Introduction

Hello Flipside Readers! Andrew here again with another article covering a new deck that I have been testing for the upcoming rotation format (Team UP - Darkness Ablaze). With Darkness Ablaze officially releasing this week, I have been putting more time into testing new cards from the set. There is one card in particular that I have seen pop up a lot in passing and today I wanted to put a different spin on it. Let’s get into the article!

Centiskorch VMAX

When trying to evaluate the potential of most fire type cards, the obvious question I ask myself is “Does this synergize with Welder?”. Reason being, and I am sure that most people already know, is that Welder is one of the strongest supporters in the format and it serves most fire deck’s propensity for energy acceleration. Needless to say, that was an easy box to check. Furthermore, its high hp -- albeit not the highest vmax we’ve seen -- coupled with its infinite damage pool means that this card is at least worth looking at. 

Why use Green’s Exploration?

I’m sure that many who are reading this article have already seen other Centiskorch lists and might be curious about the decision to run a Green’s Exploration engine over faster and more aggressive engines. The format offers plenty of draw options in the form of bench sitters and while those methods are efficient, they are often going to be taken advantage of by ADP Zacian which is undeniably one of the best decks coming into this next format. The game could easily be over in 3 turns as they pick off benched Dedenne GX and Crobat V after using Alter Creation in the first few turns. This means that while taking advantage of these powerful draw cards can be great for speeding through your deck, it can also render you vulnerable to losing quickly to the best deck in the format. This is not a problem that only plagues Centiskorch but instead an increasing problem I foresee with the upcoming format.

This is where I find solace in using a Green’s Exploration engine. Your bench is usually not filled with easy targets for Boss’s Orders and Zacian cannot one shot Centiskroch VMAX. Coupled this idea with an ample amount of healing and you can potentially turn the tables on ADP by denying them prize cards and running through their Zacians each turn. 

Volcanion UBR

This card is ideally what we want to start with every game. The first attack is perfect for our game plan since we need to wait a turn before evolving into our VMAX and it accelerates a lot of energy from the deck. This card also provides a solid follow up attack which deals a modest amount of damage which in turns sets up larger Pokemon to be knocked out on the following turn. It’s also a great card for dealing with the new Decidueye which blocks damage from Vs and GX, although the jury is still out on the impact that card will have in the meta. Nevertheless, this card is a great partner for Centiskorch and an easy 4 of inclusion.

Centiskorch VMAX

I have already touched on this card in the beginning but I will highlight again some of the best qualities of it. I feel like every VMAX having such outrageously high HP is a benefit in formats where attackers are not reaching that far. While 320 hp is still not the highest we’ve seen, it does mean that we are able to withstand more than one attack in most cases and keep developing the board state. The attack is very efficient to set up. Using Welder and Volcanion UNB gives us plenty of opportunities to set up Centiskorch VMAX to do massive amounts of damage. The bonus effect of accelerating an energy from the discard is also great because it can help snowball the game into Centiskorch’s favor. As it stands, this deck is one of the few that can one shot anything due to its nonexistent damage cap. In summary, this card hits hard and can survive multiple attacks. There is a great deal of potential for this card to be able to handle some of this next format’s heavy hitters. 

Victini V

To round out the attackers, I think this card is a great tech card. This card is basically a mix between Volcanion UMB and Cenitskorch VMAX. It’s first attack can be used to accelerate fire energy in order to set up a Centiskorch VMAX on the bench. It’s second attack is great for dealing substantial damage, especially if our opponent has committed a lot of energy to their active pokemon. I have found that this card works well in the mirror, since it can punish the opponent for stockpiling too many engines on their Centiskorch VMAX. 

Trainers

Green’s Exploration + Welder

These two supporters are the backbone to what keeps the deck running. While it might not have the aggression that decks using Crobat V and Dedenne GX will have, it does open up some strategic play and in turn makes you less vulnerable to ADP’s strategy.

I went into detail on Green’s Exploration earlier and this card is especially important because it allows us to grab the cards we need from our deck to start setting up Centiskroch VMAX. This card can be used to grab many of our early consistency cards as well as some tech trainers to deal with certain match ups. Ideally this is the supporter we want to use in our early turns to use Volcanion’s Flare starter and to start accumulating cards for later turns. This card is also great for searching out all of the healing cards in the deck in order to keep Centiskorch VMAX alive for as long as possible. 

Welder is the other important supporter card in the deck and allows Centiskroch VMAX to swing for high numbers if left unchecked. Being able to accelerate 3 energies a turn adds 120 damage to our current output which means there is potential for us to be swinging for 280-320 in just a few turns. The extra draw that this card has built in is also great for consistency and helps us develop our hand for future turns.

