TCG Jump: Deck Spotlight- Metal Blitz

We are in a brand new metagame. Several new cards have fallen because of the rotation but we got plenty of old and new cards who are ready to emerge from the steam. The gears of faith are turning as decks and players are trying to discover the new best deck. Several are trying to stay true to old favorites while brand new decks are being developed. Steam Siege can now invade the Pokemon TCG with full force. Which decks will come out on top? Only time can tell but you bet we have a deck with a heart of gold to show off.

A new rotation is the perfect time to take the wheel and test out some new deck ideas. Right now nobody knows what will be good and we have a month until the first Regionals. Why not try a new deck to wreck some mechanize havoc upon your opponent. Metal may have lost some great allies to the rotation but there are new soldiers ready to take arms. Several new tricks have came out from the last few sets and Steam Siege has brought a new mechanical warrior. It is time for the Metal Army to make a stand as they blitz into victory!

Are you ready to join the mechanize revolution? This week we are going to be looking at a deck featuring Magearrna EX!

Decklist
Pokemon- 14
Magearna EX x3
Registeel x3
Genesect EX x2
Zorua x2
Zoroark x2
Shaymin EX x2

Trainers- 34
Professor Sycamore x4
N x2
Lysandre x2
Pokemon Ranger
VS Seeker x4
Trainers’ Mail x4
Max Elixir x4
Ultra Ball x4
Fighting Fury Belt x3
Float Stone x2
Switch
Reverse Valley x3

Energy- 12
Metal Energy x8
Double Colorless Energy x4

Deck Breakdown
Metal is such an underused type in the Pokemon TCG. It doesn’t help that rotation came and took away one of the most important pieces of Metal success right when it was getting popular. It was a sad day when Bronzong from Phantom Forces left Standard play. Though we are going to try to make Metal work and I have created a deck that I think can be pretty good. You just need to learn how to blitz which is the whole point of this deck.

The main focus of this deck is to attack with Magearna EX and Registeel. Both of these Pokemon have attacks that cost a Metal and Double Colorless Energy to use. That is good because you can get these two Pokemon ready to attack on your first attacking turn thanks to Max Elixir and Switch or Float Stone.

Though do you want to attack with Magearna EX or Registeel? That all depends on what your opponent is playing.

If your opponent starts off with an EX Pokemon and attaches energy on it then you will want to power up and start attacking with Registeel. This Metal Pokemon has an attack call Forbidden Iron Hammer which costs a Metal and DCE. It only does 70 damage but it also discards an energy card attached to the Pokemon if it is an EX Pokemon. If you can discard an energy from your opponent’s EX Pokemon then you are setting them back while also doing damage. If your opponent tries to attach an energy to a benched EX Pokemon to avoid the hammer then simply get a Lysandre. That way you can use the powerful supporter to bring that EX Pokemon into the active and lay down that Forbidden Iron Hammer!

Now, if your opponent ends up using a deck that doesn’t have EX Pokemon such as Greninja or Vespiquen then you will want to use Magearna EX. This metal beauty can hit your opponent for 120 damage with a single Metal and DCE with the right set up. If you can knock out your opponent’s non-EX Pokemon such as Froakie or Combee then your opponent is already down one Pokemon and have to set up another one. If you can attach a Fighting Fury Belt on to Magearna EX then you are not only boosting her HP to 200 but also hitting 130. That is enough to knock out Talonflame and Greninja before they BREAK Evolve. Talonflame has been seeing some play thanks to Worlds and if you go second then you can knock out Talonflame and prevent your opponent from setting up with it. Later you can knock out a Greninja which means one less Giant Water Shuriken later in the game.

Magearna EX’s Soul Blast attack does have a downside though. After you use it the first time to do 120 damage, the power goes down to 60 for following turns. The only ways to reset the damage to 120 is to use Pokemon Ranger which will remove the effect of the attack from the previous turn or return Magearna EX to the bench. This deck can do both thanks to Pokemon Ranger being included in the deck and Zoroark. If you can set up Zoroark with a Float Stone then all you need to do is use Zoroark’s Stand In ability. This will put Magearna EX on the bench. Next you can retreat Zoroark to the bench and put Magearna EX back in the active so it can use Soul Blaster for 120 damage. It is amazing to constantly hit 120 damage turn after turn. That is enough to knock out an EX Pokemon if you attack it twice. Though if you have a Fighting Fury Belt on Magearna EX then you are hitting 70 which is enough to knock out Frogadier.

Magearna EX also has the handy Mystic Heart ability which prevents effects from your opponent’s attacks to be applied to any of your Pokemon with Metal energy attached. This will be helpful as people will try to use Jirachi’s Stardust attack to remove your DCE from Registel and Magearna EX. This attack won’t work and your opponent’s Jirachi will be left open to an attack the next turn. Froakie’s Bubble attack will have no effect if they try to use it on a metal warrior with an Metal energy attached.

The deck was made so you can have what you need in your opening hand. You play four Max Elixir so you can start accelerating Metal Energy from your deck on to Magearna EX or Registeel. There are four Trainers’ Mail so you can search into your deck to grab needed items like Max Elixir or Float Stone depending on your situation. You will want a Max Elixir in order to get more energy on your bench or another chance for an energy in case your first Max Elixir misses. If you need a Switch or Float Stone then you will want to use Trainers’ Mail to help grab one of those cards to get your metal attacker into the active. If worst comes to worst then you can play Shaymin EX to get a few new cards or Professor Sycamore to get a brand new hand to help get what you need.

