Searching Standard: Miraidon 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 Miraidon ex SVI 81, and can attack quickly for quite a bit of damage. Let's get started by taking a look at the deck list.

By using Miraidon ex SVI 81's Tandem Unit Ability, you'll be able to fill up your Bench in no time. As you'll see, that can be very helpful for one of your other Pokemon. Miraidon ex SVI 81 also has the Photon Blaster attack, which deals 220 damage to your opponent's Active Pokemon. With the additional means of increasing damage in this deck, you can often deal out 280 or more damage with this attack, which is enough to Knock Out many Pokemon V's.

Speaking of the ways to increase damage, we come to Regieleki VMAX SIT 58. It has the Transistor Ability, which increases the damage your Basic Lightning Type Pokemon's attacks will do by 30 damage. This Ability will stack, so if you have multiple copies of Regieleki VMAX SIT 58 on your Bench, you can deal up to 90 extra damage with this deck. You also have a single copy of Choice Belt BRS 135, which will increase the damage dealt to your opponent's Active Pokemon V by 30 points. All of this extra damage will quickly add up, resulting in you taking Prize cards in a hurry.

Against a deck using single Prize attackers, you'll likely want to make Flying Pikachu VMAX CEL 7 your Active Pokemon. Its Max Balloon attack will deal 160 damage to your opponent's Active Pokemon, likely Knocking them Out in the process. This attack will also protect Flying Pikachu VMAX CEL 7 from taking any damage from attacks that are made by Basic Pokemon during your opponent's next turn. This can be especially useful against decks looking to utilize the Lost Zone.

The remaining Pokemon are all useful in various situations as attackers. Raikou V BRS 48 helps you draw additional cards with its Fleet-Footed Ability. It also has the Lightning Rondo attack, which deals extra damage based on the number of Benched Pokemon you and your opponent have in play. Luxray V ASR 50 has a pair of useful attacks. Fang Snipe allows you to look at your opponent's hand and discard one Trainer you find there. The knowledge you can gain from looking at your opponent's hand is almost as valuable as discarding a Trainer. Luxray V ASR 50 also has the Radiating Pulse attack, which Paralyzes your opponent's Pokemon, if they're still around after taking the damage from this attack. Finally, Drapion V LOR 118 shines against decks featuring Single Strike, Rapid Strike, and Fusion Strike Pokemon. In those situations, you'll often be able to attack with its Dynamic Tail attack for zero Energy.

The glue holding this deck together is definitely Electric Generator SVI 170. Being able to potentially attach two Basic Lightning Energy cards to your Benched Lightning Type Pokemon is extremely helpful. With the help of this Item, you're able to accelerate the amount of Energy your Pokemon have much more quickly than your opponent, allowing you to attack for more damage. It's because of Electric Generator SVI 170 that this deck is so fast.

Nearly every deck runs some amount of Poke Balls to help find the Pokemon needed to run smoothly. This deck is no exception, utilizing Ultra Ball SVI 196 and Nest Ball SVI 181 for this purpose.

Most decks also look for some way to gain card advantage over their opponent. By playing Judge SVI 176, you'll reset each player's hand down to four cards. This can be an effective way to slow down your opponent's momentum, as the cards they were holding onto to play on future turns are no longer available. Professor's Research SVI 189 offers you a new hand of seven cards, but at the cost of discarding your current hand. Finally, by attaching Forest Seal Stone SIT 156 to one of your Pokemon V, you'll have access to the Star Alchemy Ability VSTAR Power. This powerful Ability allows you to search your deck for any one card to put into your hand. You can only do this once per game, so make sure the card you get will make an impact on the game.

At its heart, the Pokemon TCG is a game about combat, therefore it's important to be able to move your Pokemon to your Bench and Active Spot as you'd like. Switch Cart ASR 154 helps with this, plus it heals the Pokemon you move to your Bench. Escape Rope BST 125 forces both players to switch their Pokemon. Since your opponent must switch first, you can choose the best Pokemon from your Bench to use against their chosen Pokemon. Finally, Boss's Orders BRS 132 can be used to switch your opponent's Active Pokemon with any Pokemon of your choice from their Bench. This allows you to choose a Pokemon you're sure to Knock Out, and can allow you to choose a Pokemon that provides extra Prize Cards when it is KO'd.

With the help of Electric Generator SVI 170, this deck manages to accelerate the amount of Energy you have in play, so getting Knocked Out and losing that advantage hurts. This deck includes a copy of Exp. Share SVI 174, which can help alleviate some of that pain by allowing you to save one Basic Energy from hitting the discard pile. Next, Serena SIT 164 offers a pair of choices that are different situations. Her first option allows you to discard some less useful cards from your hand in order to draw new cards from your deck until you have five cards in hand. Alternatively, she can bring up a Pokemon V from your opponent's Bench to their Active Spot, reminiscent of Boss's Orders BRS 132. Arven SVI 166 offers you a way to search your deck for an Item and a Pokemon Tool card to put into your hand. Remember that with the recent rules changes, Pokemon Tools are no longer Item cards.

The final card in this deck, Beach Court SVI 167, offers your team the means of retreating for free. The only exception to this will be Drapion V LOR 118, who sees its Retreat Cost reduced down to one Energy. This effect will also apply to your opponent's team, but it will still often be worth playing Beach Court SVI 167 since you'll benefit greatly from having it in play.

Wrapping Up

In the early days of a new format, players will tend to play fast, aggressive decks. That's exactly what this deck is, so it's the perfect choice to start with now that cards have rotated from 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