Searching Standard: Galarian Moltres V

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 HotChocPTCG. It features Galarian Moltres V CRE 97 making good use of Dark Patch ASR 139. Let's get started by taking a look at the deck list.

Galarian Moltres V CRE 97's Direflame Wings Ability allows you to attach a Darkness Energy card from your discard pile to itself once during your turn. You can also attach a Darkness Energy card from your discard pile to one of your Benched Pokemon. These both allow you to quickly power up Galarian Moltres V CRE 97 so you can use its Aura Burn attack. This will deal 190 damage to your opponent's Active Pokemon, but will also deal 30 damage back to itself.

You'll want to keep Jirachi V ASR 170 safe and sound on your Bench so you can utilize its Wish Connector Ability often. This Ability allows you to move a Basic Energy card from one of your Basic Pokemon V to another of your Pokemon when that Basic Pokemon V gets Knocked Out by damage from your opponent's attack. By keeping that Energy in play, you stay more powered up than your opponent, giving you an advantage when attacking.

Galarian Moltres EVS 93 is a great way to catch up for this deck. When you attack with its Fiery Wrath attack, you'll deal 20 damage plus an additional 50 damage for each Prize card your opponent has taken. Galarian Moltres EVS 93 also has the Malevolent Charge Ability which allows you to power it up quickly.

This last batch of Pokemon are all useful for their various Abilities. Crobat V SHF 44's Dark Asset Ability is a great way to draw additional cards. Mew CEL 11's Mysterious Tail Ability lets you search the top six cards of your deck for an Item card. Finally, Hoopa V FST 253's Two-Faced Ability allows Hoopa V FST 253 to be dual typed, both Psychic and Dark Type. This allows you an easier chance to attack for Weakness.

Drawing additional cards is always important during a Pokemon match. Professor's Research BRS 147 offers you a way of drawing seven new cards, but you'll need to discard your current hand first. This is a great way to put Darkness Energy cards into your discard pile. Marnie CPA 56 offers you a way to refresh your hand, and can penalize your opponent at the same time. Finally, Trekking Shoes ASR 156 acts as another means of discarding cards, while also allowing you to draw a new card.

Both Quick Ball FST 237 and Ultra Ball BRS 150 allows you to search your deck for the Pokemon you need. As an added bonus, each of these Items require you to discard cards, giving you another way of getting Darkness Energy into your discard pile.

In order to maximize your attacks, you'll be able to rely on these cards to help you choose which of your opponent's Pokemon to attack. Both Boss's Orders BRS 132 and Pokémon Catcher SSH 175 allow you to switch your opponent's Active Pokemon with one from their Bench. Boss's Orders BRS 132 is guaranteed to work, but uses your Supporter for the turn. You can play multiple copies of Pokémon Catcher SSH 175 since it is an Item, but it will only work if you win a coin flip.

This last batch of cards are general all purpose cards which you will usually find to be useful each game. Air Balloon SSH 156 can be attached to any of your Pokemon to allow that Pokemon to retreat for free. Choice Belt BRS 135 allows the Pokemon to which it is attached to deal an additional 30 damage to your opponent's Active Pokemon V. Finally, Pokégear 3.0 SSH 174 allows you to put a Supporter card from the top seven cards of your deck into your hand. As you've seen, there are a lot of good Supporters in this deck, so you'll usually be able to find something useful.

Wrapping Up

Thanks to all of the Energy acceleration in this deck, you'll often be able to attack with Galarian Moltres V CRE 97 right away. You can also keep a lot of that Energy in play even if your Pokemon gets Knocked Out, giving you an edge over your opponent. If you're looking for a deck that starts off fast and never slows down, give this deck a try.

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