Searching Standard: Incineroar EX - Revisited

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 Incineroar ex TEF 34, a Pokemon I looked at this past April, who deserves a second look. Let's get started by taking a look at the deck.

In our current Standard environment, decks tend to play a lot of Pokemon to their Bench. That makes Incineroar ex TEF 34's Hustle Play Ability very relevant. This Ability reduces the cost of Incineroar ex TEF 34's Blaze Blast attack by one Colorless Energy for each Benched Pokemon your opponent has in play. Blaze Blast does 240 damage, plus it leaves your opponent's Active Pokemon Burned, resulting in additional damage during each Check Up Phase.

Pidgeot ex OBF 164's primary reason for inclusion in this deck is for the use of its Quick Search Ability, which allows you to put any card from your deck into your hand, once per turn. This is a great way of finding specifically what you need during any given turn.

Since you're already playing Fire Energy, there's no reason not to include Radiant Charizard PGO 11 as a backup attacker. Its Combustion Blast can deal a ton of damage, plus it requires less Energy to use if your opponent has taken some of their Prize cards (thanks to its Excited Heat Ability).

This is the point where the remaining Pokemon are all included for the use of their Abilities, and shouldn't be considered potential attackers. Rotom V CRZ 45 has the Instant Charge Ability, allowing you to draw three cards at the cost of ending your turn. Fezandipiti ex SFA 38 has the Flip the Script Ability, which can help you recover after suffering a Knock Out. Then, there's Lumineon V BRS 40, who has the Luminous Sign Ability that can help you find a specific Supporter that you can use to maximum effect.

Manaphy BRS 41's Wave Veil Ability helps keep your Benched Pokemon safe and sound from taking any damage your opponent might direct their way. Finally, and most importantly, Relicanth TEF 84 has the Memory Dive Ability which allows your Pokemon to use any of the attacks from their previous evolutions. Specifically, it allows Incineroar ex TEF 34 to use the Reprisal attack of Litten SIT 30. It's possible to deal over 600 damage with this attack if everything lines up perfectly.

Helping you deal extra damage are a variety of Pokemon Tools. Keep in mind that each Pokemon can only have one Pokemon Tool attached, and that each of these cards has certain limitations on the type of Pokemon the extra damage will be dealt to, or whether your opponent has taken more prize cards than you. By remembering these limitations, you can make sure to use the right Tool for the job.

It should come as no surprise that there is a full playset of Rare Candy SVI 191 included in this deck. These will be used to evolve Litten SIT 30 into Incineroar ex TEF 34. A copy of Mela PAR 167 is included as a way to recover after having a Pokemon get Knocked Out. Professor Turo's Scenario PAR 171 can be played if you have a Pokemon that has damage on it that you don't want your opponent to be able to Knock Out and draw Prize cards. Play Professor Turo's Scenario PAR 171 and return that Pokemon to your hand.

We've reached the point in this deck where most of the remaining cards are found in a lot of Standard decks. This batch of cards are all useful in finding the Pokemon you need from within your deck. Each of these cards is limited in what it can find, but as long as you remember those limitations, you should have no problem getting your team of Pokemon set up accordingly.

For the sake of efficiency, you'll want to use both Boss's Orders SHF 58 and Counter Catcher PAR 160 to move a Pokemon from your opponent's Bench to their Active spot that you can Knock Out easily and that will provide you with as many Prize cards as possible.

Arven OBF 186 is a great Supporter, helping you find an Item and a Pokemon Tool that you need. Canceling Cologne ASR 136 has its uses against very specific Pokemon, but if you chose to cut it and run another copy of Arven OBF 186, you might be better off.

Both Earthen Vessel PAR 163 and Magma Basin BRS 144 help you accelerate the amount of Energy you have on your Pokemon. With Earthen Vessel PAR 163, you search your deck for Energy, while you attach Energy from your discard pile when you use Magma Basin BRS 144. Forest Seal Stone SIT 156 provides the Star Alchemy Ability VSTAR Power to the Pokemon V it is attached to, allowing that player the opportunity to search their deck for any one card to put into their hand.

Iono PAL 185 acts as both a source of drawing new cards, and as a way to reset your opponent's hand, slowing down any momentum they might have gained in the process. Night Stretcher SFA 61 and Super Rod PAL 188 offer you the means of reusing cards that have gone to your discard pile. With Night Stretcher SFA 61, the card you return goes to your hand, while Super Rod PAL 188 allows you to get three cards that will be shuffled back into your deck.

Wrapping Up

Incineroar ex TEF 34 is a very strong attacker in today's meta. It is able to Knock Out most opposing Pokemon with a single attack, proving that it still has what it takes to thrive in Standard.

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