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 two of the best Pokémon currently in Standard, Gholdengo ex PAR 139 and Ethan's Typhlosion DRI 34. Let's get started by taking a look at the deck list.
Gholdengo ex / Ethan's Typhlosion
LittleDarkFury
Pokemon
2 Ethan's Cyndaquil 32
2 Ethan's Quilava 33
2 Ethan's Typhlosion 34
1 Fezandipiti ex 38
1 Genesect ex 67
4 Gholdengo ex 139
4 Gimmighoul 97
Trainers
2 Air Balloon 79
4 Arven 166
1 Boss’s Orders 172
4 Buddy-Buddy Poffin 101
1 Counter Catcher 160
2 Earthen Vessel 106
4 Ethan's Adventure 165
1 Iono 80
3 Nest Ball 181
1 Night Stretcher 61
1 Picnic Basket 184
1 Prime Catcher 119
1 Professor Turo's Scenario 121
1 Super Rod 188
4 Superior Energy Retrieval 189
1 Technical Machine: Evolution 178
1 Ultra Ball 91
Energy
7 Basic Fire Energy
4 Basic Metal Energy
Having Gholdengo ex PAR 139 in play can result in you drawing a bunch of extra cards. If it's on your Bench, Gholdengo ex PAR 139's Coin Bonus Ability allows you to draw an extra card each turn. If Gholdengo ex PAR 139 is in your Active Spot though, you'll get to draw a total of two cards. That can really help out, since you need to discard Basic Energy cards from your hand in order for its Make It Rain attack to deal any damage. Luckily, as you'll see, there are ways of getting those discarded Energy cards back.
Ethan's Typhlosion DRI 34 makes a great backup attacker. For just a single Energy, you can use its Buddy Blast attack. While the base damage for this attack is only 40 damage, you'll deal an additional 60 damage for each copy of Ethan's Adventure DRI 165 in your discard pile. If you manage to get all 4 copies there, this attack will deal a whopping 280 damage. Pretty good for only 1 Energy.
The remaining Pokémon in this deck are primarily included for their Abilities. Genesect ex BLK 67's Metallic Signal Ability offers you a way to search your deck for Gholdengo ex PAR 139. It also has the Protect Charge attack that you can use in emergency situations, but since it requires 3 Energy to use, you won't want to rely on Genesect ex BLK 67 as an attacker. Fezandipiti ex SFA 38 is included as a way to recover after suffering a Knock Out. Its Flip the Script Ability offers you some extra cards that can potentially catch you back up after suffering a loss.
As I mentioned earlier, you'll want to try to get as many copies of Ethan's Adventure DRI 165 into your discard pile as you can. When you play this Supporter, you'll get to search for up to 3 Basic Fire Energy cards and/or Ethan's Pokémon cards. Arven SVI 166 also allows you to search your deck for specific things, an Item and a Pokémon Tool card. While there are a lot of great Items in this deck, there are only a couple of Pokémon Tools. One of them is Technical Machine: Evolution PAR 178, which offers you another way to search your deck for specific Evolution Pokémon you might be in need of.
To help you find the Pokémon you need, this deck included a pretty standard array of Items seen in most Standard decks. Buddy-Buddy Poffin PRE 101 and Nest Ball SVI 181 will both help you find the Basic Pokémon you need, while Ultra Ball PAF 91 can find any Pokémon you need, regardless of Evolution.
During a game, you'll need to make sure you can find the Energy you need for attacking. Earthen Vessel PRE 106 allows you to search your deck for the Energy you need, while Superior Energy Retrieval PAL 189 offers you a way of reusing Basic Energy cards that have gone to your discard pile. Both of these are great ways for you to power up your team.
To make the most of your attacks, you'll want to utilize this bunch of cards. All of them allow you to switch your opponent's Active Pokémon with one of your choice from their Bench. Choose something you're sure to Knock Out and score some easy Prize cards.
In the event that your Pokémon take damage but aren't Knocked Out, you can play Picnic Basket SVI 184 to heal them a bit. It will also heal your opponent's Pokémon, so keep that in mind when you play it. Alternatively, you can return a damaged Pokémon to your hand by playing Professor Turo's Scenario PRE 121. If you simply need to move a damaged Pokémon to your Bench so it won't get Knocked Out next turn, you can attach Air Balloon BLK 79 to it, making it easier for it to Retreat.
There's but a single copy of Iono PAF 80 in this deck, which offers you a way of resetting your opponent's hand, potentially slowing down their momentum. The final pair of Trainer cards, Night Stretcher SFA 61 and Super Rod PAL 188, both offer you the ability to reuse cards that have gone to your discard pile. Night Stretcher SFA 61 puts the card you choose into your hand, while Super Rod PAL 188 shuffles the chosen cards back into your deck.
Wrapping Up
By combining two powerhouses like Gholdengo ex PAR 139 and Ethan's Typhlosion DRI 34 into the same deck, you create a situation where your opponent isn't sure about exactly what deck they're playing against. Use that to your advantage whenever possible. By diversifying your threats, you shore up weaknesses the deck might have while also opening up the possibility that your opponent's deck will be weak to your team.
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
