Combo Zacian V — Jirachi Prism Star in Action

Combo Zacian V has finally solidified itself as one of the Standard format’s best decks, after a short period of skepticism. Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX, which I wrote about last time, is still a great way to play Zacian V. However, a more streamlined and straightforward way to play Zacian V is with the following combo: Jirachi Prism Star, Mr. Mime, and Oranguru. These three cards in combination can give you an additional Prize card with minimum effort. From there, you can use Scoop Up Net to put the Jirachi Prism Star and Mr. Mime back in your hand to do it again! This is effectively two additional Prizes, so much like Altered Creation GX, you can build your gameplan around an estimated two attacks for Knock Outs. This could be two two-Prize Pokemon, or one three-Prize Pokemon and a single Prize Pokemon — whichever route presents itself, this deck is fast, consistent, and packs a punch. A theme emerging in the game, especially in Standard, is the trend of attacking as few times as possible to win. Games are very fast, turn-wise, leaving you little room for error. Intrepid Sword is very good in this metagame because it builds an attacker quickly and draws you additional cards in the process while you’re setting up.

Oranguru and the Primate Wisdom Ability is an amazing consistency crutch for more than saving important cards, it protects you against Marnie. In fact, this deck plays two copies of Oranguru! You can use Primate Wisdom and a draw Supporter or another out to the top of the deck so Marnie doesn’t hurt you as much. This Combo Zacian V deck does this better than any other deck since you will have an Oranguru in play. With the margin for error in the Standard format at an all-time low, it’s good to have built-in protection like this.

You might be asking, do I like this deck more than Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX / Zacian V? I do because it’s straightforward. You have one less hoop to jump through in not needing to use Altered Creation GX and you’re a bit more consistent. Furthermore, your matchup with Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX / Zacian V is slightly favorable, so long as your opponent doesn’t get a first turn GX attack with Energy Switch shenanigans. Here’s Azul Garcia Griego’s list that I played too in a recent major online event:

Combo Zacian V Deck

Deck Explanations

This concludes the public portion of this article.

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