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 Kyurem ex Deck, a Pokemon capable of Knocking Out multiple Pokemon with a single attack. Let's get started by taking a look at the deck list.
Kyurem ex Deck
LittleDarkFury
Pokemon
1 Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex 141
2 Budew 4
1 Cleffa 80
3 Froslass 53
2 Kyurem ex 28
1 Maractus 8
3 Munkidori 95
3 Snorunt 51
Trainers
1 Artazon 76
4 Arven 166
1 Bravery Charm 173
4 Buddy-Buddy Poffin 144
3 Counter Catcher 160
1 Counter Gain 169
2 Crispin 133
1 Earthen Vessel 106
4 Iono 185
3 Nest Ball 84
2 Night Stretcher 61
2 Pokégear 3.0 84
2 Professor's Research 123
1 Super Rod 188
1 Technical Machine: Devolution 177
1 Technical Machine: Evolution 178
1 Ultra Ball 196
1 Unfair Stamp 165
Energy
4 Basic Darkness Energy
4 Basic Water Energy
1 Luminous Energy 191
By attacking with Kyurem ex BLK 28's Blizzard Burst attack, you'll deal 130 damage to your opponent's Active Pokemon, plus an additional 10 damage to each of your opponent's Benched Pokemon for each Prize card your opponent has taken. This can allow you to Knock Out multiple Pokemon with one attack. Even if no Knock Outs occur, you'll at least be weakening those Pokemon up for future attacks.
To help ensure that your opponent's team is as softened up as possible, this deck includes Froslass TWM 53, who has the Freezing Shroud Ability. This Ability will trigger during the Pokemon Checkup phase and will put 1 damage counter on each Pokemon in play that has an Ability, with the exception of Froslass. This might put damage counters on some of your own Pokemon, but don't worry. There's a plan for this.
If your Pokemon take any damage, Munkidori TWM 95 is here to the rescue. By using its Adrena-Brain Ability, you can move damage from your Pokemon to your opponent's team, further weakening them in the process. A single copy of Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex TWM 141 is in this deck to serve as a backup finisher. You'll often be able to use its Blood Moon attack for a reduced amount of Energy thanks to its Seasoned Skill Ability.
The remaining Pokemon in this deck are all your beginning attackers. Play any of these Pokemon in the early stages of the game to either attack for free (Budew PRE 4 or Cleffa OBF 80), or to disincentivize your opponent from attacking (thanks to Maractus JTG 8's Exploding Needles Ability). If any of these Pokemon get Knocked Out, it's okay because their sacrifice will allow additional damage to be dealt by Kyurem ex BLK 28's Blizzard Burst attack.
As an additional route to victory, this deck includes a copy of Technical Machine: Devolution PAR 177. By devolving your opponent's Pokemon at the right time, you can potentially instantly Knock Out any Pokemon that has taken a fair amount of damage. There's also a copy of Technical Machine: Evolution PAR 178 in this deck, which will help you evolve Snorunt TWM 51 into Froslass TWM 53 quickly. Since you'll usually want to be behind your opponent on taking Prize cards, the copy of Counter Gain SSP 169 can often allow your Kyurem ex BLK 28 to attack more easily.
This deck includes the basic package of Trainer cards that help you find the Basic Pokemon you need with ease. Artazon PAF 76, Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144, and Nest Ball PAF 84 will all help you search your deck for a Basic Pokemon, but each of them has specific restrictions for what they can find and where that Pokemon will go. By paying attention to these restrictions, you can use the best card for the job.
Continuing the theme of cards that help you search for specific things, we have this batch of Trainers. You can use Ultra Ball SVI 196 to find any Pokemon you might need, but you will have to discard two other cards from your hand when you play it. Both Earthen Vessel PRE 106 and Crispin SCR 133 are terrific ways of searching your deck for Energy cards you need. With these, you can quickly power up your team.
Arven SVI 166 continues the theme of cards that search for specific things. In his case, he'll help you find an Item and a Pokemon Tool to put into your hand. Pokégear 3.0 BLK 84 also searches, although you can't search your entire deck with this Item. Instead, you can search the top seven cards of your deck for any Supporter card you find. While searching for cards is very useful, there are times it will be better to simply draw a new hand. Professor's Research PRE 123 allows you to draw a new hand of seven cards, but you'll have to discard your current hand of cards first.
To keep your Pokemon on the battlefield longer, you can attach Bravery Charm PAL 173 to it. It will only work on a Basic Pokemon, though, so don't attach it to Froslass TWM 53 unnecessarily. Counter Catcher PAR 160 also keeps your Pokemon in play longer by allowing you to choose which of your opponent's Pokemon to attack. You can even move a Pokemon that has a high Retreat Cost and doesn't have enough Energy to attack to their Active Spot, if you need a little extra time to set things up.
Both Unfair Stamp TWM 165 and Iono PAL 185 are similar. They will both shuffle each player's hand into their deck. Both players will then draw a new hand. Both of these can help you find the things you need while simultaneously slowing down your opponent's momentum.
The final pair of Trainer cards in this deck are Night Stretcher SFA 61 and Super Rod PAL 188. Both of these allow you to reuse cards from your discard pile, however the number of Pokemon and Basic Energy cards you can get with these and where those cards will go is different, so keep that in mind.
Wrapping Up
If you enjoy spreading damage around to the Pokemon on your opponent's Bench, you might want to give this deck a try. It won't be often that you Knock Out multiple Pokemon at once, but when it happens, you're sure to remember it.
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
