Searching Standard: Arbok EX

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 Arbok ex MEW 24, a Pokemon capable of forcing your opponent to top deck much of the time. Let's get started by taking a look at the deck list.

By attacking with Arbok ex MEW 24's Menacing Fangs attack, you'll deal 150 damage to your opponent's Active Pokemon, plus you'll force your opponent to discard two cards from their hand. As you'll see later on, there are other ways to force your opponent to discard cards, so it won't be long until they are in top deck mode.

By using Dusknoir SFA 20's Cursed Blast Ability, you can place 13 damage counters on one of your opponent's Pokemon, potentially scoring a Knock Out in the process. Doing this will also Knock Out Dusknoir SFA 20, which can be helpful in getting your opponent ahead of you on taking Prize cards. Dusclops SFA 19 has a similar Cursed Blast Ability, but it only puts 5 damage counters on one of your opponent's Pokemon. In a pinch, you can use the Cursed Blast Ability of Dusclops SFA 19, but you're generally better off waiting to use Dusknoir SFA 20's.

This deck utilizes the combo of Bibarel BRS 121's Industrious Incisors Ability paired up with Skwovet SVI 151's Nest Stash Ability to ensure a steady supply of new cards come into your hand each turn. Ditch your current hand with Skwovet SVI 151's Nest Stash Ability, drawing 1 card in the process. Then use Bibarel BRS 121's Industrious Incisors Ability to draw until you have 5 cards in your hand. By doing this turn after turn, you'll eventually cycle through your deck and find the cards you need.

Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex TWM 141 makes for a great back up attacker for this deck. If your opponent has taken any of their Prize cards, you'll get an Energy discount on Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex TWM 141's Blood Moon attack thanks to it's Seasoned Skill Ability. Both Manaphy BRS 41 and Pecharunt ex SFA 39 are included for their useful Abilities. Manaphy BRS 41's Wave Veil Ability will help protect your Benched Pokemon from receiving damage when your opponent's Active Pokemon attacks. Pecharunt ex SFA 39's Subjugating Chains Ability offers you an easy way of moving Arbok ex MEW 24 from your Bench to your Active Spot.

Helping to reduce the number of cards in your opponent's hand are the cards in this next batch. Xerosic's Machinations SFA 64 forces your opponent to discard cards from their hand until they have three cards remaining. Unfair Stamp TWM 165 and Roxanne ASR 150 both force your opponent to shuffle their hand into their deck and draw a new hand of two cards. Both of these cards have specific times they can be played, so be sure to remember those restrictions.

Playing Grabber MEW 162 can also result in your opponent losing a card from their hand, but only if you find a Pokemon in their hand when you play this Item. While there's no guarantee that you'll lower their card count when you play this, you will gain some knowledge of the cards in their hand and possibly prevent them from evolving on a future turn.

This batch of Trainer cards all help you accelerate the amount of Energy you have attached to your Pokemon. Whether you're attaching Energy from your discard pile or searching your deck for it, you have multiple ways of attaching extra Energy. this is helpful since Arbok ex MEW 24's Menacing Fangs attack requires three Darkness Energy to use.

To help you find the Pokemon you need, this deck utilizes a pair of Trainer cards. Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144 can help you find all of your non-Pokemon ex Basic Pokemon, while Ultra Ball SVI 196 can be used to find everything else.

Since Arbok ex MEW 24's Menacing Fangs attack only deals 150 damage, you'll want to make sure to use both Boss’s Orders PAL 172 and Counter Catcher PAR 160 to place Pokemon you can easily Knock Out in your opponent's Active Spot. There's also a copy of Rigid Band MEW 165 that you can attach to Arbok ex MEW 24 for a bit of protection.

In Standard, there might not be a more effective way to search your deck for specific cards that you need than playing Arven SVI 166. He'll help you find an Item and a Pokemon Tool to put into your hand. Another useful Supporter for this deck is Iono PAL 185. She will reduce your opponent's number of cards in hand to an amount equal to the number of Prize cards they have remaining, which might be few enough that Arbok ex MEW 24's Menacing Fangs attack will leave them with no cards in hand.

The final batch of Trainer cards are all useful cards in the right situation. Both Night Stretcher SFA 61 and Super Rod PAL 188 offer you some recursion for this deck, returning cards to your hand or to your deck from your discard pile. Against certain decks, Technical Machine: Devolution PAR 177 will cripple your opponent's strategy, while against other decks, it can be useless. You'll be happy a copy of this Pokemon Tool is included in this deck if you find yourself against a deck that relies on evolved Pokemon.

Wrapping Up

By forcing your opponent to discard cards from their hand, you limit their options throughout the game. While they're certain to hold onto their most important cards, you can easily get to a point where they will have no cards left in their hand after your attack. Forcing them to rely on the top card of their deck for answers to your threats will make games stressful for your opponent, potentially causing them to make unforced errors.

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