Searching Standard: Dracozolt VMAX Super Healing
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 taking a look at a deck that was recently featured on the YouTube channel of ZapdosTCG. It features Dracozolt VMAX EVS 59 and offers a ton of healing. Let's get started by taking a look at the deck list.
Dracozolt V EVS 58 gets this party started. By attacking with its Primeval Beak attack, you'll deal a small amount of damage to your opponent's Active Pokemon, but more importantly, you'll prevent them from attaching Energy cards to that Pokemon on their next turn. This will force them to shift their focus to powering up one of their Benched Pokemon, which also gives you time to set up your side of the board. Dracozolt VMAX EVS 59 also has an attack that only requires one Energy to use, its Spark Trap attack. By using this attack, you can further shake up your opponent's plans, because you'll be able to place 12 damage counters on your opponent's Active Pokemon if Dracozolt VMAX EVS 59 receives any damage from an attack, even if it gets Knocked Out. Force your opponent to decide whether attacking Dracozolt VMAX EVS 59 multiple times in order to Knock it Out is worth taking a ton of damage.
Since you'll start the game with your only Basic Pokemon in play, Dracozolt V EVS 58, you'll only need to worry about searching your deck for Dracozolt VMAX EVS 59. Evolution Incense SSH 163 is the perfect tool for doing this.
All Pokemon decks rely on Supporter cards in order to draw additional cards. With Professor's Research CEL 23, you'll discard your current hand in order to draw seven new cards. Both Marnie CPA 56 and Kabu CPA 55 have you shuffle your hand into your deck before drawing a new hand. Marnie CPA 56 provides the benefit of forcing your opponent to shuffle their hand into their deck as well, before drawing a new hand with potentially fewer cards. Kabu CPA 55 can provide you with a ton of cards, eight to be exact, if you only have one Pokemon in play. Otherwise, you'll only draw a hand of four cards.
As I mentioned earlier, there are quite a number of ways to heal your Pokemon in this deck. Potion CPA 61 heals 30 damage from one of your Pokemon. Moomoo Cheese VIV 156 also heals 30 damage, but it will heal that damage from up to two of your Pokemon as long as those Pokemon have Energy attached to them. Lucky Ice Pop EVS 150 will heal 20 damage from your Active Pokemon, but if you're lucky, you might be able to put it back into your hand after playing it.
In addition to Items that will heal your Pokemon, this deck includes a variety of Supporters that will also help you with healing. Cheryl BST 123 is the best of these Supporters, as she will heal all damage from your Evolution Pokemon. However, this healing comes at a price. You'll need to discard all Energy attached to any Pokemon healed with Cheryl BST 123. When you play Pokemon Center Lady CPA 60, you can heal 60 damage from any of your Pokemon in addition to removing any Special Conditions affecting that Pokemon. Finally, while the healing that Agatha CRE 129 provides you only removes three damage counters from your Active Pokemon, those damage counters will be placed onto your opponent's Active Pokemon. You might be able to score a Knock Out when this happens with a little luck.
Instead of relying on ways to heal your Pokemon, you might want to consider avoiding damage instead. With Full Face Guard EVS 148, you'll be able to reduce the amount of damage that either Dracozolt V EVS 58 or Dracozolt VMAX EVS 59 takes, since neither of those Pokemon have an Ability.
As you can see, Supporters are important in this deck. For that reason, both Pokegear 3.0 SSH 174 and Pal Pad SSH 172 are also important. With Pokegear 3.0 SSH 174, you'll be able to put a Supporter from the top seven cards of your deck into your hand. Pal Pad SSH 172 allows you to shuffle up to two Supporter cards from your discard pile back into your deck, offering you another chance to benefit from playing it.
Crushing Hammer SSH 159 can be used to great effect in the early stages of the game, removing an Energy from one of your opponent's Pokemon while you're simultaneously denying them the ability to attach an Energy to their Active Pokemon with Dracozolt V EVS 58's Primeval Beak attack. You can use Boss's Orders SHF 58 to score an easy Knock Out or lock a Pokemon of your choice into place in your opponent's Active Spot. Finally, Full Heal CPA 51 can allow your Active Pokemon to recover from all Special Conditions affecting it. While this might not always be useful, when you need it you'll be glad it's included in this deck.
The final pair of cards offer you the means of affecting your opponent's plans. Path to the Peak CRE 148 can be played to remove a Stadium your opponent has played. You can also play it as a way to hinder them, if they're reliant on Pokemon that have both a Rule Box and an Ability. Tool Scrapper RCL 168 is a safety valve for you in the event that your opponent has a Pokemon Tool that greatly benefits them. Like Full Heal CPA 51, Tool Scrapper RCL 168 might not be useful in every game, but you'll be thankful to have it when it is.
Wrapping Up
If you're looking for a deck that's fun to play and difficult for your opponent to keep down, give this deck a try. Whether you're healing your Pokemon or threatening to place 12 damage counters on your opponent's Active Pokemon, your opponent is sure to be frustrated playing against this deck.
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