Searching Standard: Morpeko V-UNION

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 The Sableyes. It features Morpeko V-UNION and a unique means of discarding. Let's get started by taking a look at the deck list.

Morpeko V-UNION is ultimately the best attacker in this deck. By using its Burst Wheel attack, you'll be able to deal 300 damage to your opponent's Active Pokemon. Doing this will cause you to discard all of the Energy attached to Morpeko V-UNION, but there are ways to deal with this. Morpeko V-UNION also has the Electric Ball attack it can use to deal 160 damage instead, without the drawback of needing to discard any Energy.

You'll need some time in order to set up Morpeko V-UNION, so you can use Raikou V BRS 48 as an early attacker. While you won't be able to deal quite as much damage as Morepeko V-UNION, Raikou V BRS 48 can still deal up to 220 damage with its Lightning Rondo attack. Of course, this damage is dependent on the number of Benched Pokemon in play, but you're at least likely to have a few, and your opponent probably will as well.

Since you'll be discarding Energy when you attack with Morpeko V-UNION's Burst Wheel attack, you'll want some way to reuse that Energy. That's where Flaaffy EVS 55 comes in. With its Dynamotor Ability, you'll be able to attach a Lightning Energy card from your discard pile to one of your Benched Pokemon each turn. Multiple copies of Flaaffy EVS 55 allow you to attach multiple copies of Lightning Energy. Make sure to take advantage of this Ability as often as possible so you can keep a fully charged team.

While you have a copy of Bibarel BRS 121 on your Bench, you'll be able to draw up to five cards each turn by using its Industrious Incisors Ability. This will help you find the pieces of Morpeko V-UNION more quickly, as well as helping you find other important pieces of your deck. You won't want to attack with Bibarel BRS 121's Tail Smash attack, though, since it will tie up three of your Energy and has a 50% chance of failing.

This next pair of cards go hand in hand. With Adventurer's Discovery FST 224, you can search your deck for three Pokemon V to put into your hand. You can then use Galarian Meowth RCL 126's Evolution Roar Ability to discard two cards. Since there are no copies of Galarian Perrserker in this deck, using this Ability will always fail, but you'll still need to discard two cards in order to use it. This is a great repeatable way to be able to discard cards over multiple turns.

Most decks rely on various PokeBalls to find the Pokemon they need. Quick Ball FST 237 can help you find any Basic Pokemon from your deck, plus it allows you to discard one card from your hand. Ultra Ball SUM 161 is similar, except you can find any Pokemon from your deck to put into your hand, including Morpeko V-UNION, however you'll need to discard two cards in order to play Ultra Ball BRS 150. Finally, Evolution Incense SSH 163 allows you to find any Evolution Pokemon from your deck to put into your hand. Use this to help find Flaaffy EVS 55 and Bibarel BRS 121, which will make your deck run more smoothly.

Sometimes 300 damage won't be enough to Knock Out your opponent's Pokemon VMAX. For those times, you'll want to attach Choice Belt BRS 135 to Morpeko V-UNION. This will allow you to deal 330 damage instead, which is just enough to Knock Out nearly any opposing Pokemon, with just a couple of exceptions. Boss's Orders BRS 132 can be used to pick off an opponent's Benched Pokemon V, allowing you to take multiple Prize cards at one time.

It's always important to be able to find what you need from your deck quickly. That's where Professor's Research BRS 147 helps out. By playing this Supporter, you'll draw a new hand of seven cards. You'll have to discard your current hand before drawing these new cards, though, but in doing that, you'll be able to get pieces of Morpeko V-UNION and Lightning Energy into your discard pile easily. Raihan EVS 152 can only be played on your turn if one of your Pokemon was Knocked Out on your opponent's previous turn. This Supporter is played in many decks as a means of catching back up after suffering the loss of a valuable Pokemon. The final Supporter in this deck, Peonia CRE 149, allows you the chance to exchange three cards from your hand with three of your Prize cards. This can help ensure that you don't have any pieces of Morpeko V-UNION in your Prize cards.

The last pair of Trainer cards help your Pokemon remain mobile. Since Flaaffy EVS 55's Dynamotor Ability only attaches Energy to your Benched Pokemon, you'll want to be able to quickly move your Pokemon around. Switch allows you to move your Active Pokemon to your Bench, while moving a Benched Pokemon to your Active Spot. It's a one time effect though, so once you've done it, you can't do it again until you draw another copy of Switch SSH 183. Air Balloon SSH 156 is a more permanent solution, reducing the Retreat Cost of the Pokemon that it's attached to by two Energy. This will allow any of your Pokemon to retreat for free.

Wrapping Up

While there's no disputing that Pokemon V-UNION are powerful, they all require certain concessions to be made when building a deck around any of them. You'll need a Pokemon to attack during the early portion of the game, as well as multiple ways to discard cards. Playing decks featuring Pokemon V-UNION can be a bit challenging since they don't follow the same 'rules' that other decks follow. If you're up for a challenge, I recommend trying this deck out, though, as it is a lot of fun.

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