Standard Flame Burst (Ethan's Ho-oh ex / Ethan's Magcargo / Latias ex / Tatsugiri / Fezandipiti ex)

[Dark Espeon]

FLAME BURST

Pokémon (14):
4 Ethan's Magcargo (beatdown)
4 Ethan's Slugma (evolution)
3 Ethan's Ho-oh ex (enable)
1 Latias ex (retreat aid)
1 Fezandipiti ex (draw)
1 Tatsugiri (search)

Trainer (34):
3 Ethan's Adventure (search)
2 Boss's Orders (control)
4 Prof. Research (draw)
3 Iono (draw)
4 Superior Energy Retrieval (retrieval)
2 Letter of Encouragement (search)
3 Earthen Vessel (search)
2 Super Rod (retrieval)
1 Max Rod (retrieval)
3 Ultra Ball (search)
4 Nest Ball (search)
3 Artazon Town (search)

Energy (12):
12 Fire Energy


STRATEGY:

Start with any Basic Pokémon other than Ethan's Ho-oh ex. On the first turn make sure to have two to three Ethan's Slugma and one to two Ethan's Ho-oh ex on the battlefield. Next turn accelerate to Ethan's Slugma on the bench and evolve two Ethan's Slugma into Ethan's Magcargo. Make sure to have two Ethan's Magcargo out each turn and fuel the one on the bench while the active one acts as a free retreat aid. Knock out the defender with Lava Burst and make sure to have a replacement Slugma on the bench in advance.


SPOILER:

All translations were taken from Pokébeach.

Ethan's Ho-oh ex
Basic Fire Pokémon
HP: 230
Ability: Golden Flame
Once during your turn, you may attach up to 2 Basic [R] energy cards from your hand to 1 of your benched Ethan’s Pokémon.
[R][R][R][R] Shining Feather: 160
Heal 50 damage from each of your Pokémon.
Retreat Cost: CC
Weakness: W

Ethan's Slugma
Basic Fire Pokémon
HP: 80
[R] Steady Firebreathing: 20
Retreat Cost: CC
Weakness: W

Ethan's Magcargo
Stage 1 Fire Pokémon - evolves from Ethan's Slugma
HP: 130
Ability: Melt and Flow
If this Pokémon has no energy attached, it has no retreat cost.
[R][R][R] Lava Burst: 70x
Discard up to 5 [R] energy cards from this Pokémon. This attack does 70 damage for each card you discarded in this way.
Retreat Cost: CCC
Weakness: W

Ethan's Adventure
Trainer - Supporter
Search your deck for up to 3 in any combination of Ethan’s Pokémon and Basic [R] energy cards, reveal them, and put them into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck.


CARD SHARK

Pokémon:

4-4 Ethan’s Magcargo: Main attacker and free retreater.

3 Ethan’s Ho-oh ex: Acceleration engine to fuel Ethan’s Magcargo.

1 Latias ex: Enables all Basic Pokémon to retreat for free to fuel the attacker on the bench.

1 Tatsugiri: Free retreat with Latias ex on the bench and supporter search engine whenever active.

1 Fezandipiti ex: Decent draw support and an additional free retreater once Latias ex is on the bench.

Supporter:

3 Ethan’s Adventure: Searches out three in any combination of Ethan's Pokémon and Basic [R] energy cards.

4-3 Prof. Research and Iono: Hand refuel and disruption.

2 Boss’s Orders: Gust out a Pokémon from the bench.

Items and Pokémon Tools:

1 Max Rod: Return Basic [R] energy cards and Ethan’s Pokémon from the discard to the hand.

4-2 Super Rod and Superior Energy Retrieval: Retrieve discarded [R] energy and Ethan’s Pokémon.

4-3 Nest Ball and Ultra Ball: Stable Pokémon search cards in addition to Ethan’s Adventure and Artazon Town.

3-2 Earthen Vessel and Letter of Encouragement: Search out Basic [R] energy to accelerate with Ethan’s Ho-oh ex.