You may have noticed that there is a Genesect EX on that decklist but I haven’t mention it as an attacker. That is because Genesect EXs’ purpose doesn’t involve attacking. It is simply there to use it’s Drive Change ability. Sometimes you will get Genesect EX early in the game and a Tool like Float Stone or Fighting Fury Belt that you want to use later. Simply attach that Tool to Genesect EX and use that N or Sycamore. That way you do not lose that Tool and will be able to retrieve it from Genesect EX later to reattach it to the right Pokemon. Maybe you need Ultra Ball fodder and don’t want to discard needed cards then you can use Gensect EX.

If you do get your bench set up where Registeel and Magearna EX have their Metal and DCE attached to them then you can start setting up Genesect EX. You can attach Metal Energy from your hand or by using Max Elixir on to Genesect EX to prepare a big attack on a Pokemon that needs to be knocked out with one hit. You can also set up Genesect EX to simply hit numbers that Magearna EX or Registeel can’t hit for that last knockout. Though there will be times where Genesect just sits on the bench holding that Float Stone so you can attach it to Zoroark later or to use it as a pivot switch. Genesect EX may have been a big attacker a few months ago but now he is on the bench while others go out to war.

Fighting Fury Belt helps this deck out a lot as Magearna EX and Registeel does not have high HP. Magearna EX only has 160 HP which makes it easy to knock out. Meanwhile, Registeel has only 120 HP which makes it even easier to knock out. If you put Fighting Fury Belt on these Pokemon then Magearna EX now has 200 HP while Registeel has 160 HP. That gives them some nice HP to take more hits with as you set up another Pokemon to blitz your opponent.

The boost in HP from Fighting Fury Belt also gives you some nice attacking numbers. I mention earlier that Fighting Fury Belt lets Magearna EX shoot Talonflame from Steam Siege out of the air and hits Frogadier nicely. Though a Fighting Fury Belt on Registeel allows you to knock out Xerneas BREAK with one shot which has gain some hype recently.

Reverse Valley is in this deck so you can at least survive some hits better. It helps Magearna EX and Registeel live a bit longer and forces your opponent to play the numbers game. They will either need to bump the stadium or be force to hit Registeel one more attack as they risk their energy or Pokemon from getting knocked out.

If you play Reverse Valley against Rayquaza EX then it could also help in that match up. You are forcing them to play down another Sky Field to knock out Magearna EX or Registeel. That should give you some time to make a proper counter attack and Lysandre one of their M Rayquaza EX to get rid of an energy or hit them hard. That is a match up where you want to attack first so you can force them into an unwanted situation where they have a damaged M Rayquaza EX and maybe down one DCE. By forcing their bench down to five you are making them discard Pokemon and refreshing their bench constantly. If worst comes to worst then let them fill up their bench up to eight and attack with Zoroark.

This deck may be Metal but it is surprising quick and flexible. I have been playing this deck since August and most of my openings hands have allowed me to get Magearna EX or Registeel set up to attack. I have had matches where I would be attacking with mostly Registeel to knock off Darkness energy from Darkrai EX and Giratina EX to prevent them from setting up. I would then use Magearna EX to clean up the game by knocking out damaged Pokemon thanks to Registeel. There are games where I get to use Soul Blaster for 120 damage for three turns in a row because of Zoroark’s Stand In ability. The times that I haven’t done well with this deck has been due to me not setting up correctly as in getting Magearna EX ready to attack when I should have gotten Registeel out. There are times when the hands do not work out but those can fix themselves after a turn or two. One time I lost because I decided to rush when I should have just played it slow to take the last knock out against M Scizor EX. Either way, once you practice with this deck in setting up then it doesn’t take too long in getting that turn one Forbidden Iron Hammer or Soul Blaster.

Going first or second doesn’t matter for this deck. If you go first then you have one extra turn to set up a Magearna EX or Registeel in case you do not get to do it in your first turn. Though going second isn’t bad either. It gives you a moment to observe your opponent’s deck and decide if you need Registeel or Magearna EX. It also lets you know who you need to target. Sometimes your opponent may know what Registeel does and decides to attach their energy to an EX Pokemon on the bench. That just means you need to dig for a Lysandre to pull up that EX Pokemon to hit it hard with Registeel. It is possible and great to pull off.

What this deck doesn’t do good against? Fire. Do not play Fire using this deck. It will completely die in a fire. You may do well at first but then they will get their Fire type Pokemon set up and just take knockouts. Zoroark may be helpful but you only play two in the deck and your opponent will need to fill up their bench in order to take a knockout.

M Mewtwo EX and M Rayquaza EX can give this deck some problems. You will need to attack first and knock off their energy using Registeel. If you can do that then the game will go better in your favor. You will need to keep streaming Registeel but if you can knock off all the DCE then your opponent’s M Rayquaza EX will lose steam. The same for M Mewtwo EX if you can attack first. Just make sure you have Fighting Fury Belt on Registeel so you can live an attack.

Glaceon EX-Regice and Rainbow Road Xerneas will fall to this deck. Registeel knocks out Xerneas and Regice with one hit while it knocks off energy from Glaceon EX.

You do need to be careful with this deck. It can run out of oil towards the end and go through your deck quickly. You are really blitzing your deck in order to get that turn one blitz. Though if you can pull it off then your deck will be a pain to deal with for your opponent. They will feel the pressure while your metal army starts their march.

I do not know why I love Metal types in the TCG. I just know that Metal has brought me the most success when I do decide to be a little competitive. This deck may not look like much but it was successful in setting up and getting me third place at a League Challenge recently. You may take this however you want but if you want a Metal deck to try and have some fun then you are welcome to try this one. This deck’s blitz style attack will surprise your opponent and put them in a crunch as they enter their second turn if all goes well. The Metal army may have lost a few pieces but the gears are still wanting to win. So go ahead and try out this deck!