Understanding Raging Bolt ex, the Most Popular Deck in Format
Raging Bolt ex has gained a reputation as an easy and simple deck to play. Because of this, along with its raw speed and power, it has amassed tremendous popularity. Raging Bolt has been among the most popular decks being played at every recent major tournament. Sometimes it is the number-one most played deck, but if not, it’s always close behind. By sheer numbers, it has even managed to put up a few top cut finishes.
Raging Bolt is definitely one of the more linear decks. It isn’t too hard to play to good results, but playing it perfectly is deceptively difficult. It presents the player with lots of options every turn, and most turns become fairly complicated sequencing puzzles. Of course, it’s possible to make the wrong plays and reach the right result. In that sense, it’s one of the least punishing decks on the player. However, I think there’s a little more to this deck than meets the eye.
At any tournament you got to, it’s almost inevitable that you’ll face at least one Raging Bolt. The deck aims to take the first two Prize cards and win the Prize trade from there. It basically can’t do anything else. If you can disrupt Raging Bolt from its normal plan, or take the first two Prizes against it, it can’t do much in terms of adaptability or comebacks. Today, I’ll be discussing Raging Bolt in depth to help those who are playing the deck or considering doing so. Being aware of what Raging Bolt players are thinking, knowing some of their tricks, can be helpful even if you aren’t playing the deck yourself, simply due to how widely prevalent it is.
Raging Bolt is in a fairly positive spot in the current metagame. Most decks right now desperately want to go first. While Raging Bolt sometimes wants to go first, it’s perfectly happy with going second, unlike most other decks. Not only that, but in going second, it can sometimes punish decks for going first. Raging Bolt is one of the few decks that has the opportunity to disrupt the opponent’s board with a KO before they have a chance to stabilize by playing a Supporter. It can win cheesy games from time to time solely due to the fast pressure it applies. For example, if Charizard ex goes first, it cannot play Arven on turn 1, and as a result it might have a vulnerable board at the start of the game.
Dragapult ex recently won Dortmund Regionals, and that is a deck that notoriously struggles with Raging Bolt. The matchup is far from unwinnable, but Raging Bolt is simply better with an increased Dragapult presence. Regidrago VSTAR was the Shrouded Fable format’s BDIF. Although it isn’t quite as big a deal now, it is still a relevant meta deck, and Raging Bolt matches up well against it. Raging Bolt has some other decent matchups like Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR and Iron Thorns ex. Charizard and Terapagos ex are contentious matchups, but they are winnable with some little tricks. Lugia VSTAR and Gardevoir ex are undeniably unfavorable for Raging Bolt. Here is my current list:
This concludes the public portion of this article.
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