It’s That Time Again – Decidueye Pre- and Post-Rotation
Hello everyone! This is Grant Manley back with you all today. By now, it seems as though the Chilling Reign format has begun to stabilize, and we now have a somewhat well-defined meta to look at. That gives us the opportunity to talk about Decidueye, a notoriously strong anti-meta card that’s been in and out of the spotlight since its release. This is because of the reactive nature of the card: it only works when the format is dominated by decks with two- and three-Prize Pokemon — and when those decks aren’t packing counters to it.
One unique thing about the current format is that several decks, including Decidueye itself, are packing Inteleon lines for consistency. This is an annoyance for Decidueye, but I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a problem. Although Inteleon is used for consistency in decks such as Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX and Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX, it can double as a single-Prize attacker if needed. This means that decks running Inteleon have a natural way to attack into Decidueye. However, it doesn’t mean that decks with Inteleon automatically beat Decidueye. Inteleon is still a subpar attacker, and Decidueye decks are built to attack with multiple Decidueye. Inteleon’s prevalence in the format simply creates a dynamic that Decidueye players must be aware of while playing and constructing their lists.
Another thing to consider is that cards like Drizzile and Inteleon can give those VMAX decks easy and consistent access to Phoebe, which is a card that works very well against Decidueye. However, most lists aren’t playing Phoebe, and even if they are, that one card alone doesn’t win the matchup. Once again, Decidueye lists are built to set up and attack with multiple Decidueye. As most online events are open-list, as a Decidueye player you’ll get to know how many Phoebe your opponent has access to. It’s a hassle to reuse, and most decks aren’t capable of reusing it, so they don’t include the card at all. Therefore, Phoebe is largely a non-issue in the current meta.
The most popular version of Decidueye right now is the Inteleon version. This version definitely works well, but it’s not the only way to play the deck. Inteleon takes up a lot of space in the deck, and it also opens up potential targets on your Bench, which is counterintuitive to Decidueye’s main strategy in matchups like ADP. The Tag Call version of Decidueye, though a bit older, also works very well in the current format. After all, most matchups come down to simply setting up Decidueye, so as long as your list can do that, you’re good to go. In this article, I’ll be going over both the Inteleon and the Tag Call versions of Decidueye, with my current lists for both.
With the rotation coming up next month, I also want to discuss Decidueye in the post-rotation format. Although some useful cards such as Rosa and Tag Call will rotate, so will several threats like Mewtwo (as a way to reuse Phoebe), Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX, Volcanion, Blacephalon, Spiritomb, and more. Furthermore, Decidueye retains many of its favorable matchups post rotation, including all of the VMAX-based decks. I expect that Decidueye will be an incredibly strong deck in the post-rotation format, though its popularity will probably fluctuate as it’s done before.
Version 1 – Pre Rotation Decidueye/Inteleon
4-0-4 Decidueye
With Rosa, Drizzile, and Inteleon, this deck can access Rare Candy consistently, and therefore there’s no real need to include Dartrix. However, this means that you can only set up a maximum of four Decidueye each game, since there’s four Rare Candy and no way to get them back. You won’t be using Rare Candy on Inteleon since you always want to evolve through Drizzile.
4-4-2/1 Inteleon
This deck uses Drizzile to set up, and also includes one copy of the Shady Dealings Inteleon. The other two Inteleon help Decidueye against all single-Prize attackers, and they can also eliminate opposing Mew off the Bench. Sobble’s attack is also an excellent option for the early-game, especially if you start with it going second.
1 Snorlax
Snorlax provides this deck with some draw power off a Turn 1 Capture Energy, since every other Pokemon in the deck can use the Capture Energy to retreat into it. Snorlax is a fantastic Pokemon to set up behind.
1 Mallow and Lana
Mallow and Lana is particularly helpful against other decks with Inteleon and/or Decidueye, specifically Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX. It’s is a powerful option to always have available via Shady Dealings.
1 Cynthia and Caitlin
Cynthia and Caitlin is an excellent wild-card Supporter with unmatched utility. It’s a bit situational and only becomes useful later on, which is why the deck only plays one copy. You’ll often use it for Boss's Orders or Mallow and Lana.
2 Rosa
Rosa is a key card for Decidueye decks, as it ensures that you set up at least one Decidueye as soon as your opponent takes their first Knock Out. Without Rosa, this deck may be slower to set up Decidueye and could get overrun. The option to search Grass Energy is incredibly valuable too, as there are only five and they’re relatively difficult to find otherwise.
2 Professor’s Research, 3 Marnie
Marnie is the preferred draw Supporter for this deck because of all the situational cards like Rare Candy and Stage 2’s. More often than not, you’d rather preserve your hand with Marnie than throw it away with Research.
2 Scoop Up Net
Scoop Up Net is usually used to either switch Snorlax from the Active or reset the Shady Dealings Inteleon line. Using it on Decidueye usually isn’t worth it because of the finite number of Rare Candy. It has the most value when used on Shady Dealings Inteleon, but can be used as a switch when needed.
1 Energy Spinner
Energy Spinner is simply a way to grab Grass Energy via Shady Dealings.
1 Tool Jammer
Tool Jammer is an excellent tech for this deck because it’s an automatic win condition against Lucario and Melmetal-GX. They can’t hit Decidueye and Tool Jammer locks their Metal Goggles, allowing Decidueye to do damage. Unfortunately, this tech is useless if they play Tool Scrapper.
0 Big Parasol
The original list for this deck ran two Big Parasol, which is something that I don’t agree with. Big Parasol helps against Shadow Rider Calyrex V‘s Astral Barrage, but that isn’t too big of an issue since they can’t beat Decidueye when Decidueye is set up. Astral Barrage is a 3HKO on Decidueye, Decidueye has Mallow and Lana, and every Shadow Rider that they don’t evolve into a VMAX slows them down tremendously. Big Parasol also stops fringe GX attacks from the likes of Trevenant and Dusknoir-GX and Umbreon and Darkrai-GX, but ultimately, I think it’s too niche to warrant inclusion. I added the fourth Drizzile and second Rosa in their spots. If anything, I’d recommend playing Stealthy Hood to stop opposing Inteleon from pinging damage.
This concludes the public portion of this article.
If you'd like to continue reading, consider purchasing a PokeBeach premium membership! If you're not completely satisfied with your membership, you can request a full refund within 30 days.
Each week we post high-quality content from some of the game's top players. Our article program isn't a corporate operation, advertising front, or for-profit business. We set our prices so that we can pay the game's top players to write the best content for our subscribers. Each article topic is carefully selected, goes through multiple drafts, and is touched up by our editors. We take great pride in our program!