Searching Standard: Houndstone EX

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 Houndstone ex OBF 102 alongside a ton of other Psychic Type Pokemon. Let's get started by taking a look at the deck list.

Houndstone ex OBF 102 is the main attacker for this deck, being able to deal a minimum of 160 damage when you use its Last Respects attack. This attack will deal an additional 10 damage for each Psychic Type Pokemon in your discard pile, so your goal will be to get those Psychic Type Pokemon into your discard pile quickly so you can Knock out any opposing Pokemon with ease. Houndstone SVI 106 makes for a good backup attacker, as it also has the Last Respects attack. The main difference is that Houndstone SVI 106's only requires two Energy to use, but it also only deals a base of 80 damage.

Gardevoir ex SVI 86 also makes for a good secondary attacker, but you'll more often be using its Psychic Embrace Ability to help power up your team. Kirlia SIT 68's Refinement Ability is also very useful for this deck, as it provides you with the means of discarding Psychic Type Pokemon from your hand in order to draw additional cards.

Klefki SVI 96 is the best Pokemon to start the game in your Active Spot. You can shut off any Abilities of Basic Pokemon other than Klefki SVI 96 thanks to its Mischievous Lock Ability. This will slow down a number of opposing decks, giving you extra time to get things set up. Munkidori TWM 95's Adrena-Brain Ability allows you to heal your Pokemon a bit while sending that damage to your opponent's Pokemon. There's also a single copy of Scream Tail PAR 86, who can deal a bit of damage with its Roaring Scream attack, depending on the amount of damage it's already taken.

There are a lot of important Stage 1 Pokemon in this deck, so playing Hyper Aroma TWM 152 is a terrific way to search your deck for them. There's a single copy of Rare Candy SVI 191 in this deck, which can help you evolve into Gardevoir ex SVI 86 more easily.

This batch of cards helps you find the Pokemon you need from your deck easily. Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144 can be used to find up to two Basic Pokemon that have 70 HP or less. Nest Ball SVI 181 can find any Basic Pokemon, regardless of how many H that Pokemon has. Finally, Ultra Ball SVI 196 can find any Pokemon, plus it requires you to discard two cards when you play it. This can be very helpful in getting Psychic Type Pokemon into your discard pile.

For those times when you need a Darkness Energy for your Munkidori TWM 95, or you need another Psychic Energy to be able to attack, there is a copy of Earthen Vessel PAR 163 you can use to search for up to two Basic Energy cards. It's another way of discarding cards as well. Night Stretcher SFA 61 and Super Rod PAL 188 offer you ways of using any Energy cards that have gone to your discard pile. You can also use these to return Pokemon to your hand or deck, but most of the time, you'll want those Pokemon to stay in your discard pile so your attacks will deal extra damage.

By using either Boss’s Orders PAL 172 or Counter Catcher PAR 160, you can choose one of your opponent's Benched Pokemon to move to their Active Spot. This can allow you to attack and Knock Out a Pokemon they were trying to keep safe.

The final cards in this deck are all useful in helping you draw new cards, allowing you to cycle through your deck more quickly. Iono PAL 185 is a great way of forcing your opponent to draw a new hand based on the number of Prize cards they have remaining. This can often set them back for a few turns, especially if they only have 1 or 2 Prize cards left. Professor's Research SVI 190 offers you another discard outlet, as well as a way of drawing a new hand of seven cards.

Wrapping Up

Now that Halloween is almost here, you might be in the mood to play a thematic deck. Give this one a try, as it is both spooky in tone and capable of winning games.

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