Stadium:

3 Artazon Town: Search out Ethan’s Slugma and Tatsugiri.

Energy:

12 Fire Energy: Stable number to accelerate with Ethan's Ho-oh ex to fuel the main attackers.


VISUAL DECKLIST

 

[kourasmeni]

I like this, wouldn't be surprised if it saw some form of meta play. I also think your inclusion of Iron Moth is fun. I'd swap some research for Iono, try to fit a Latias ex in it, and maybe swap a Super Rod or two for Energy Recycler

 

[Dark Espeon]

I like this, wouldn't be surprised if it saw some form of meta play. I also think your inclusion of Iron Moth is fun. I'd swap some research for Iono, try to fit a Latias ex in it, and maybe swap a Super Rod or two for Energy Recycler

Hi kourasmeni,

Thanks for the review. I could test two Iono instead of one of the other four-off supporters but not sure on it since most of the time it does not hurt the opponent that much and since the release of Fezandipiti ex Iono does not seem to stick that well anymore.

Not sure on Latias ex because he only works with Basic Pokémon and most of the time you want Ethan's Magcargo active or Tatsugiri and Fezandipiti ex with an Escape Board. Bench space can be an issue in this deck since you want two Ethan's Ho-oh ex on the bench in addition to two Ethan's Magcargo or Slugma and a system Pokémon such as Tatsugiri or Fezandipiti ex to draw and search out supporters to refill the hand. There does not seem to be space for Latias ex on the bench.

 

[Bog-Wim]

I like the concept of Marcaro Ho-oh, just attempting to dish a 350/280 damage every turn. When I first looked at this list I thought your weren’t running any Nest Balls lol… Anyway, I have some quick thoughts about what you could remove/add to make it more consistent:
My Opinions on Additions/Cuts:
1. Pokemon:
A. +1 Mew ex (for the draw power)
B. +1 Squawkabilly ex (to deal with bad hands)
C. +1 Ethan’s Pinsir (Cornerstone/Charizard/etc)
2. Supporters:
A. -1 Iono (Seems like some excessive draw)
3. Items:
B. +1 Earthen Vessel (More energy consistency)
C. -1 Super Rod (You should just be using superior energy retrieval every turn)
4. Stadiums:
A. -1 Artazon (I don’t think you need this much Pokemon Search)
5. Energy:
A. -1 Fire Energy (11 seems fine especially since you want to loop them most of the time)

Final Decklist Concept with Removed Cards:
Text:
Pokémon: 17
4 Ethan's Slugma SV9a 18
4 Ethan's Magcargo SV9a 19
3 Ethan's Ho-Oh ex SV9a 20
1 Fezandipiti ex SFA 38
1 Latias ex SSP 76
1 Tatsugiri TWM 131
1 Mew ex MEW 151
1 Squawkabilly ex PAF 75
1 Ethan's Pinsir SV9a 1

Trainer: 32
4 Professor's Research PRE 124
3 Ethan's Adventure SV9a 63
2 Iono PAF 80
2 Boss's Orders PAL 172
4 Superior Energy Retrieval PAL 189
4 Nest Ball PAF 84
4 Earthen Vessel PAR 163
3 Ultra Ball PAF 91
2 Letter of Encouragement OBF 189
1 Super Rod PAL 188
1 Max Rod PRE 116
2 Artazon PAF 76

Energy: 11
11 Fire Energy SVE 10
Image:

These are just some possible improvements, but they could also not be improvements at all lol…
It might see some competitive play in tournaments, hopefully.

