The Ephemeral Format — More decks for UPR-DAA

Hello again, dear readers! In my previous article, I discussed why I envisioned Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX / Zacian V as one of the biggest threats of the Ultra Prism to Darkness Ablaze format. With more testing, I can see that it’s harder than expected to find the right balance for the deck. If you make it too fast, going for the turn 1 Altered Creation at the exclusion of everything else, you’ll achieve that goal often but the games where you don’t will be nearly unwinnable, as you’ll discard multiple Metal Saucer and Switch and will lack the resources needed. In addition, betting on speed above everything else means that you’re vulnerable to threats that operate outside of the usual framework, such as Mill decks and Vikavolt V‘s Item lock. On the other hand, a slow Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX / Zacian V is not a big threat, especially since other decks in the format can use devastating attacks as soon as turn 2. I’m still working on finding this balance, but don’t be mistaken: Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX / Zacian V is definitely a very powerful deck, and one that you should be prepared for.

So, if not Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX / Zacian V, what should you play? Fortunately, there are many decks, new, old and in between, that are also contenders in this format. This article is not an exhaustive list of these decks; instead, I’ll give you lists for three decks that I’m currently in the process of testing and refining, and explain why I’m building them the way I do.

New: Eternatus VMAX

Eternatus VMAX is a strong deck, no doubt about it. After all, it’s a 340 HP Pokémon which deals up to 270 damage for two Energy, with a lot of space for both techs and consistency Pokémon (Crobat V) on its Bench. It’s impossible for it to not be strong.

This concludes the public portion of this article.

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