Ever since playtesting the core engine of a Rayquaza GX/Zeraora GX deck, it's become my favorite deck to roll in standard format. I've basically been hibernating on this deck until Lost Thunder arrives, and I figured I'd share the progress I've made with a decklist so far since we're only a few weeks away from that happening.
Pokemon x13
Rayquaza GX x4
Zeraora GX x2
Shuckle x2
Tapu Lele GX x1
Tapu Koko Promo x1
Shining Lugia x1
Zekrom (Dragon's Majesty) x1
Latias Prism Star x1
Supporter x12
Cynthia x4
Lillie x3
Guzma x3
Sightseer x2
Item x19
Ultra Ball x4
Mysterious Treasure x4
Wishful Baton x4
Rescue Stretcher x2
Pal Pad x2
Devoured Field x2
Thunder Mountain Prism Star x1
Energy x16
Grass Energy x8
Electric Energy x8
**See later posts for explanations on updated list
Card Choice Explanations:
Rayquaza GX x4 - Four copies are desired for the ability. It is not uncommon to easily put down 3 Rayquaza GX on the first two turns of the game and have all 3 of them sitting at 3 energy at the end of turn 2 thanks to a combination of its ability with Zeraora GX's GX attack. Four copies is non-negotiable.
Zeraora GX x2 - Two copies are needed for a couple of reasons. Having a free retreat engine for your entire board while offering a GX attack that accelerates a ton of energy early game while acting as a back up attacker and something that won't fall in one hit to Fairy are all incredible reasons to include this card. I would not go lower than two, and Zeraora GX is the primary partner that makes this deck function a lot more cleanly than Vikavolt or other counterparts.
Tapu Lele GX x2 - A card that shouldn't need explanation at this point. Dropping down to 1 copy is something I am debating for more room for extra utilities.
Shuckle x2 - Shuckle's ability accomodates Ultra Ball nicely to make sure you have 5 energy in the discard for Zeraora GX. Ultra Ball discarding 2 energy from hand to play Shuckle to discard 3 more from the deck, and you're done. In general, Shuckle is here for when you don't see enough energy in hand to play discard. I find 2 copies the perfect count.
Pheromosa x1 - A good one prize attacker with free retreat, so it does not damage your set up your energy distribution in any way should you be forced to start it as your active. This is a game closer non-GX attacker capable of swinging for 180 (210 banded) when you need to close out games in situations where you have 1 prize remaining and your opponent has 2 and you don't want to risk throwing a 2 prize knock out into your active.
Rotom (Electric, Ultra Prism) x1 - This is a weird tech card that was included for a handful of reasons. For starters, it deals 120 damage for 3 energy (2 with Thunder Mountain in play) which can OHKO Hoopa, Alolan Ninetales, and Oranguru. Pheromosa has a lot of finishing damage and is a great surprise card, but Rotom is here as your actual anti-GX option. Its 70 health is concerning, but since this deck is running 4 Wishful Baton, you can at least opt to move its energy else where when it goes to discard, and as a 1 prize loss you are still forcing the 7 prize/4 knockout game regardless. Zekrom from Shining Legends was under consideration for higher max health and 130 damage, but having to discard 2 energy on attack weakens Rayquaza GX, and Rotom having only 1 retreat cost prevents you from getting in hard jams that Zekrom's 3 retreat cost could put you in during the early game.
Latias Prism Star x1 - This is a card that I love & hate in this deck. I've found it to be very useful when I'm somehow bricking on Electric energy in hand to use Zeraora's GX attack or when I simply don't need to commit my GX attack in order to reach the energy counts I need to OHKO. At the same time, pretty much any game that I use Zeraora GX's GX attack to open, I basically never use this card. This is another card I've been thinking about replacing, because on average its attack nets you 2 energy onto your bench, which is something Shuckle can do anyway without a Dragon only restriction. The main benefit of running this card is for access to searching a form of energy acceleration via Mysterious Treasure.
Supporter line up - I think this supporter line up is something that should come as no surprise to anyone. This deck runs 8 discard items (Ultra Ball & Mysterious Treasure) and runs exclusively basic Pokemon which makes higher counts of Lillie incredibly effective and incredibly consistent as a turn 1 supporter. 2 copies of Kukui are here to help your back up attackers hit OHKO values while leaving your Pokemon available for Wishful Baton. I used to run 1 copy of Hala in the deck since more than 50% of my games leaned on Zeraora GX's GX attack on turn 2 of the game, but with 2 copies of Pal Pad in the deck already, this deck just simply doesn't need more draw support than it already has. Running 1 copy of Hala also sometimes led to me tunneling on searching for Tapu Lele just to play it, wasting a bench space.