 

[Charmaster:)]

I like the concept of Marcaro Ho-oh, just attempting to dish a 350/280 damage every turn. When I first looked at this list I thought your weren’t running any Nest Balls lol… Anyway, I have some quick thoughts about what you could remove/add to make it more consistent:
My Opinions on Additions/Cuts:
1. Pokemon:
A. +1 Mew ex (for the draw power)
B. +1 Squawkabilly ex (to deal with bad hands)
C. +1 Ethan’s Pinsir (Cornerstone/Charizard/etc)
2. Supporters:
A. -1 Iono (Seems like some excessive draw)
3. Items:
B. +1 Earthen Vessel (More energy consistency)
C. -1 Super Rod (You should just be using superior energy retrieval every turn)
4. Stadiums:
A. -1 Artazon (I don’t think you need this much Pokemon Search)
5. Energy:
A. -1 Fire Energy (11 seems fine especially since you want to loop them most of the time)

Final Decklist Concept with Removed Cards:
Text:
Pokémon: 17
4 Ethan's Slugma SV9a 18
4 Ethan's Magcargo SV9a 19
3 Ethan's Ho-Oh ex SV9a 20
1 Fezandipiti ex SFA 38
1 Latias ex SSP 76
1 Tatsugiri TWM 131
1 Mew ex MEW 151
1 Squawkabilly ex PAF 75
1 Ethan's Pinsir SV9a 1

Trainer: 32
4 Professor's Research PRE 124
3 Ethan's Adventure SV9a 63
2 Iono PAF 80
2 Boss's Orders PAL 172
4 Superior Energy Retrieval PAL 189
4 Nest Ball PAF 84
4 Earthen Vessel PAR 163
3 Ultra Ball PAF 91
2 Letter of Encouragement OBF 189
1 Super Rod PAL 188
1 Max Rod PRE 116
2 Artazon PAF 76

Energy: 11
11 Fire Energy SVE 10
Image:
View attachment 20620
These are just some possible improvements, but they could also not be improvements at all lol…
It might see some competitive play in tournaments, hopefully.

Ah, yes, my favotite classic legendaries, Mew, Ho-Oh, Latias and Squawkabilly.
I’m going to need to try this list now. Ethan is just such a cool archetype, whether you’re playing his Typhlosion or his Magcargo. I’ve never been to a standard format event, and I usually just play retro formats online (I discovered a website called TCGONE after reading Jason Klaczynski’s blog), but I eagerly anticipate building the Worlds 2025 meta and many of its rogue decks so I can play it with visitors or over webcam.

 

[Dark Espeon]

Hi Bog-Wim,

Thanks for the review. I like the idea to include Ethan's Pinsir as a tech for Grass-weak Pokémon. Not sure on Mew ex and Squawkability ex. Did not seem to need them that much in the test-matches thus far. I also cut the Earthen Vessels from four to three because with the stable draw and Letter of Envouragement the third to fourth Vessel is often a dead card that can be used to fuel Superior Retrieval. I would like to retain the two Super Rod since the main targets are often Pokémon. One can make an argument that one of them could be a Nightly Strecther but two cards that can retrieve Pokémon too seemed to be needed. I will need to test whether to remove an energy, a stadium or one Iono for Ethan's Pinsir.

Hi Charmaster,

Ethan has indeed two nice options. I am still not sure whether I like the Victini or the Poison version of Ethan's Typhlosion more.

 

[Bog-Wim]

Ah, yes, my favotite classic legendaries, Mew, Ho-Oh, Latias and Squawkabilly.
I’m going to need to try this list now. Ethan is just such a cool archetype, whether you’re playing his Typhlosion or his Magcargo. I’ve never been to a standard format event, and I usually just play retro formats online (I discovered a website called TCGONE after reading Jason Klaczynski’s blog), but I eagerly anticipate building the Worlds 2025 meta and many of its rogue decks so I can play it with visitors or over webcam.

I also have found another fun variant with the Ethan’s Pokemon, a version using Flare Off Armoruage (IDK if that’s spelled right), Ethan’s Ho-oh (for energy acceleration to be moved to the active) and a variety of attackers, including but not limited to:
1. Mew ex
2. Bloodmoon ex
3. Regigigas
4. Gouging Fire ex
There’s also another build that utilizes luminous energy that has been popping up on limitless recently. When I tested such builds, however, it was hard to find the Luminous Energy themselves. You could just run the base energy of your attackers, however, like water for Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex.