Searching Standard: Glaceon 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 Glaceon ex PRE 26, a Pokemon that spreads damage around and can Knock Out any Pokemon with relative ease. Let's get started by taking a look at the deck list.

When you attack with Glaceon ex PRE 26's Frost Bullet attack, you'll deal 110 damage to your opponent's Active Pokemon and an additional 30 damage to one of their Benched Pokemon. This additional damage is worth noting because of Glaceon ex PRE 26's other attack, Euclase. With Euclase, you'll be able to Knock Out any Pokemon that has exactly 6 damage counters on it. As you'll see, you can manipulate the placement of damage counters in a few different ways to help you achieve a Knock Out when you use this attack. Speaking of this, there is a copy of Vaporeon ex PRE 23 that deals 60 damage to each of your opponent's Pokemon ex with its Severe Squall attack. This attack can go a long way towards getting you easy Knock Outs.

Froslass TWM 53 helps get additional damage counters onto Pokemon that have Abilities (except other Froslass) with its Freezing Shroud Ability. Its inclusion in this deck is specifically for this purpose, so don't try attacking with it unless you have no other choice.

By attaching a Darkness Energy to Munkidori TWM 95, you can enable its Adrena-Brain Ability, allowing you to move up to 3 damage counters from one of your Pokemon to one of your opponent's Pokemon. With Radiant Alakazam SIT 59's Painful Spoons Ability, you can move up to 2 damage counters from one of your opponent's Pokemon to another of their Pokemon. By moving damage counters with these Abilities, you can help ensure that the Pokemon you find most threatening has 6 damage counters on it, making it a prime target for Glaceon ex PRE 26's Euclase attack.

Both Budew PRE 4 and Cleffa OBF 80 offer you attacks that can be used without having any Energy attached. Budew PRE 4 has the Itchy Pollen attack, which will prevent your opponent from playing any Item cards from their hand during their next turn. Use this to trap a Pokemon into the Active Spot and whittle away their HP slowly. Cleffa OBF 80 can help you refill your hand with its Grasping Draw attack. Even though using this attack ends your turn, you'll have a handful of 7 cards for your next turn.

Helping you find the Energy you need, this deck has a few different Trainer cards specifically for this purpose. Crispin SCR 133 finds two different types of Energy for you to attach to your Pokemon. Earthen Vessel PAR 163 can be played to ensure you can find a specific type of Energy from your deck. Glass Trumpet SCR 135 can be a handy way of attaching Energy to multiple Pokemon, assuming you have any Energy in your discard pile.

To help make attacking easier, this deck utilizes Sparkling Crystal SCR 142 as its ACE SPEC. When this is attached to a Tera pokemon, attacks by that Pokemon require one less Energy to use. This is a great Pokemon Tool that helps reduce the amount of Energy you need to include in a deck.

To find the Basic pokemon you need, this deck has a variety of cards that you can use. By putting Artazon PAL 171 in play, each player will be able to search for a Basic Pokemon without a Rule Box to put onto their Bench. Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144 can find up to 2 Basic Pokemon with 70 HP or less that will go to your Bench. You also have a pair of Nest Ball SVI 181 cards that can find any Basic Pokemon from within your deck.

While it can certainly be used to search your deck for a Basic pokemon, you'll most often want to use Ultra Ball SVI 196 to search for an evolution Pokemon. While there's no limit to what it can find, you do have to discard two cards to play Ultra Ball SVI 196, so use it wisely.

For those times when you want to trap a Pokemon in your opponent's Active Spot while you limit their mobility with Budew PRE 4's Itchy Pollen attack, you can swap your opponent's Active Pokemon with one from their Bench using either Boss’s Orders PAL 172 or Counter Catcher PAR 160. Remember that Counter Catcher PAR 160 can only be played if you have more Prize cards remaining than your opponent does. Rescue Board TEF 159 can be attached to one of your Pokemon to help provide them with a bit more mobility, potentially allowing them to retreat for free.

This deck includes some of the best Supporters in Standard. When you play Arven SVI 166, you'll be able to search your deck for a Pokemon Tool and an Item card. Arven SVI 166 provides you with so much value, it's no surprise he is found in most Standard Decks. Iono PAL 185 is also a favorite in most Standard decks. She resets both players hands, potentially halting your opponent's momentum in its tracks. Then there's Irida ASR 147, who is generally only found in decks with Water Type Pokemon. She lets you search your deck for any Water Type Pokemon and an Item card to put into your hand.

Playing Night Stretcher SFA 61 is a great way to immediately reuse a card that has gone to your discard pile. It allows you to get either a Pokemon or Basic Energy card from your discard pile to put into your hand. That card can then be played immediately for maximum value. The final card in this deck is Technical Machine: Devolution PAR 177, which is a situational card that will either be useless or invaluable.

Wrapping Up

If you're looking for a deck that has everything needed to take down any and all opponents, no matter how big they are, you should give this deck a try. By spreading damage around, you'll be able to get 6 damage counters on whichever Pokemon you'd like, Knocking them Out with ease with Glaceon ex PRE 26's Euclase attack.

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