Searching Standard: Vespiquen EX - Revisited

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, who can potentially deal damage to each of your opponent's Pokemon when she attacks. Let's get started by taking a look at the deck list.

Vespiquen ex OBF 96 is the main attacker for this deck. By using its Phantom Queen attack, you'll deal 200 damage to your opponent's Active Pokemon, plus you'll place an additional 3 damage counters on any of your opponent's Benched pokemon that have any damage counters. Because of this attack, you'll naturally want to have other ways of placing damage counters on your opponent's Benched pokemon, which you'll see soon. The ACE SPEC for this deck is Sparkling Crystal SCR 142, which allows you to use Vespiquen ex OBF 96's Phantom Queen attack for just two Energy.

In order to get damage on your opponent's Benched Pokemon, you can play Hawlucha SVI 118 to your Bench. Doing this will trigger its Flying Entry Ability, which lets you put 1 damage counter on up to 2 of your opponent's Benched Pokemon. Another way to place damage counters on your opponent's Benched Pokemon is with Froslass TWM 53's Freezing Shroud Ability. This Ability will place 1 damage counter on each non-Froslass Pokemon that has an Ability during Pokemon Checkup.

Another way to put damage counters on your opponent's Benched pokemon is by using Radiant Alakazam SIT 59's Painful Spoons Ability. This ability allows you to move up to 2 damage counters from one of your opponent's Pokemon to another of their Pokemon. Move some damage their Active Pokemon has taken to one of their Benched Pokemon, or finish off an already damaged Pokemon and draw some Prize cards.

By using Teal Mask Ogerpon ex TWM 25's Teal Dance Ability, you're able to accelerate the amount of Energy you can attach each turn, plus you get to draw a card.

This also helps boost the amount of damage you'll do when you attack with its Myriad Leaf Shower attack. Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex TWM 141 is another backup attacker for this deck. Since its Seasoned Skill Ability reduces the amount of Energy needed to attack with its Blood Moon attack, it's a terrific late game attacker. Fezandipiti ex SFA 38 also has a great attack, Cruel Arrow, that you can use to pick off a damaged Pokemon. Plus, its Flip the Script Ability offers you a bit of card draw for those times one of your Pokemon has been Knocked Out.

Tatsugiri TWM 131 is included simply for the use of its Attract Customers Ability, which allows you to put a Supporter card from within the top 6 cards of your deck into your hand. There are a lot of great choices, but many times you'll want to get Gardenia's Vigor ASR 143.

Gardenia's Vigor ASR 143 is yet another way for you to accelerate the amount of Energy you're able to attach to your Pokemon during a turn. It also provides you with a bit more card draw, which is always helpful. Gardenia's Vigor ASR 143 pairs nicely with Earthen Vessel PAR 163, offering you a way to guarantee that you can attach 2 extra Energy to one of your Benched Pokemon. Alternatively, you can play Energy Retrieval SVI 171 as a way to place 2 Basic Energy cards from your discard pile into your hand.

For those times when you need to move Energy to a different attacker, you can play Energy Switch SVI 173. This will allow you to move 1 Basic Energy from one of your Pokemon to another of your Pokemon. The lone copy of Technical Machine: Devolution PAR 177 is included in this deck as a way to gain an advantage over decks that use Stage 2 Pokemon along with Rare Candy. By devolving these Pokemon back to their Basic form, you can often Knock them Out with the extra damage that Vespiquen ex OBF 96's Phantom Queen attack does.

This next batch of cards are typically found in most Standard decks as they way to find the Pokemon you need. Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144 helps you find a pair of Basic Pokemon with 70 HP or less. Nest Ball SVI 181 can find any Basic pokemon and will put it directly onto your Bench. Ultra Ball SVI 196 can be used to find any Pokemon you need, but requires you to discard 2 other cards from your hand in order to play it. By using all of these Items, you should be able to set up your team effectively.

You can play Boss’s Orders PAL 172 to move a Pokemon that has damage counters on it from your opponent's Active Spot to their Bench. This can help you set up a situation where you are able to Knock Out two of their pokemon with a single attack. Rescue Board TEF 159 can be attached to one of your Pokemon to allow it to move more efficiently, possibly for free. The lone copy of Penny SVI 183 offers you a way of putting a Basic Pokemon and all attached cards into your hand, denying your opponent the chance to Knock it Out and take a Prize card.

The final batch of cards all offer you some sort of card advantage. No card consistently allows you to see as many new cards as Professor's Research SVI 190. Drawing seven cards is worth the price of having to discard your current hand when you play this Supporter. For those times when you need to slow down your opponent's momentum, you can play Iono PAL 185. It allows both players to put their current hand on the bottom of their deck and draw a new hand of cards equal to the number of Prize cards they have remaining. Finally, Night Stretcher SFA 61 lets you put either a Basic Energy card or a Pokemon from your discard pile into your hand. You can then play that card a second time, giving you a little extra value.

Wrapping Up

Even though it requires a bit of setup, this deck is a lot of fun to play. While you might not Knock Out multiple Pokemon with a single attack often, you'll certainly remember it when you do.

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