Hyper Potion + Mallow and Lana

One of the main advantages to this build is not giving up cheap prizes to bench sitters. However, that means we need to do what we can to preserve the longevity of our main attacker. For this reason, I have found Hyper Potion to actually be a good fit for the deck. Two energies can be an expensive price to pay for healing, but this card effectively gets in at a discount since you get the ability to accelerate an energy at the end of your turn. You also can use Welder to keep plenty of energy on Centiskroch VMAX. 

Mallow and Lana is also here to assist with healing off damage from Centiskorch VMAX. Unlike Hyper Potion however, it does not require us to discard energy. The only potential downside to this card is that it does eat up our supporter for turn, however I have found the one copy to be satisfactory and puts in just enough work to deserve an inclusion. 

Big Charm

Being all in on one or two attackers is risky and we need to make sure that our attacker is sticking around as long as possible. Big Charm is great because the extra 30 hp ensures that most Pokemon are not two shooting this card without significant investment. The extra HP coupled with the healing mentioned previously keeps this card from going down quickly and puts pressure on your opponent to devote more resources in order to take even one of these VMAX’s down. Lastly, this card is also a soft counter for certain Water decks. Surprisingly, most viable Water Pokemon that would threaten Centiskorch VMAX are damage capped at 160 so the extra 30 hp puts this card slightly outside of that range. 

Switch + Air Balloon

Switch, as the name might imply, is the de facto switch card of the format. Having the option to shift Pokemon is important for not only consistency but also for preventing certain pokemon from getting knocked out. Unfortunately, we cannot start Volcanion every game (although we do have a 51.38% chance of that happening) so we need to make sure we can pivot Centiskorch V and Victini V from the active on our first turn. 

Air Balloon functions in a similar manner but is more so in here to give us a pivot option from Mallow and Lana. With Volcanion only having two retreats, we can then utilize that Pokemon as a free retreating Pokemon without having to worry about discarding energy. Something else I have noticed is that some ADP Lists are running a copy of Milotic V which is a water Pokemon that does 50 damage for each energy in the opposing pokemon’s retreat cost. Combined with the extra 30 damage from ADP, this card can take down our Centiskorch VMAX in one blow unless we attach an Air Balloon to mitigate the damage. 

Giant Hearth and Energy Spinner

Giant Hearth is a staple card in most fire decks due to its efficiency and synergy with Welder. This card also allows us to thin our deck and start ridding our hand of dead cards or energy to accelerate with Centiskorch VMAX’s attack. The more that we can thin out of this deck early, the more we are likely to draw into useful cards later on. Most importantly, we can grab this card using Green’s Exploration which is great for follow up turns when we want to find energy to use with Welder.

Energy Spinner is another way for us to accumulate energy in the early turns. Sadly, we are losing Fiery Flint in the rotation but Energy Spinner can still put in work. Ideally we want to opt to go second in most games to use Volcanion’s Flare Starter attack for full value. This also pairs well with Energy spinner since we can use it on our first turn, again assuming we are going second, to stack our hand with energy for the following turns. Similar to Giant Hearth, this is another way for us to get energy using Green’s Exportation.

Power Plant

Power Plant certainly does lose value as less GX pokemon see play. However, using this card in conjunction with Reset Stamp is still a powerful combo and can help with swinging momentum into our favor. Stopping cards like Dedenne GX can be great for slowing down ADPZ from drawing the nuts to set up that coveted turn 1 GX attack. I also think this card is great for stopping Heatran GX from coming in and blowing up our active. 

Conclusion

I will say that this list needs more refinement, I do see an opening for decks that can utilize non Dedenne GX and Crobat V engines when combating the overwhelming force that is ADP Zacian. This deck seemed like an ideal place to start and I plan on looking into other defensive strategies that can make use of the bulk that VMAX pokemon have. I look forward to testing this list more and making refinements as time goes on. I personally have a lot of faith in Centiskorch VMAX and hopefully this provided a different perspective on how to approach the deck. I would encourage players to start looking into alternative draw engines like Green Exploration because it is one of the few counter strategies we can use against ADPZ. 

With all that said, thank you so much for reading! I look forward to seeing how the meta will now begin to develop as more players start to test for the next format. You can expect more post rotation articles from me in the future so make sure to follow me on Twitter (@theSkyPillar)  if you want to be updated when my next article drops. Also make sure to check out FlipSide Gaming for all your Darkness Ablaze needs. Best of luck with your pulls and I will see you next time!

-Andrew Martin