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 Arboliva ex DRI 23, a Pokémon capable of delivering a big hit or lots of little ones. Let's get started by taking a look at the deck list.
Arboliva ex Deck
LittleDarkFury
Pokémon
1 Fezandipiti ex 38
1 Toedscool 17
1 Budew 4
2 Smoliv 21
2 Dolliv 22
2 Arboliva ex 23
2 Meganium 10
1 Toedscruel ex 22
2 Bayleef 9
2 Chikorita 8
1 Toedscruel 17
3 Teal Mask Ogerpon ex 25
Trainers
1 Lana's Aid 155
4 Lillie's Determination 192
1 Unfair Stamp 165
2 Nest Ball 181
4 Ultra Ball 131
3 Dawn 87
1 Poké Pad 198
1 Night Stretcher 61
2 Iono 185
2 Boss's Orders 172
4 Bug Catching Set 102
4 Forest of Vitality 188
Energy
11 Grass Energy
By attacking with Arboliva ex DRI 23's Aroma Shot attack, you can deal 160 damage to your opponent's Active Pokémon, while also removing all Special Conditions from yourself. That damage can go a long way towards Knocking Out your opponent's Active Pokémon within one or two turns. Arboliva ex DRI 23 also has the Oil Salvo attack which will deal a total of 120 damage that isn't affected by either Weakness or Resistance. Since this damage can be spread across up to 6 of your opponent's Pokémon, it makes it possible to Knock Out multiple Pokémon with a single attack.
Helping your Basic Grass Energy be more effective, Meganium MEG 10's Wild Growth Ability doubles the Grass Energy each Basic Grass card provides. Meganium MEG 10 also has its Solar Beam attack, which deals 140 damage for just 2 Energy (as long as Wild Growth is in effect). Not too shabby.
Both Toedscruel ex OBF 22 and Toedscruel PAR 17 have Abilities that could be very helpful during the game. Toedscruel ex OBF 22 has the Protective Mycelium Ability which prevents all effects of attacks your opponent's Pokémon will do to any Pokémon you have that has any Energy attached. Toedscruel PAR 17 has the Slime Mold Colony Ability, making it so that your opponent cannot put any cards from their discard pile into their hand with an Ability or Trainer card. Either of these Abilities could be very useful against the right opponent. Toedscruel ex OBF 22's Colony Rush attack can deal up to 280 damage, while Toedscruel PAR 17's Mushroom Drain attack offers it a bit of healing.
Budew PRE 4 is a great early game attacker, using its Itchy Pollen attack to slow down an opponent that is relying on playing Item cards to accelerate their gameplay. Teal Mask Ogerpon ex TWM 25's Teal Dance Ability offers the means of accelerating your Energy attachment while providing you a way to draw extra cards. By attaching extra Energy to it, you'll deal more damage when you attack with its Myriad Leaf Shower attack. Fezandipiti ex SFA 38 is included for the use of its Flip the Script Ability, which can help you recover after suffering a Knock Out.
This first batch of Trainer cards are all useful in helping you find the Pokémon you need. Nest Ball SVI 181 can help find any Basic Pokémon to put onto your Bench, while Ultra Ball MEG 131 helps you find any Pokémon you need, regardless of whether it is Basic or Evolved. Dawn PFL 87 helps you find a Basic Pokémon, a Stage 1 Pokémon, and a Stage 2 Pokémon to put into your hand. These Pokémon don't have to come from the same Evolution line, so feel free to get whatever is most needed.
Poké Pad ASC 198 is another useful way of finding a Pokémon that doesn't have a Rule Box to put into your hand. Bug Catching Set PRE 102 can also help you find any Grass Type Pokémon from the top 7 cards of your deck. It can also help you find Basic Grass Energy there as well, which makes this card very versatile. Since this deck relies on a variety of Stage 2 Pokémon, there is a playset of Forest of Vitality ASC 188 included, which allows any of your Grass Type Pokémon to evolve at any time, except for your first turn of the game. This effect will benefit both players, but hopefully you'll get a bigger boost from this than your opponent does.
Every deck needs to draw extra cards to be successful, and there's no better way in Standard to draw extra cards than by playing Lillie's Determination ASC 192. Playing Iono PAL 185 also has the potential to allow you to draw a lot of new cards, but an added benefit of playing it is that it resets your opponent's hand and, hopefully, slows down their momentum.
Both Boss's Orders PAL 172 and Unfair Stamp TWM 165, the ACE SPEC for this deck, allow you to choose one of your opponent's Benched Pokémon to move to their Active Spot. Choose a Pokémon you're able to Knock Out with ease, and one that can provide you with multiple Prize cards, if possible.
The last couple of cards all help with being able to use cards that have gone to your discard pile an additional time. Lana's Aid TWM 155 and Night Stretcher SFA 61 are similar. They both allow you to return Pokémon or Basic Energy cards from your discard pile. However, Lana's Aid TWM 155 can only return Pokémon that don't have a Rule Box, while Night Stretcher SFA 61 has no such restriction. Lana's Aid TWM 155 allows you to return up to 3 cards, while Night Stretcher SFA 61 is limited to only returning 1 card.
Wrapping Up
Whether you're hoping to deal a lot of damage to a single Pokémon, or a little damage to multiple Pokémon, Arboliva ex DRI 23 has an attack that can help you out.
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