Ultra Ball and Mysterious Treasure - Max copies, no questions asked. If you were to cut a copy for some spice, it would be 1 copy of Mysterious Treasure, else you are running 4/4 for maximum consistency. This isn't just about searching out your Pokemon, but also setting up your discard pile for Zeraora GX and making sure that energy is already in the discard so that Rayquaza GX's ability never misses. These cards offer consistency and speed on two levels in that regard.
Wishful Baton x4 - You want to keep your energy on the board as much as possible. I can see cutting 1 copy as an option for making space, but this card is one of the reasons why this deck can work so well. Preserving your energy so that Ray GX can continue to immediately respond to threats turn after turn is what makes this deck so powerful in my eyes, and Wishful Baton is a huge assist in making that happen.
Choice Band x2 - Choice Band is primarily for Zeraora GX as a back up attacker as well as Pheromosa. I never want these on Ray GX seeing as how Ray can easily hit 250+ damage by sheer energy count. It's still a good back up plan in my eyes.
Rescue Stretcher x2 and Pal Pad x2 - Running recovery cards is just simply mandatory as a way to compensate for Ray GX's ability. Rescue stretcher in particular is fantastic at acting as an "Ultra Ball" for your discard pile after you discard off of Ray GX. I used to run 3 copies of Rescue Stretcher but found myself never needing it.
Thunder Mountain Prism Star x1 - This used to be one copy of field blower, but I figured that with the increase in stadium usefulness lately, this gets the job done a lot better with more benefits to me than just blowing away a Shrine of Punishment. Not only is field blower incapable of removing Prism Star stadiums like this and Heat Factory, but Thunder Mountain allows me to use Zeraora GX's GX attack for free when I see it and allows it and Rotom to attack for only 2 energy a piece. This path makes it harder for me to deal with Pokemon tools like opposing Wishful Batons, but it makes Zeraora GX and Rotom even better.
16 Energy Pool - I've tried 7/7 and I can feel the difference. 14 energy just really isn't enough when you're looking to cycle through as much energy as possible in the first two turns of the game. Getting 10-11 energy onto the field by the end of Turn 2 of the game is very common for this deck, and 14 is just not high enough of a ceiling to realize those numbers at the same consistency.
Feedback is always welcome. Thanks for reading.
P.S. Cards I have considered depending on circumstances:
Drampa GX x1 - if Shrine of Punishment + Non-GX attackers becomes a very popular play, Drampa GX might be a good option for turning Shrine of Punishment in your favor for good Berserk damage. Ray GX can only hit 90 with 3 energy in play, but Drampa can hit for 150 and OHKO most non-GX attackers for only 3 energy in play in these circumstances. That being said, I think Ray hits hard enough & sets up fast enough to take out non-GX attackers that can't accelerate energy as fast.
Lugia GX x1 - Fighting resistance and base 170 damage gives you a good trade vs Buzzwole and an attacker that can close games by Guzmaing a Lele for game and does not have the inconvenient prize condition that Pheromosa has.
Devoured Field x2 - I've considered adding 2 copies of Devoured Field on top of Thunder Mountain to give me some more stadium wars power. Granted Rayquaza GX has only 180 HP, this stadium doesn't exactly give the opponent anything to work with to OHKO Rayquaza GX any sooner than they already would. On the other hand. this gives Ray GX access to numbers like 190, 220, and 250, of which 190 being the most important. However, this isn't a card I would use in most games and perhaps would do better as Field Blowers instead.
Pokemon x13
Rayquaza GX x4
Zeraora GX x2
Shuckle x2
Tapu Lele GX x1
Tapu Koko Promo x1
Shining Lugia x1
Zekrom (Dragon's Majesty) x1
Latias Prism Star x1
Supporter x12
Cynthia x4
Lillie x3
Guzma x3
Sightseer x2
Item x19
Ultra Ball x4
Mysterious Treasure x4
Wishful Baton x4
Rescue Stretcher x2
Pal Pad x2
Devoured Field x2
Thunder Mountain Prism Star x1
Energy x16
Grass Energy x8
Electric Energy x8
**See later posts for explanations on updated list
Card Choice Explanations:
Rayquaza GX x4 - Four copies are desired for the ability. It is not uncommon to easily put down 3 Rayquaza GX on the first two turns of the game and have all 3 of them sitting at 3 energy at the end of turn 2 thanks to a combination of its ability with Zeraora GX's GX attack. Four copies is non-negotiable.
Zeraora GX x2 - Two copies are needed for a couple of reasons. Having a free retreat engine for your entire board while offering a GX attack that accelerates a ton of energy early game while acting as a back up attacker and something that won't fall in one hit to Fairy are all incredible reasons to include this card. I would not go lower than two, and Zeraora GX is the primary partner that makes this deck function a lot more cleanly than Vikavolt or other counterparts.
