I think we can all agree that the new Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX is extremely Powerful. But I think the most impressive thing about it is it's many different ways you can play it. In a vacuum, the new Clayrex is in many ways like Zoroark-GX. Zoroark-GX had the Trade Ability, which allowed you to discard a card from your hand and draw 2 cards. This gave your deck insane speed and consistency for the time, as non-supporter draw Pokemon such as Dedenne-GX and Crobat V didn't exist at the time. Not only did it have a extremely powerful Ability but it had a very powerful Attack, Dealing 20 Damage for each of your Pokemon in play. This means with a full board of 6 Pokemon you did a total of 120 damage, which was 2-shotting every card in the game. This attack also cost just a Double Colorless Energy, which most decks were using already or could easily tech in. With all of these attributes combined, it created one of the most Meta-Defining cards of All Time. One of the most memorable things for me about the early Sun & Moon days was of how to create a deck, you basically had to just take 2 or 3 cards from the pool of playable cards, smack 'em together, and then you would have a competitively viable deck. This system created things like Zoroark Garbodor, Zoroark Lycanroc, Buzzwole Garbodor, Buzzwole Lycaroc, and Metagross Solgaleo. I think the new Shadow Rider Calyrex has the same potential, as it has a similar ability to Zoroark-GX. The one thing that makes this better than Zoroark-GX is that it also attaches a Psychic Energy from your hand to one of your benched Pokemon. This allows you to both draw through your deck and get extra energy attachments onto your board, and in past years we have seen that this is a strategy that is utilized in many top-tier decks. And finally, like Zoroark-GX, it has a decent attack. It's only attack deals 10 damage plus 30 more for each Psychic Energy attached to your Pokemon in play. Like Zoroark-GX, this attack can 2-shot, but with enough energy in play it can, in theory, One Shot. In my opinion, one of the best ways to play the new Shadow Rider Calyrex is a quite simple Straight version, utilizing only Calyrex as the Main Attacker. This means that you can completely focus on getting as much energy in play as fast as you can, rather than having to deal with setting up other Pokemon attackers. Please note that this list includes some cards not mentioned in this forum post, but the translations can be found in This Pokebeach post:
4x Shadow Rider Calyrex V
4x Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX
2x Cresselia
1x Galarian Cursola V
1x Dedenne-GX
1x Crobat V
4x Professor's Research
4x Sonia
2x Marnie
2x Boss's Orders
2x Old Cemetary
4x Quick Ball
4x Fog Crystal
4x Pokemon Communication
3x Switch
2x Air Balloon
2x Evolution Incense
14x Psychic Energy
This Build is meant to be Fast, incredibly consistent, and aggressive. Things like the 4 Quick Ball, 4 Sonia, and 4 Fog Crystal make this build incredibly consistent and incredibly good at getting out several Shadow Rider Calyrex V and Cresselia on your first turn. By getting out your Basic Vs ASAP, you give yourself the chance to get multiple Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX out as early as the second turn, and if you can get 3 out by your second turn (which is very possible), it will make your overall damage output throughout the game higher. This build can reach upwards of 200 damage on your second turn.
The next build I want to talk about is the Togekiss VMAX build. This one focuses on Healing with Suspicious Food Tin. Previously, this card was not very playable due to the main way of accelerating Psychic Energy into play, Malamar, rotating. Now, with Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX, you have a decent way of accelerating your energy so you can consistently heal damage, and to wrap it all up, Togekiss can search your Suspicious Food Tins out of your deck. I don't think this list quite stacks up to the Straight Build, but to anyone who wants to try it, here's a list:
3x Togekiss V
3x Togekiss VMAX
2x Shadow Rider Calyrex V
2x Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX
1x Dedenne-GX
1x Crobat V
1x Eldegoss V
4x Quick Ball
4x Switch
4x Suspicious Food Tin
2x Escape Rope
2x Evolution Incense
2x Pokemon Communication
1x Air Balloon
1x Energy Recycler
1x Fog Crystal
1x Pal Pad
1x Reset Stamp
4x Professor's Research
4x Marnie
2x Boss's Orders
2x Cheryl
1x Weakness Guard Energy
11x Psychic Energy
Like I mentioned before, I prefer the Straight build over this one, but this one can be decent as well, as healing is such a powerful strategy when employed correctly.
This turned out to be more of an article, but if you have a cool idea for Shadow Rider Calyrex, I would love to hear it! This is by no means the only ways to play Shadow Rider Calyrex (Who knows how many different variants there end up being?). I think the card is so powerful it could end up be Meta-Defining like Zoroark-GX was in the past. But what do you think?
professsorpoke
4x Shadow Rider Calyrex V
4x Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX
2x Cresselia
1x Galarian Cursola V
1x Dedenne-GX
1x Crobat V
4x Professor's Research
4x Sonia
2x Marnie
2x Boss's Orders
2x Old Cemetary
4x Quick Ball
4x Fog Crystal
4x Pokemon Communication
3x Switch
2x Air Balloon
2x Evolution Incense
14x Psychic Energy
This Build is meant to be Fast, incredibly consistent, and aggressive. Things like the 4 Quick Ball, 4 Sonia, and 4 Fog Crystal make this build incredibly consistent and incredibly good at getting out several Shadow Rider Calyrex V and Cresselia on your first turn. By getting out your Basic Vs ASAP, you give yourself the chance to get multiple Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX out as early as the second turn, and if you can get 3 out by your second turn (which is very possible), it will make your overall damage output throughout the game higher. This build can reach upwards of 200 damage on your second turn.
The next build I want to talk about is the Togekiss VMAX build. This one focuses on Healing with Suspicious Food Tin. Previously, this card was not very playable due to the main way of accelerating Psychic Energy into play, Malamar, rotating. Now, with Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX, you have a decent way of accelerating your energy so you can consistently heal damage, and to wrap it all up, Togekiss can search your Suspicious Food Tins out of your deck. I don't think this list quite stacks up to the Straight Build, but to anyone who wants to try it, here's a list:
3x Togekiss V
3x Togekiss VMAX
2x Shadow Rider Calyrex V
2x Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX
1x Dedenne-GX
1x Crobat V
1x Eldegoss V
4x Quick Ball
4x Switch
4x Suspicious Food Tin
2x Escape Rope
2x Evolution Incense
2x Pokemon Communication
1x Air Balloon
1x Energy Recycler
1x Fog Crystal
1x Pal Pad
1x Reset Stamp
4x Professor's Research
4x Marnie
2x Boss's Orders
2x Cheryl
1x Weakness Guard Energy
11x Psychic Energy
Like I mentioned before, I prefer the Straight build over this one, but this one can be decent as well, as healing is such a powerful strategy when employed correctly.
This turned out to be more of an article, but if you have a cool idea for Shadow Rider Calyrex, I would love to hear it! This is by no means the only ways to play Shadow Rider Calyrex (Who knows how many different variants there end up being?). I think the card is so powerful it could end up be Meta-Defining like Zoroark-GX was in the past. But what do you think?
professsorpoke
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