Searching Standard: Tapu Koko VMAX

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 Rare Candy. It features Tapu Koko VMAX BST 51 and offers a means of combating the decks featuring Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR ASR 40. Let's begin by taking a look at the deck list.

With Tapu Koko VMAX BST 51, you'll be able to attack with its Max Shock attack, dealing 180 damage to your opponent's Active pokemon. If your opponent has taken more of their Prize cards than you have, you'll also Paralyze that Pokemon, giving you a possible advantage for your next attack. The question then is how to have more Prize cards remaining than your opponent without getting Knocked Out and potentially losing two or three Prizes?

The answer to that question is Electrode VIV 46. By using its Buzzap Generator Ability, you will Knock Out Electrode VIV 46 in order to search your deck for two Lightning Energy cards to attach to your Pokemon in any way you'd like. This results in powering up your Tapu Koko VMAX BST 51 while only losing a single Prize card.

To find the Pokemon you need from within your deck, this batch of Trainer cards can be used. Quick Ball SSH 179 can find any Basic Pokemon, while Evolution Incense SSH 163 will find any Evolution Pokemon. Ultra Ball BRS 150 can find any Pokemon you need, but at a higher cost of requiring you to discard two cards. All of these cards are usually found in nearly every deck in Standard.

Drawing extra cards is another thing that nearly every deck in Standard wants to do. That's what this batch of Trainers is included for. With Professor's Research SSH 178, you can draw seven new cards, but you'll have to discard your current hand in order to do so. Make sure you've played anything helpful prior to playing Professor's Research SSH 178. Avery CRE 130 lets you draw three cards, but also requires your opponent to discard Pokemon from their Bench until only three remain. This is a great card to use against decks that get a bonus for each Benched Pokemon in play. Finally, with Pokegear 3.0 SSH 174, you can put any single Supporter that is in the top seven cards of your deck into your hand. Supporter cards are usually pretty powerful (that's why you're limited to playing only one per turn), so getting one of your choice is important.

Both Marnie SSH 169 and Roxanne ASR 150 allow you to draw extra cards, but that's not their main use. Instead, these are both mainly used to slow down your opponent's momentum, as both will shuffle each player's hand into their deck. Then each player will draw a new hand of cards, hopefully more cards for you than you had and less for your opponent. By playing these cards, you'll hopefully disrupt your opponent's plans long enough to give you an advantage in the game.

Boss's Orders BRS 132 allows you to choose which of your opponent's Pokemon you want to attack. This can allow you to attack an opposing Pokemon that is weak to your Active Pokemon, or to pound on a Pokemon that you're sure to be able to Knock Out. Boss's Orders BRS 132 is sure to be a Supporter you'll want to shuffle back into your deck when you play Pal Pad SSH 172, although with so many other great Supporters in this deck, it's sure to have competition.

Our final pair of Trainer cards are the Stadium cards included in this deck. Path to the Peak CRE 148 shuts off any Ability your opponent's Pokemon has if that Pokemon has a Rule Box. It will not affect any of the Pokemon in this deck. Temple of Sinnoh ASR 155 helps to negate the effect of any Special Energy attached to a Pokemon. While this will mean that your own Speed Lightning Energy RCL 173 will no longer provide Lightning Energy, as long as you're not attaching a new copy of Speed Lightning Energy RCL 173, you'll generally be unaffected. Hopefully Temple of Sinnoh ASR 155 will have a worse effect on your opponent's plans.

Wrapping Up

At the Regional Melbourne tournament, the entire Top 8 was composed of decks featuring Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR ASR 40. The following week at the Regional Milwaukee, WI tournament, there were only three decks in the Top 8 featuring Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR ASR 40. While Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR ASR 40 might not be the boogeyman it once seemed to be, it's nice to know that this deck can act as a decent counter to it.

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