Searching Standard: Vespiquen 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 Vespiquen ex OBF 96 and can potentially Knock Out multiple opposing Pokemon with one attack. Let's get started by taking a look at the deck list.

The main attacker for this deck is Vespiquen ex OBF 96. By using its Phantom Queen attack, you'll deal 200 damage to your opponent's Active Pokemon, plus an additional 3 damage counters on each of your opponent's Benched Pokemon that already have damage counters on them. By doing this, you can potentially Knock Out multiple Pokemon at once. However, doing this gets a little easier with the help of some additional Pokemon.

Hawlucha SVI 118's Flying Entry Ability lets you choose two of your opponent's Benched Pokemon to give 1 damage counter to when Hawlucha SVI 118 comes into play. This is the main way to put damage counters onto your opponent's Benched Pokemon, setting up potential future KO's. You can also move damage counters around on your opponent's Pokemon with the help of Radiant Alakazam SIT 59's Painful Spoons Ability.

In the event that your opponent is playing a deck based around a Dark type Pokemon such as Charizard ex OBF 125, Vespiquen ex OBF 96 might have a hard time as your main attacker. You'll want to switch plans and use Leafeon VSTAR CRZ 14 instead. It has the Leaf Guard attack, dealing 180 damage to your opponent's Active Pokemon and preventing 30 damage if Leafeon VSTAR CRZ 14 is attacked during your opponent's next turn. It also has the Ivy Star Ability VSTAR Power, allowing you to switch your opponent's Active Pokemon with one from their Bench. You can choose a Pokemon you're sure to Knock Out, allowing you to take Prize cards.

The last pair of Pokemon are useful due to their Abilities. Mew CEL 11's Mysterious Tail Ability lets you search the top six cards of your deck for an Item card to put into your hand. There's a lot of useful Items in this deck, so there will usually be a card you can find. Manaphy BRS 41 has the Wave Veil Ability, which will keep your Benched Pokemon safe from any damage your opponent's attacks might send their way.

To help get Vespiquen ex OBF 96 powered up to attack right away, you can rely on the help of Gardenia's Vigor ASR 143. You'll get to draw two cards and then attach up to two Grass Energy cards from your hand to one of your Benched Pokemon. And, since your attacks will generally require three Energy, this deck includes a pair of Exp. Share SVI 174, so even if one of your Pokemon gets Knocked Out, you can still keep some Energy in play and out of your discard pile.

To help ensure that you have the Pokemon you need, there are a few Items you can use. First is Battle VIP Pass FST 225, which allows you to search your deck for up to two Basic Pokemon to put onto your Bench. The drawback to this is that you can only play Battle VIP Pass FST 225 on your first turn of the game. There is also Nest Ball SVI 181, which can find a Basic Pokemon, and Ultra Ball SVI 196, which can find any type of Pokemon.

In addition to having Items that help you find the Pokemon you need, there's also Pokégear 3.0 SVI 186 that you can use to help you find a Supporter card from within the top seven cards of your deck. You can find either Professor's Research SVI 190 or Iono PAL 185, which will both allow you to draw a new hand of cards. Iono PAL 185 also helps reset your opponent's hand, and can slow down their momentum, especially if they've taken a lot of their Prize cards.

Having Beach Court SVI 167 in play allows all Basic Pokemon to retreat for one fewer Energy than usual. This will allow nearly all of your Basic Pokemon to retreat for free. For those times you need to retreat a non-Basic Pokemon (or Radiant Alakazam SIT 59), you can use Switch SVI 194 instead. This deck also includes a pair of Boss’s Orders PAL 172 that you can use to attack a specific Pokemon that your opponent has on their Bench.

To round out this deck, there is one copy each of Forest Seal Stone SIT 156 and Escape Rope BST 125. Forest Seal Stone SIT 156 can provide the Star Alchemy Ability VSTAR Power to Leafeon V EVS 7 or Leafeon VSTAR CRZ 14, and it allows you to search your deck for any one card. Escape Rope BST 125 is seen in most decks, as it offers a way for you to move a fully powered Pokemon from your Bench to your Active Spot while also forcing your opponent to switch their Pokemon positions as well.

Wrapping Up

If you're looking for a deck that has the capability of Knocking Out multiple Pokemon at once, you should give this deck a try. It looks to be a lot of fun.

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