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 Gengar ex TEF 104, a Pokémon I've looked at before, pairing up with Bastiodon PBL 62. Let's get started by taking a look at the deck list.
Gengar ex Revisited
LittleDarkFury
Pokemon
3 Bastiodon 62
1 Budew 16
1 Fezandipiti ex 142
3 Gastly 48
3 Gengar ex 104
2 Haunter 49
1 Munkidori 99
1 Pecharunt ex 39
2 Shieldon 61
1 Yveltal 88
Trainers
3 Antique Armor Fossil 72
2 Boss's Orders 183
4 Buddy-Buddy Poffin 184
3 Colress's Tenacity 57
2 Dawn 87
2 Fossil Quarry 76
1 Grand Tree 136
2 Handheld Fan 150
4 Lillie's Determination 192
1 Morty's Conviction 155
2 Night Stretcher 196
3 Poké Pad 81
4 Rare Candy 125
2 Ultra Ball 213
Energy
6 Darkness Energy
1 Magnetic Metal Energy 85
Gengar ex TEF 104 acts as the primary damage dealer for this deck. It does this in a couple of different ways. First, with its Gnawing Curse Ability, whenever your opponent attaches an Energy card from their hand to one of their Pokémon, 2 damage counters will also be put on that Pokémon. Spreading damage around your opponent's team makes them vulnerable to being Knocked Out unexpectedly. Gengar ex TEF 104 also has the Tricky Steps attack which deals 160 damage. It also allows you to move an Energy attached to your opponent's Active Pokémon to one of their Benched Pokémon if you'd like. This can be especially effective if your opponent is utilizing multiple types of Energy in their deck as you can move away whatever specific type of Energy they need for an attack to a Pokemon that can't utilize that Energy for anything other than Colorless Energy. Obviously you won't want to do this if you'll be Knocking Out their Active Pokémon, but if not, it can be very disruptive to your opponent's plans.
Another reason to move your opponent's Energy around is to maximize the effectiveness of Bastiodon PBL 62's Ancient Bulwark Ability. This Ability works while Bastiodon PBL 62 is on your Bench and will prevent all damage from being done to each of your Pokémon by attacks from your opponent's Pokémon that have 2 or fewer Energy attached to them.
If you're unable to successfully prevent all damage from your opponent's attacks, you can utilize Munkidori ASC 99's Adrena-Brain Ability to move some of that damage to one of your opponent's Pokémon. By doing this, you can score an unexpected Knock Out, taking advantage of the damage being spread around with Gengar ex TEF 104's Gnawing Curse Ability. Pecharunt ex SFA 39 has the Subjugating Chains Ability which allows you to switch any of your Benched Darkness Pokémon, other than Pecharunt ex SFA 39, with your Active Pokémon in exchange for that new Active Pokémon becoming Poisoned. You can turn that disadvantage into a benefit, as you can move that damage to your opponent's team with Munkidori ASC 99's Adrena-Brain Ability.
Fezandipiti ex ASC 142 is included in this deck for the use of its Flip the Script Ability, which can help catch you up if one of your Pokémon gets Knocked Out. It also has the Cruel Arrow attack that can be used if needed. This is another way you can snipe a wounded Pokémon that your opponent is trying to keep safe on their Bench. Yveltal MEG 88 is a good backup attacker. Its Clutch attack can lock your opponent's Active Pokémon in place, forcing them to use a Trainer card in order to retreat. Budew ASC 16 is a great early game attacker, being able to use its Itchy Pollen attack without needing any Energy attached. This attack also prevents your opponent from playing any Item cards from their hand, making it difficult or impossible for them to effectively search their deck for what they need.
Our first batch of Trainer cards all help you find the Pokémon you need. Buddy-Buddy Poffin ASC 184 can be used to search out either Budew ASC 16 or Gastly POR 48. It cannot be used to help you find Antique Armor Fossil PBL 72, unfortunately, as it doesn't gain the status of being a Basic Pokémon until after it is in play. Poké Pad POR 81 lets you search the top portion of your deck for nearly any Pokémon you need, as long as that Pokémon doesn't have a Rule Box. For those Pokémon, you'll want to use Ultra Ball ASC 213 to search your deck. It does require you to discard 2 other cards from your hand in order to play it, but there are ways to reuse those cards.
Dawn PFL 87 is another great way to find the Pokémon you need from your deck. With her, you can find a Basic Pokémon, a Stage 1 Pokémon, and a Stage 2 Pokémon. And remember, those Pokémon don't have to be from the same evolution line. She helps you fill in the gaps if something is missing. Since this deck utilizes a couple different Stage 2 Pokémon, it should come as no surprise that there's a full playset of Rare Candy MEG 125 included in the deck to help you evolve more easily.
The printing of Fossil Quarry PBL 76 has made it easier to play decks that require Antique Armor Fossil PBL 72, as it allows you to search your deck for up to 2 Item cards that have "Antique" in their name. Grand Tree SCR 136 is the ACE SPEC for this deck, which plays as a universal Rare Candy of sorts, allowing you to quickly and efficiently evolve into Gengar ex TEF 104 or Bastiodon PBL 62. Playing Colress's Tenacity SFA 57 helps you easily find whichever Stadium you need, plus you can also find an Energy card to put into your hand.
Helping keep your opponent's Energy disrupted is Handheld Fan TWM 150. By attaching this Pokémon Tool, you'll be able to move an Energy card from their Active Pokémon to one of their Benched Pokémon whenever your Pokémon with the Handheld Fan TWM 150 attached to it is damaged by an opponent's attack. Boss's Orders ASC 183 is found in most decks as a way of disrupting an opponent's plans, allowing you to switch their Active Pokémon with one from their Bench. You'll usually want to choose a Pokémon you can Knock Out easily, but you could also choose whichever Benched Pokémon has the most Energy attached to it. Then, if you Knock it Out, all of that Energy will go to their discard pile, likely making it more difficult for them to attack in the future.
Lillie's Determination ASC 192 is the premier card drawing engine for this deck, refreshing your hand and helping to keep your options wide open. Morty's Conviction TEF 155 is also capable of replenishing your hand, but it is more situational, depending on the number of Benched Pokémon your opponent has in play. The final card is Night Stretcher ASC 196 which is commonly used in Standard as a way to reutilize Pokémon or Basic Energy cards that have managed to make their way to your discard pile.
Wrapping Up
This deck has a few ways to disrupt your opponent's plans, the primary of which is Gengar ex TEF 104's Tricky Steps attack. By moving Energy around and placing damage counters whenever new Energy is attached, you create an environment of chaos, making planning for future turns difficult, if not impossible, for your opponent.
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 Pokémon TCG. I'll see you then!
- Mike Likes
