Expanded Deck Tech: Kanto Birds Tag Team (Moltres, Zapdos & Articuno)

We will rescue a forgotten card with great potential that has not been mentioned for a while, but with some additions of cards from the Sword & Shield block, we have a new update with the Tag Team-GX cards of the Kanto Birds.

Decklist

Moltres & Zapdos & Articuno: main attackers

Here the idea is to assemble the trio of birds using the Ho-Oh V SIT 140 as a support to be brought from the discard pile, pulling up to 4 basic energies from the pile and using either Ninja Boy STS 103 if the Kanto Bird Trio is in the deck, or the Thorton LOR 167 if the Kanto Bird Trio is in the discard pile.

Ho-Oh V: Swap Birds and Secondary Attacker

Its second attack can deal up to 90 additional damage, for 190 in total. Also, it's useful to equip Forest Seal Stone SIT 156 because it's a V-type, search your deck for an essential card, and put it in your hand.

Marshadow-GX: electric and Arceus VStar counter

Marshadow-GX counters electric decks, such as Miraidon ex sv1 81 accompanied by Regieleki VMAX SIT 58, Raichu V BRS 45 and Raikou V BRS 48.

There are others like Pikachu & Zekrom-GX PR-SM SM248, Raichu & Alolan Raichu-GX UNM 221, Boltund V RCL 67, Jolteon VMAX EVS 51, Tapu Koko VMAX BST 51, and more.

Drapion V: Mew VMax's "counter"

Drapion V serves to hit double damage on Mew VMAX LOR TG30, due to its weakness to Dark-type, being 380 damage.

Mew: "counter" for fighter archetypes

In addition to the advantage of hitting the weakness of fighter types, it is a versatile Pokémon with zero retreat cost and is still a “single prize” card, excellent for specific moments.

Recursive Pokémon

- Diancie ASR 68 hasPrincess's Curtain: If it's in Active Position, it prevents any Supporter card effects your opponent plays against your Basic Pokémon in play.

- Sudowoodo GRI 66 enters with Roadblock: being put on your Bench, it forces your opponent to reduce their bench from 5 spaces to 4 spaces.

This is excellent for matchups against:

1) Regigigas ASR 130 and family.

2) Eternatus VMAX SHF SV122.

3) Lugia VSTAR SIT 139 in a certain way, as it will disturb the assembly of Archeops SIT 147.

4) Mew VMAX LOR TG30 that relies on filling the bench with at least one Mew V CRZ 60 in reserve and many Genesect V FST 185 when drawing cards.

5) Decks that do turbo combos, like Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR PR-SW SWSH256.

6) Decks that expand their bench with Sky Field ROS 89.

- Tapu Lele-GX GRI 60 has Wonder Tag: if it is played from your hand to your Bench, you can search your Deck for a Trainer/Supporter card, reveal it, and put it in your hand.

- Dedenne-GX UNB 57 has Dedecharge: if you play it from your hand to the bench, you discard your current hand and draw 6 cards.

Trainer Cards

- Professor's Research (Professor Oak) CEL 23 allows you to discard your hand and draw 7 new cards to your hand.

- N FCO 105 allows you to shuffle your opponent's hands and yours into the deck, and draw new cards based on the amount of prize cards left on each one.

Assuming you are losing the game, and the opponent has one prize card left to win the game, and you have 5 prize cards left, you use that card and then, the opponent will shuffle and be left with only one card, and you shuffle yours and draw 5.

However, it is also a double-edged sword. If you have one prize card left to win the game, and you play the card, you both have only one card left in your hand.

- Roxanne ASR 150 is an improved and more destructive ”N”: if your opponent has 3 prize cards left to win the game, you can play this card. If you do, your opponent shuffles their hand and draws only 2 cards, and you shuffle yours into your deck, and draw 6 cards.

- Ninja Boy STS 103 is used to switch a basic Pokémon that is in play for another basic Pokémon that is in the deck.

This new replaced Pokémon will have the same energies, damage counters, equipped tool, and special conditions (the "bad status") that the old Pokémon had.

- Thorton LOR 167 allows you to switch a basic Pokémon that is in play to another basic Pokémon that is in the discard pile (unlike Ninja Boy STS 103).

This new replaced Pokémon will have the same energies, damage counters, equipped tool, and special conditions (the "bad status") that the old Pokémon had.

- Trainers' Mail ROS 92 looks at the top 4 cards of your deck and looks for any Trainer-type card (be it supporter, item, tool, stadium) and puts it in your hand. The remaining ones go back to the top of the deck and then shuffle them with the deck.

- Quick Ball FST 237 is to search your deck for a basic Pokémon at the cost of the Tribute of discarding a card from your hand. Then reveal it and place it in your hand.

- Ultra Ball BRS 150 allows you to search any Pokémon in your deck, at the tribute of requiring two discards from your hand, that is, two cards as Tribute of the effect.

- Field Blower GRI 125 is a resource where you can choose a combination of two Tools and/or Stadium cards that you can discard in play.

- VS Seeker PHF 109 is an Item that allows you to take a Supporter-type Trainer card in your hand from the discard pile.

- Battle Compressor Team Flare Gear PHF 92 is used to choose up to 3 cards from the deck and send them to the discard pile.

This is how it will discard basic energy directly and Ho-Oh V itself to speed up the deck setup process.

- Computer Search BCR 137 is an ACE SPEC (a special card that can only have one copy of the ACE SPEC type in the deck as a whole), where you discard two cards from your hand to search for any card you want in your deck and put it in your hand.

- Forest Seal Stone SIT 156 can only be equipped to Pokémon V, where you can search for any card in your Deck and put it in your hand (and since it's considered a VPower, it can only be played once in the entire game).

Stadium

If that stadium is on the field, if both players who have Colorless type Pokémon in play, they get 20 more HP.

In the not so distant future, the next expansions of Scarlet & Violet will release this special energy called Therapy Energy, more precisely in the Sub Set Clay Burst, which will be included in the western expansion Paldea Evolved.

Its effect means that the Pokémon that has this energy attached to it does not suffer paralysis, confusion, or sleep. And if it has one of these special conditions, remove it.

If you wanted to add that energy to the deck in the future, as the months go by, it might be interesting.

Advantages

- It is perfect to be a counter deck of several types: against electrics by Marshadow-GX; against fighters for Mew; against Mew VMAX LOR TG30 deck by Drapion V.

- Easy acceleration of energies and dynamism because of Ho-Oh V with the energies of discards and being able to use the cards Ninja Boy STS 103 or Thorton LOR 167, depending on the situation given by the game, to perform the summoning of the Kanto Birds.

- Deck can deal triple damage, which can then be closed with other attacks.

Disadvantages

- Deck needs to hit twice to deal a little more damage, which can make the opponent have chances to counterattack.

- Electric archetype decks cause problems for Moltres & Zapdos & Articuno-GX HIF 44 and Ho-Oh V SIT 140.

- Decks that have cards like Avery CRE 130, which can destroy your bench.

- Decks that have Path to the Peak CRE 148 that locks Pokémon abilities with Rule Box; and Power Plant UNB 183 which locks Pokémon GX and EX abilities; and Silent Lab PRC 140 which locks Diancie and Mew's ability as well.

It's a consistent deck, made of puzzles to make certain plays to create an initial combo with the Battle Compress to get rid of the basic energies and the Ho-Oh V to then start assembling the Kanto Tag Team.

Thus, we can start doing damage and when the Pokémon is close to being knocked out, apply its GX attack to take refuge in the deck and still wreak havoc on three of the opponent's Pokémon, dealing 110 damage. This makes the strategy versatile to proceed with other attackers in the deck, abusing its typing specialties to take advantage of the opponent.

Until next time!