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 Mega Camerupt ex MEG 22, who can deal a ton of damage for just a single Energy. Let's get started by taking a look at the deck list.
Mega Camerupt ex
LittleDarkFury
Pokemon
1 Fezandipiti ex 38
3 Larvesta 28
2 Magmar 126
2 Magmortar 21
3 Mega Camerupt ex 22
4 Numel 31
2 Volcarona 16
Trainers
2 Air Balloon 79
2 Artazon 171
4 Arven 166
2 Boss’s Orders 172
1 Energy Retrieval 171
2 Hilda 84
2 Iono 185
4 Lillie's Determination 119
2 Nest Ball 181
1 Night Stretcher 61
2 Pokégear 3.0 84
1 Precious Trolley 185
1 Rigid Band 165
1 Switch 194
1 Technical Machine: Evolution 178
4 Ultra Ball 91
1 Wally's Compassion 132
Energy
8 Basic Fire Energy
2 Ignition Energy 86
Mega Camerupt ex MEG 22 is the main attacker for this deck. With its Roasting Heat attack, you can deal 80 damage to your opponent's Active Pokemon for a single Energy. This damage will increase to 240 damage if your opponent's Active Pokemon is Burned. That's an amazing amount of damage for just a single Energy, but the hard part will be to make it so your opponent's Active Pokemon is Burned...
Well, maybe it's not so hard after all. By activating Volcarona BLK 16's Torrid Scales Ability, you can make your opponent's Active Pokemon Burned by simply discarding a Basic Fire Energy card from your hand. This can be done from the safety of your Bench, leaving Mega Camerupt ex MEG 22 in the driver's seat as your Active Pokemon.
If you have a copy of Magmortar JTG 21 on your Bench, its Magma Surge Ability will cause your opponent to put an extra 3 damage counters on their Burned Pokemon during Pokemon Checkup. That extra damage will quickly add up, resulting in easier Knock Outs.
The final Pokemon in this deck is Fezandipiti ex SFA 38. Its Flip the Script Ability helps you get back into the game after suffering a Knocked Out Pokemon.
Since this deck includes a lot of Stage 1 Pokemon, you'll want to make sure you can get your Basic Pokemon into play right away. Precious Trolley SSP 185, Artazon PAL 171, and Nest Ball SVI 181 all do this, but each of them has different restrictions on what they can find, so keep these restrictions in mind.
Playing Ultra Ball PAF 91 can be a very helpful way to find any of the Evolution Pokemon you need. Hilda WHT 84 will also help you find an Evolution Pokemon, in addition to finding any Energy card from your deck to put into your hand. You'll want to play Boss’s Orders PAL 172 in order to be able to attack any of your opponent's Pokemon you want. This can give you quite an advantage and allow you to take multiple Prize cards.
Lillie's Determination MEG 119 is quite possibly the best Supporter card to play if you need to draw a new hand of cards. She shuffles your current hand back into your deck, so you'll still have access to those cards as the game progresses. Iono PAL 185 offers a similar card drawing ability, but she also affects your opponent's hand, resetting it and slowing down their momentum in the process. Playing Arven SVI 166 allows you to find an Item and a Pokemon Tool from your deck, which can give you a considerable advantage over your opponent.
As you've seen, there are a lot of great Supporter cards in this deck, and Pokégear 3.0 BLK 84 can be played to help you find them more quickly. Air Balloon BLK 79 and Switch SVI 194 offer you some mobility with your Pokemon, something you might really need since Mega Camerupt ex MEG 22 has a Retreat Cost of 4 Energy.
With so many Evolution Pokemon being important in this deck, having a copy of Technical Machine: Evolution PAR 178 will come in handy. In the event that your Mega Camerupt ex MEG 22 takes on damage, you can play Wally's Compassion MEG 132 to fully heal it. This will require you to discard all attached Energy from it, which is usually not more than 1. Attaching Rigid Band MEW 165 to any of your Stage 1 Pokemon allows that Pokemon to take 30 less damage from your opponent's attacks. You'll usually want to attach this to Mega Camerupt ex MEG 22, if possible.
The last pair of Trainer cards are useful for helping you reuse Energy from your discard pile. Both Energy Retrieval SVI 171 and Night Stretcher SFA 61 can get back Basic Energy so it can be used again, or Night Stretcher SFA 61 can also get back a Pokemon instead. By reusing cards from your discard pile, you free up space in your deck for cards that have a different purpose.
Wrapping Up
240 damage for a single Energy is a great return on your investment. The new Mega Camerupt ex MEG 22 is a heavy hitter for sure. However, in order to deal this much damage, you do need to set things up, so while it's powerful, it is not a busted card by any means.
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
