Hello and welcome to another episode of Searching Standard, where each and every week I look for new, innovative decks for you to play in Standard. This week, I'm looking at a deck that was recently featured on the YouTube channel of LittleDarkFury. It features Arven's Mabosstiff ex DRI 139 with a ton of ways to heal it. Let's get started by taking a look at the deck list.
Arven's Mabosstiff ex
LittleDarkFury
Pokemon
3 Arven's Mabosstiff ex 139
4 Arven's Maschiff 138
1 Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex 141
1 Munkidori 44
1 N's Reshiram 116
3 N's Zoroark ex 98
4 N's Zorua 97
Trainers
4 Arven 186
4 Arven's Sandwich 161
2 Boss’s Orders 172
4 Buddy-Buddy Poffin 101
1 Counter Catcher 160
2 Cyrano 170
1 Earthen Vessel 163
3 Iono 80
1 N's Castle 152
1 N's PP Up 153
1 Night Stretcher 61
1 Poké Vital A 62
1 Pokémon League Headquarters 192
2 Professor Turo's Scenario 121
2 Rigid Band 165
1 Super Potion 158
1 Super Rod 188
1 Switch 194
2 Ultra Ball 91
Energy
5 Basic Darkness Energy
3 Medical Energy 182
For just a single Energy, you'll be able to attack for 150 damage with Arven's Mabosstiff ex DRI 139's Vigorous Tackle attack. This also assumes that Arven's Mabosstiff ex DRI 139 doesn't have any damage counters on it. As you'll see, this deck offers multiple ways of healing your Pokémon, so you'll be dealing maximum damage more often than you think.
Speaking of ways to heal your Pokémon, this deck is running a single copy of Munkidori PRE 44. As long as you attach a Darkness Energy to it, you can use Munkidori PRE 44's Adrena-Brain Ability to remove 3 damage counters from one of your Pokémon and move them to one of your opponent's Pokémon. Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex TWM 141 is included as a backup attacker. By using its Blood Moon attack in conjunction with its Seasoned Skill Ability, you may be able to attack even if Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex TWM 141 has zero Energy attached to it.
Another backup attacker is N's Zoroark ex JTG 98. Its Night Joker attack only requires 2 Darkness Energy, but as long as you have N's Reshiram JTG 116 on your Bench, you'll be dealing anywhere from 170 to 540 damage when you attack.
Since it's so important to ensure that Arven's Mabosstiff ex DRI 139 doesn't have any damage counters on it, this deck runs a number of Items that will heal your Pokémon. Arven's Sandwich DRI 161 will heal up to 100 damage from one of your Arven's Pokémon. Poké Vital A SFA 62, the ACE SPEC for this deck, heals 150 damage when you play it. There's also a copy of Super Potion JTG 158, which will heal 60 damage.
Rather than healing any damage taken, you can use Rigid Band MEW 165 to prevent damage from being taken in the first place. If you simply can't avoid having damage on your Arven's Mabosstiff ex DRI 139, you can return it to your hand with Professor Turo's Scenario PRE 121, which allows you to play it again, fully healed. Pokémon League Headquarters OBF 192 makes it harder for Basic Pokémon to attack, keeping Arven's Mabosstiff ex DRI 139 safe from damage for another turn.
All decks need to be able to find the Pokémon they need, and this deck has quite a fair amount of cards devoted to just this. Buddy-Buddy Poffin PRE 101 will get you a pair of Basic Pokémon with 70 HP or less. Ultra Ball PAF 91 will get you any Pokémon you need, but requires you to discard two cards from your hand in order to play it. There's also Cyrano SSP 170 which helps you find up to three Pokémon ex to put into your hand.
Arven OBF 186 is another great card that you can use to search your deck with. When you play Arven OBF 186, you'll be able to search for an Item and a Pokémon Tool to put into your hand. If you'd rather just draw new cards instead of searching for things, you can play Iono PAF 80. She will also reset your opponent's hand, potentially slowing down any momentum they might have had.
To make the most of your attacks, you can play Boss’s Orders PAL 172 or Counter Catcher PAR 160 to choose one of your opponent's Benched Pokémon to move to their Active Spot. It's usually best to choose a Pokémon that will give you multiple Prize cards when you Knock it Out.
To make things more difficult for your opponent, you want to be able to move your opponent to and from your Bench with ease. N's Castle JTG 152 removes any Retreat Cost from all N's Pokémon in play. There's also a copy of Switch SVI 194 you can use for the rest of your team.
Both Earthen Vessel PAR 163 and N's PP Up JTG 153 offer you the means of ensuring that you're able to attach Energy to your Pokémon so they'll be able to attack.
The final pair of Trainer cards in this deck are Super Rod PAL 188 and Night Stretcher SFA 61, which both offer you the ability to return Pokémon and Basic Energy cards from your discard pile to either your deck or directly to your hand.
Wrapping Up
While Arven's Mabosstiff ex DRI 139 might only deal 150 damage with it's Vigorous Tackle attack, you'll often be able to Knock Out any opposing Pokémon with a couple of attacks. There's plenty of ways to heal any damage from Arven's Mabosstiff ex DRI 139 in this deck, which can help make this possible.
What do you think of this deck? Do you have any suggestions for improvements? Let me know by leaving a comment below. And be sure to join me here again next week as I continue my search for innovative decks in the Pokemon TCG. I'll see you then!
- Mike Likes
