Searching Standard: Salvatore / Banette 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 Banette ex SVI 88, and is capable of keeping your opponent from playing Item cards throughout the game. Let's get started by taking a look at the deck list.

By going second, you'll be able to play Salvatore TEF 160 on your first turn of the game, evolving Shuppet SVI 87 into Banette ex SVI 88. This will allow you to attack with Banette ex SVI 88's Everlasting Darkness attack that same turn. Doing this will only place 30 damage on your opponent's Active Pokemon, but, more importantly, it will lock your opponent from being able to play any Item cards on their next turn. This will close off the majority of ways to find specific cards from their deck, including both Pokemon and Energy cards. Use this attack turn after turn to continually deny them the use of Item cards.

Paldean Clodsire ex PAL 130 is able to Poison your opponent's Active Pokemon as long as there is a Stadium in play, thanks to its Toxic Wetland Ability. That can come in quite handy as a means of additional damage, since Banette ex SVI 88's Everlasting Darkness attack only deals 30 damage.

If you do manage to Poison your opponent's Active Pokemon, you can deal even more damage while you have Radiant Hisuian Sneasler LOR 123 in play. Its Poison Peak Ability places an additional 2 damage counters on your opponent's Poisoned Pokemon, resulting in 30 damage in between each player's turn. Plus, if you happen to have Perilous Jungle TEF 156 in play, another 2 damage counters are placed on Poisoned non-Darkness Type Pokemon each Pokemon Checkup.

Another Pokemon that you might want to evolve into with the help of Salvatore TEF 160 is Aerodactyl VSTAR LOR 93. Its Ancient Star VSTAR Power attack provides you with the effect of negating any Ability your opponent's Pokemon V will have. This can shut off a lot of options for many decks.

Mew ex MEW 151 is primarily included in this deck as a source of card drawing. Its Restart Ability allows you to draw cards until you have 3 cards in your hand, once per turn. It can also make for a good backup attacker. Squawkabilly ex PAL 169 is included for its Squawk and Seize Ability, which lets you draw a new hand of six cards on your first turn of the game.

If you attach Hero's Cape TEF 152 to Banette ex SVI 88, your opponent might have difficulty removing it while they are unable to play Item cards. The extra 100 HP Hero's Cape TEF 152 provides will go a long way towards keeping Banette ex SVI 88 in the fray, denying your opponent Item cards for multiple turns. Both Switch SVI 194 and Rescue Board TEF 159 are included to help mobilize your Pokemon when someone other than Banette ex SVI 88 has been moved to your Active Spot.

To help you find the Pokemon you need, this deck includes the usual package of Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144, Nest Ball SVI 181, and Ultra Ball SVI 196. Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144 is a great way of finding two Basic Pokemon with 70 HP or less. Nest Ball SVI 181 can be used to find any of your Basic Pokemon. Finally, Ultra Ball SVI 196 allows you to find any Pokemon you need, but it requires you to discard two other cards in order to play it.

As another way of finding the cards you need, this deck includes a pair of Colress's Experiment LOR 155. With this, you'll filter the best three cards from the top five cards of your deck, sending the other two to the Lost Zone. Forest Seal Stone SIT 156 provides you with the Star Alchemy Ability VSTAR Power, which allows you to search your deck for any card you need. There's also one copy of Hisuian Heavy Ball ASR 146, which you can use to make sure your most-needed Basic Pokemon aren't locked away in your Prize cards.

To make sure your attacks are as impactful as they can be, you can choose which of your opponent's Pokemon to attack by moving them to the Active Spot with Boss’s Orders PAL 172. Plus, since most of your attacks will come from evolved Pokemon, you can play Pokémon League Headquarters OBF 192 to hinder your opponent further.

As a means of drawing extra cards, you can use both Iono PAL 185 and Professor's Research SVI 190. Iono PAL 185 gets rid of each player's current hand and forces them to draw a new hand based on the number of Prize cards they have remaining. This can be a great way of slowing down your opponent's momentum, as they can end up with only a card or two. Professor's Research SVI 190 can be played to enable you to draw a new seven card hand, but you'll need to discard your current hand before drawing these new cards.

The last pair of Trainers are general all-purpose cards found in many decks. Lost Vacuum LOR 162 is a great card to play to remove an annoying Pokemon Tool or Stadium your opponent has in play. Super Rod PAL 188 is a great way of utilizing cards you've already played, shuffling them back into your deck where you'll be able to search for or draw them once again.

Wrapping Up

By locking your opponent from being able to play Item cards, you deny them the chance to get up and running. When this deck does that on its first turn, your opponent will be in for a long game that might seem impossible. That's what playing this deck is all about.

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