Tapu Lele GX x2 - A card that shouldn't need explanation at this point. Dropping down to 1 copy is something I am debating for more room for extra utilities.
Shuckle x2 - Shuckle's ability accomodates Ultra Ball nicely to make sure you have 5 energy in the discard for Zeraora GX. Ultra Ball discarding 2 energy from hand to play Shuckle to discard 3 more from the deck, and you're done. In general, Shuckle is here for when you don't see enough energy in hand to play discard. I find 2 copies the perfect count.
Supporter line up - I think this supporter line up is something that should come as no surprise to anyone. This deck runs 8 discard items (Ultra Ball & Mysterious Treasure) and runs exclusively basic Pokemon which makes higher counts of Lillie incredibly effective and incredibly consistent as a turn 1 supporter. 2 copies of Kukui are here to help your back up attackers hit OHKO values while leaving your Pokemon available for Wishful Baton. I used to run 1 copy of Hala in the deck since more than 50% of my games leaned on Zeraora GX's GX attack on turn 2 of the game, but with 2 copies of Pal Pad in the deck already, this deck just simply doesn't need more draw support than it already has. Running 1 copy of Hala also sometimes led to me tunneling on searching for Tapu Lele just to play it, wasting a bench space.
Ultra Ball and Mysterious Treasure - Max copies, no questions asked. If you were to cut a copy for some spice, it would be 1 copy of Mysterious Treasure, else you are running 4/4 for maximum consistency. This isn't just about searching out your Pokemon, but also setting up your discard pile for Zeraora GX and making sure that energy is already in the discard so that Rayquaza GX's ability never misses. These cards offer consistency and speed on two levels in that regard.
Wishful Baton x4 - You want to keep your energy on the board as much as possible. I can see cutting 1 copy as an option for making space, but this card is one of the reasons why this deck can work so well. Preserving your energy so that Ray GX can continue to immediately respond to threats turn after turn is what makes this deck so powerful in my eyes, and Wishful Baton is a huge assist in making that happen.
Choice Band x2 - Choice Band is primarily for Zeraora GX as a back up attacker as well as Pheromosa. I never want these on Ray GX seeing as how Ray can easily hit 250+ damage by sheer energy count. It's still a good back up plan in my eyes.
Rescue Stretcher x2 and Pal Pad x2 - Running recovery cards is just simply mandatory as a way to compensate for Ray GX's ability. Rescue stretcher in particular is fantastic at acting as an "Ultra Ball" for your discard pile after you discard off of Ray GX. I used to run 3 copies of Rescue Stretcher but found myself never needing it.
Thunder Mountain Prism Star x1 - This used to be one copy of field blower, but I figured that with the increase in stadium usefulness lately, this gets the job done a lot better with more benefits to me than just blowing away a Shrine of Punishment. Not only is field blower incapable of removing Prism Star stadiums like this and Heat Factory, but Thunder Mountain allows me to use Zeraora GX's GX attack for free when I see it and allows it and Rotom to attack for only 2 energy a piece. This path makes it harder for me to deal with Pokemon tools like opposing Wishful Batons, but it makes Zeraora GX and Rotom even better.
16 Energy Pool - I've tried 7/7 and I can feel the difference. 14 energy just really isn't enough when you're looking to cycle through as much energy as possible in the first two turns of the game. Getting 10-11 energy onto the field by the end of Turn 2 of the game is very common for this deck, and 14 is just not high enough of a ceiling to realize those numbers at the same consistency.
Feedback is always welcome. Thanks for reading.
P.S. Cards I have considered depending on circumstances:
Drampa GX x1 - if Shrine of Punishment + Non-GX attackers becomes a very popular play, Drampa GX might be a good option for turning Shrine of Punishment in your favor for good Berserk damage. Ray GX can only hit 90 with 3 energy in play, but Drampa can hit for 150 and OHKO most non-GX attackers for only 3 energy in play in these circumstances. That being said, I think Ray hits hard enough & sets up fast enough to take out non-GX attackers that can't accelerate energy as fast.
Lugia GX x1 - Fighting resistance and base 170 damage gives you a good trade vs Buzzwole and an attacker that can close games by Guzmaing a Lele for game and does not have the inconvenient prize condition that Pheromosa has.
Devoured Field x2 - I've considered adding 2 copies of Devoured Field on top of Thunder Mountain to give me some more stadium wars power. Granted Rayquaza GX has only 180 HP, this stadium doesn't exactly give the opponent anything to work with to OHKO Rayquaza GX any sooner than they already would. On the other hand. this gives Ray GX access to numbers like 190, 220, and 250, of which 190 being the most important. However, this isn't a card I would use in most games and perhaps would do better as Field Blowers instead.
Last edited:
