Expanded Deck Tech: Rowlet + Alolan Exeggutor TT-GX + Vileplume (Control Lock)

Today, we have a strong control deck for the Grass archetype, Rowlet & Alolan Exeggutor Tag Team-GX, which thanks to two Vileplume, they block the use of items and makes it impossible for basic Pokémon to attack.

Decklist

Rowlet & Alolan Exeggutor Tag Team: Main attacker and recursive Evolution Accelerator

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It is the deck's core so that everything starts to mesh with the Vileplume evolutions, to sabotage the opponent and be your main attacker.

Choose to play second, so you can use your first attack and prioritize Vileplume evolutions according to your opponent's deck: if they have a lot of basics, choose Vileplume BUS 6 to start the game; but if they have several Pokémon types (like evolutions) and will start the set-up with many items, choose Vileplume AOR 3.

Recursive Pokémon

- Gloom UNB 7 has Irresistible Aroma, which if you evolve your Oddish to this Gloom, you flip a coin. If heads, you can look in your opponent's hand for a Basic Pokémon, and if their Bench isn't full, put that Basic Pokémon there.

Its function is to take out the recursive Pokémon as cards up their sleeve, that is, those that seek supporters like: Jirachi-EX PLB 60, Dedenne-GX UNB 57, Eldegoss V RCL 19, Crobat V DAA 104 and Lumineon V BRS 40.

- Vileplume AOR 3 has the Ability Irritating Pollen: If this Pokémon is in play, your opponent can't play any Item-Type Trainer Cards from their hand.

- Vileplume BUS 6 has Disgusting Pollen: If this Pokémon is in play, opposing Basic Pokémon can't attack your Pokémon!

Good hand to start the game

In that case, you have to go second, because you will be able to use Supporter cards on your turn. From there, you use the Tag Call CEC 206 to look for a Rowlet & Alolan Exeggutor-GX UNM 1 and a Guzma & Hala CEC 193, so you can use that Supporter to use the second effect, fetching a stadium, special energy and a tool - your priority being Capture Energy RCL 171 to call another Oddish to make the evolve effect later on the other turn.

And since we started the game with an Oddish, it will necessarily be your active Pokémon, pay the retreat cost and from there, promote Rowlet & Alolan Exeggutor-GX UNM 1 to make your first attack and see what is your opponent's deck strategy: if it's basic to use Vileplume BUS 6 or if it uses plenty of items to evolve into Vileplume AOR 3.

And in the next turns, it's good to have a second different Vileplume, to have the benefits of these skills and lock the opponent for good.

Trainer Cards

Supporters: Search & Draws

- Guzma & Hala CEC 193 has two options:

1) You can search your deck for a Stadium card, reveal it, and put it into your hand; and after that, shuffle your deck.

2) You can discard two cards from your hand to perform the following effect: in addition to taking a Stadium card from your deck, you also search for a Tool card and a special energy, show them to your opponent and place them in your hand; and after that, shuffle your deck.

For stadiums, you have these options:

1) Silent Lab PRC 140 to catch basic Pokémon that have Abilities.

2) Path to the Peak CRE 148 to lock Pokémon that have any “Rule Box”, be it Prism Star, Radiant, EX, GX, Tag Team GX, V, VMax, VStar, VUnion, ex.

In addition, we have special energies like Capture Energy RCL 171 to put a Pokémon from your deck on the Bench directly or Aromatic Grass Energy VIV 162, so that the Grass Pokémon becomes immune to special conditions.

Supporters to recycle resources

- Cynthia & Caitlin CEC 189 has two options:

1) You may search your hand for a Supporter card from the discard pile.

2) You can discard a card from your hand for an additional effect, in addition to recycling a Supporter card from the discard pile. By doing so, you draw 3 cards (You cannot cycle Cynthia & Caitlin or any other Supporter used in this tribute).

- Roseanne's Backup BRS 148 has four effects, where you can choose one or all of the above.

