuck, you can use Greninja to draw two cards from your deck and continue with your strategy as usual.
Radiant Greninja also has an attack named Moonlight Shuriken, which lets youdeal 90 damage to your opponent’s Active Pokemon and one of their benched Pokemon. Pretty useful, but not the most practical option if you have enough cards in the Lost Zone to use Sableye’s Lost Mine.
Related:Pokemon TCG: The Best Trainer Cards in Crown Zenith
Battle VIP Pass
The one you’ll be using the most (except for the Mirage Gate) will be the Battle VIP Pass, which can only be used on your first turn, butlets you search for two basic Pokemon in your deck and send them to the bench.
After your first turn, you can’t use these cards, but they will work perfectly for sending them to the Lost Zone. In case you’re in doubt, and don’t know which cards you should send to the Lost Zone, consider sending these first.
Escape Rope, Scoop Up Net, and Switch
These three items will let you switch your Active Pokemon for a Benched one for free.
you’re able to’t use the Scoop Up Net on V Pokemon.That’s why it’s recommended to use this card only when accumulating cards in the Lost Zone with Comfey.
Ordinary Rod
You’ll be using the Ordinary Rod to restore some of your Pokemon that will fall on the Discard Pile after getting knocked out. This deck is based on Pokemon that can easily fall with a couple of hits, and also, the deck only has a couple of Flying Pikachus, so, this card will be important in the late stages of the game.
Temple of Sinnoh and Lost Vacuum
Decks like Lugia VSTAR, Arceus VSTAR, and Mew VMAX use a lot ofSpecial Energy cards, which are cards that give special effects to the Pokemon they’re attached to as well as supply the Pokemon with Energy. In those cases,Temple of Sinnohwill be a great option. If Temple of Sinnoh is active as a stadium,all the Special Energy cards will only provide a unit of Colorless Energy and will not have any other effect.
And, if your opponent replaces your stadium with another card, you can always use theLost Vaccum, which can either remove a tool attached to any Pokemon orremove any Stadium in play,and then willsend it to the Lost Zone.
Thorton
Thortonis such a great Supporter card because itmakes you switch your Active Pokemon for one in the Discard Pile.
This works like a charm in case your opponent knocks a Flying Pikachu out; you only have to suit your Active Pokemon with some Energy cards and then use Thorton. All the cards attached to the switched Active Pokemon will now remain on the Pokemon you rescued from the Discard Pile.
This card only works with Basic Pokemon.
Flying Pikachu VMAX Deck Strategy
It’s recommended to go first; you’ll want to bulk the Lost Zone pile as soon as possible. The best first hand you can have has a couple of Comfeys, an Energy Card or a Scoop Up Net, a Boss Orders (in case you want to mess up your opponent’s strategy since the start), and a Battle VIP Pass.But the most important thing here is the Comfeys.
In case you don’t have any Comfey, but you have aBattle VIP Pass,use it to draw a couple of them to the bench; you’ll need them. Other cards, like Colress Experiment, can help you find a Comfey. Radiant Greninja and an Energy card can help you too.
Now that you are making the cards flow,try to find a Flying Pikachu V and a VMAX.It’s better if you prepare them in your first few turns. Your objective is to accumulate at least10-12 cards in the Lost Zone.You’ll not need more than that.
Also,try to reserve an Energy card on your hand to attach to Flying Pikachu VMAX. Then, you may send it to the Active Spot. Toprepare Pikachu to attackin the same turn it hits the Active Spot, use theMirage Gate to attach two Energy cards to it.Then, attach the Energy card you reserved, and everything will be done; you can attack.
If you see thatyour opponent is accumulating many Pokemon on their bench, it isn’t a bad idea tohave a second Flying Pikachu VMAX on your bench, prepared to attack. You just have to use Mirage Gate to set some Energy cards to it, and then look for the last Energy card (or another Mirage Gate) through Colress or Comfey.
There are some alternative situations, likeif you are against a Lugia VSTAR or a Palkia VSTAR. That’s why you have anAerodactyl VSTARon your deck. Follow the same strategy above but instead of building Flying Pikachu to attack, build Aerodactyl VSTAR.
Flying Pikachu VMAX Deck Common Threats
It’s hard to counter a Deck like this onebecause it counters all the most used decks of the meta-game. Nonetheless, it still has some issues to be careful of. This deck can put things difficult for other decks by blocking abilities with Aerodactyl VSTAR and preventing the damage done by Basic Pokemon with Pikachu VMAX.The problem is if you take a long while to send cards to the Lost Zone and your opponent defeats your Comfeys.
You have four Comfeys available, butit’ll be a big problem if you use them in the later stages of the gamebecause you’ll lack the resources to make them switch back and forth. Avoid getting your Comfeys defeated early is hard, yetthere are some things you may try:
