Searching Standard: Articuno Paralyze Lock

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 Articuno SIT 36, and attempts to gain an advantage by Paralyzing the opponent's Active Pokemon. Let's get started by taking a look at the deck.

Articuno SIT 36 is the main attacker for this deck, and you'll want to use its Wild Freeze attack as often as possible. Doing this will deal 70 damage to your opponent's Active Pokemon and leave it Paralyzed. Since many decks in our current Standard environment aren't running many copies of Switch (if any), you can lock your opponent's Active Pokemon in place while you chip away at its HP. Wild Freeze does also deal 50 damage to Articuno SIT 36, but this deck has ways to deal with this.

By using Munkidori TWM 95's Adrena-Brain Ability, as long as you have a Darkness Energy attached, Munkidori TWM 95 can move up to 3 damage counters from one of your Pokemon to one of your opponent's Pokemon. Not only is this a great way to heal your Articuno SIT 36, but it can also result in getting an additional Knock Out. You also have a copy of Radiant Tsareena SIT 16 who has the Elegant Heal Ability, which will heal 20 damage from each of your Pokemon every turn.

As an additional way to deal a bit of extra damage, you can get Froslass TWM 53 in play. With its Freezing Shroud Ability, any Pokemon (except Froslass) that has an Ability will receive 1 damage counter during Pokemon Checkup. That extra bit of damage will go a long way in making it easier to Knock Out some Pokemon.

Cleffa OBF 80 has the Grasping Draw attack, which can be used without having any Energy attached. This can be a great way to refill your hand to 7 cards at the end of your turn. The final Pokemon in this deck is Mawile LOR 71, who has the Tempting Trap attack. By using this attack, you make it so that your opponent cannot retreat their Active Pokemon on their next turn, plus you'll deal an extra 90 damage from any attack you make.

The Trainer cards in this deck are all pretty standard cards, so I'll only briefly touch on them. First up are the cards that help us find the Pokemon we need. All of these are limited to finding only Basic Pokemon, and both Artazon PAL 171 and Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144 have further restrictions. Only Nest Ball SVI 181 is capable of finding any Basic Pokemon from your deck, and it will then go straight onto your Bench. By remembering the limitations each card has, you can use these to their maximum potential.

Next, we have some Supporters that help find the cards you need. Irida ASR 147 is a great way of finding a copy of Froslass TWM 53, if you need one. Both Iridia ASR 147 and Arven SVI 166 help you find an Item card you might need, and Arven SVI 166 also can find a Pokemon Tool. Finally, Iono PAL 185 acts as a way of drawing a new hand, and a way to reset your opponent's hand, possibly slowing their plans down.

Our next batch of cards are all helpful in finding Energy you might need. Crispin SCR 133 can help you get the much needed Darkness Energy onto Munkidori TWM 95 without having to sacrifice attaching an Energy to Articuno SIT 36. Earthen Vessel PAR 163 and Night Stretcher SFA 61 can both help find Energy you might need, whether it is from within your deck or from your discard pile. Night Stretcher SFA 61 can also be used to return a Pokemon from your discard pile to your hand if you need that more than Energy.

You can further help maximize the effectiveness of your Energy by attaching Exp. Share SVI 174 to one of your Pokemon. This will help ensure that Energy doesn't go to waste if one of your Pokemon gets Knocked Out. By playing Counter Catcher PAR 160, you'll have the ability to choose a specific Pokemon of your opponent to move to their Active Spot. Remember, the goal is to lock them into the Active Spot and not allow them to attack, so be sure to choose someone your opponent has been powering up.

Attaching a Rescue Board TEF 159 to one of your Pokemon allows that Pokemon to Retreat easier. Switch Cart ASR 154 can also offer mobility, plus it provides a bit of additional healing to boot.

Super Rod PAL 188 is another way of reusing cards from your discard pile. It will return up to 3 Pokemon or Basic Energy to your deck. Technical Machine: Devolution PAR 177 will be very useful against certain opponents. By Devolving their Pokemon, you'll reduce the amount of damage needed to Knock those Pokemon Out. Finally, Unfair Stamp TWM 165 is another way to refresh each player's hand, while simultaneously lowering the number of cards your opponent has access to.

Wrapping Up

By Paralyzing your opponent's Active Pokemon, they will be unable to Retreat or attack. Since many current Standard decks are not running any copies of Switch (or very few), you can set it up so that your opponent is unable to do much on their turn. If this sounds like fun to you, give this deck a try.

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