Searching Standard: Pokemon 151 Charizard 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 Pokemon 151's Charizard ex pairing up with Charizard ex OBF 125 to deal a lot of damage. Let's get started by taking a look at the deck list.

Charizard ex MEW 6 has a pair of great attacks. For a single Fire Energy, you can use Brave Wing. This attack deals a base of 60 damage to your opponent's Active Pokemon, but if your Charizard ex MEW 6 has any damage counters on it, Brave Wing will deal an extra 100 damage. 160 damage for a single Energy is terrific. Charizard ex MEW 6 also has the Explosive Vortex attack, which will deal 330 damage and require you to discard 3 Energy from Charizard ex MEW 6. That should be enough damage to Knock Out an opposing Pokemon with one attack, including an opposing Charizard ex MEW 6 or Charizard ex OBF 125.

In addition to Charizard ex MEW 6 as one of the main attackers, this deck includes a pair of Charizard ex OBF 125. When you evolve into Charizard ex OBF 125, its Infernal Reign Ability will happen, allowing you to search your deck for three Basic Fire Energy cards to attach to your Pokemon as you would like. This is a great way to accelerate the amount of Energy you have in play, allowing you quicker access to more powerful attacks. Charizard ex OBF 125 also has the Burning Darkness attack, which will deal anywhere from 180 to 330 damage, depending on how many Prize cards your opponent has taken.

To help ensure that your Active Pokemon always has enough Energy, this deck utilizes the Fire Off Ability of Armarouge SVI 41. This allows you to move a Fire Energy from one of your Benched Pokemon to your Active Pokemon, as often as you would like during your turn. There are also three copies of Magma Basin BRS 144 in this deck, which allows you to attach a Fire Energy from your discard pile to one of your Benched Pokemon, dealing two damage counters to the Pokemon who receives the Energy in the process. This is a great way to reuse any Energy cards that have gone to your discard pile.

In order to keep new cards flowing into your hand, you can rely on the card drawing that Bibarel BRS 121's Industrious Incisors Ability offers. This Ability is often used in the majority of Standard decks, as it works very well. Manaphy BRS 41 also has an Ability often seen in Standard decks. Wave Veil offers protection from damage to all of your Benched Pokemon while Manaphy BRS 41 is in play.

The final Pokemon in this deck are a pair of Mew. Mew ex MEW 151 has the Restart Ability, which allows you to draw cards, once per turn, until you have three cards in your hand. It also has the Genome Hacking attack, which copies an attack of your opponent's Active Pokemon. This makes Mew ex MEW 151 a great secondary attacker. Mew CEL 11, on the other hand, will never be able to attack. Its sole purpose is for the use of its Mysterious Tail Ability. By using this Ability, you can thin your deck of Item cards, but it is only usable while Mew CEL 11 is in your Active Spot.

Since you want to evolve into Charizard ex MEW 6 (or Charizard ex OBF 125) as quickly as possible, there is a playset of Rare Candy SVI 191 in this deck to help with that. By attaching Big Air Balloon MEW 155 to either of your Charizard ex's, you'll allow them to retreat for free. There will be times that you might want to discard the Energy, though, so that it can be reused with Magma Basin BRS 144. Attaching a copy of Exp. Share SVI 174 to one of your Pokemon allows you to reuse some Energy from a Pokemon that is getting Knocked Out, but, unlike Magma Basin BRS 144, it doesn't require your Pokemon to take any damage.

To help you find the Pokemon you need, there are various Item cards you can use. Battle VIP Pass FST 225 can only be used on your first turn of the game, but it can help you find two Basic Pokemon from your deck to put onto your Bench. Level Ball BST 129 can help you find any Pokemon with 90 HP or less to put into your hand. Finally, with Ultra Ball SVI 196, you can search your deck for any Pokemon, regardless of HP or Evolution, to put into your hand. The cost to play this Item is to discard two cards, though, which can be a great way to get a Fire Energy or two into your discard pile which can then be reused with the help of Magma Basin BRS 144.

Both Professor's Research SVI 190 and Iono PAL 185 allow you to get a new hand of cards. With Professor's Research SVI 190, you'll need to discard your current hand in order to draw seven new cards. Iono PAL 185 forces both you and your opponent to place your current hands on the bottom of your deck and then draw a new hand based on the number of Prize cards you have remaining. This can really slow down an opponent's momentum if they are ahead on taking Prize cards.

Playing Boss's Orders PAL 172 allows you to choose one of your opponent's Benched Pokemon to become their Active Pokemon. It's a great way for you to choose a Pokemon you're sure to be able to Knock Out. Switch SVI 194 allows you to move your Active Pokemon to your Bench, replacing it in your Active Spot with another of your Benched Pokemon. This can be useful if you have a powered up Pokemon on your Bench that you want to attack with.

Since Charizard ex MEW 6's Brave Wing attack only needs one Energy to use, if you find yourself in a position where Charizard ex MEW 6 has taken some damage and could potentially be Knocked Out, you can play Cheryl BST 123. She will heal all damage from any Evolution Pokemon you have, but you'll discard all Energy from any Pokemon she heals. If you're not able to reuse that Energy with the help of Magma Basin BRS 144, you can use Super Rod PAL 188 to shuffle up to three Basic Energy and/or Pokemon back into your deck.

Wrapping Up

Charizard is one of the most popular Pokemon with fans, so it shouldn't be surprising that Charizard ex MEW 6 is a powerful card. This deck has numerous ways to attach the four Energy cards needed to use its most powerful attack. But, Charizard ex MEW 6 also has a good attack that only requires one Energy to use, so you don't have to keep it on your Bench as it powers up. This deck can attack early, for decent damage, and can deal very impressive damage in the late game.

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