Launching the Attack — Dragapult VMAX in Standard

A playable VMAX you say? Dragapult VMAX all but promises to be just that — packed with both the HP and power to handle anything, and not to mention a not-so-popular Weakness to Darkness Pokemon. Prior to Rebel Clash, Malamar boasted the best spreading power of any deck. Now, this deck with Dragapult VMAX’s Max Phantom look to rival that. Spreading damage has always been powerful, but I’d go so far as to say that this is the greatest spread attack of all time. It’s for a relatively low cost, two Psychic Energy, and can be paired with the new Horror Psychic Energy for even more spread damage! Scoop Up Net and Galarian Zigzagoon make matters even worse for your opponent. Japanese player Takuya Yoneda recently did well with this archetype overseas. His list is well-polished, and today we’re going to take a look at it while also exploring potential edits.

Let’s finish introducing this cool new archetype. For one, I realize that you might jump, “Hey, Psychic? Pair it with Malamar?” No, this is a deck that can rely on manual Energy attachments alone. Two Energy is not a huge commitment, and with so much HP, you can bide your time making sure you have the opportunity to ramp up to it.

The VMAX Problem

How do you manage the wait to evolving a Pokemon VMAX? Mostly the same as any other deck; Jirachi is your best starter and there are a variety of options to help you to hang in there while you build the strength of your board. I want to also call to mind that Dragapult V on its own is a decent attacker. Jet Assault is essentially an improved First Impression, dealing 140 if you moved from the Bench to the Active in the same turn. It takes two Psychic Energy, so there’s that little clunky aspect as well, but if you’re in a pinch you’ll at least have something to do while you wait to set up Dragapult VMAX itself. Playing a Pokemon VMAX deck is mostly unexplored in this day and age, be it that none of the previously released cards have been overly successful. Moving forward you should expect a bit of a learning curve in deck-building these new concepts, but I take some solace in knowing that Dragapult V can hold its own. With the exception of Morpeko V, I don’t believe this could be said until now. Here’s Yoneda’s list, a great starting point:

Japanese Dragapult VMAX List

Explanations

This concludes the public portion of this article.

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