This card is one of the best recyclers as it can bring back Stealthy Hood UNB 186; one of the game's two stadiums (Silent Lab PRC 140 and Path to the Peak CRE 148); items like Enhanced Hammer GRI 124, Field Blower GRI 125 and Startling Megaphone FLF 97, and finally any of your Pokémon that might be missing, in this case one of Vileplume.

- Lusamine CIN 96 is for recycling a combination of two Supporters and Stadiums from the discard pile to the deck.

- Brock's Grit TEU 135 is used to cycle Pokémon and Basic Energy in a combination of up to 5 cards in total.

Supporters to sabotage opponent's set-up

- Faba LOT 173 is used to discard a Tool or Special Energy card from any of the opponent's Pokémon and send it to the Lost Zone.

Supporter to sabotage the opponent's hand

Supporter as Pokémon catcher

Pokémon Healing

Items to sabotage the opponent

- Enhanced Hammer GRI 124 is used to remove a special Energy from one of your opponent's Pokémon from play.

This is good for stalling delay in matchups against Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX CEC 156 that use Double Dragon Energy ROS 97.

- Startling Megaphone FLF 97 removes all tools attached to all your opponent's Pokémon from the game.

This will be important due to the new Scarlet & Violet rework, where Tools cards are no longer bound as Items, so Tool cards from Black/White to Sword/Shield are legal targets for Vileplume AOR 3

- Field Blower GRI 125 serves to deal with tools and stadium cards in play, which can be yours or the opponent's.

This is a card that complements the effects of Faba to remove your opponent's Tools from play with combos.

Item as Tool

- Stealthy Hood UNB 186 serves to inhibit the effects of the opponent's abilities on the Pokémon that this card is attached to.

Assuming that, by chance, you are dealing with an opponent that uses skills that cause "bad status" in your Pokémon, this card prevents the application of these effects.

Items that favor your game's set-up

- Net Ball LOT 187 is a Poké-Ball that can search for a Grass Pokémon or fetch a Grass Energy from your deck.

- Quick Ball FST 237 is a Poké-Ball that can search your deck for a Basic Pokémon, as long as you fulfill the Tribute of discarding a card from your hand.

- VS Seeker PHF 109 serves as a Supporter recycler, being able to pick up key cards for certain matches that match the need for the turn.

- Ordinary Rod SSH 171 serves as a Pokémon and energy recycler that can do one of two options, or both:

1) Catch up to two Pokémon from the discard pile and recycle them into your deck.

2) Catch up to two Trainer from the discard pile and recycle them into your deck.

Stadiums

-Silent Lab PRC 140 fits both players. All the basic Pokémon in play no longer uses Abilities.

It's good for disrupting decks like Lost Box with use of Comfey, for example, or control decks that rely heavily on Snorlax LOR 143 and Snorlax PGO 55; decks that use card draws like Snorlax VIV 131; V immunity decks like Miltank ASR 126.

And most important of all: preventing the use of recursive Pokémon like Jirachi-EX PLB 60, Dedenne-GX UNB 57, Eldegoss V RCL 19, Crobat V DAA 104 and Lumineon V BRS 40.

- Path to the Peak CRE 148 works for both players. It locks all the abilities of Pokémon that have ”Rule Box”, that is, it not only hinders recursive ones like Jirachi-EX PLB 60, Dedenne-GX UNB 57, Eldegoss V RCL 19, Crobat V DAA 104 and Lumineon V BRS 40, but also the recursive Prism Star and Radiant; that's not to mention the attacking Pokémon that have skills that benefit them in some way.

Special Energies

This energy is only for Pokémon of the grass archetype, where if equipped, it does not suffer from “bad status”.

This energy is used to search for a Pokémon in your deck and put it on your Bench, if you use it to power up one of your Pokémon.

Suggestions for future improvements

Iono

To replace the N FCO 105, you can place the card Iono, which will come in the next expansion, Scarlet/Violet: Paldea Evolved.

This card is a fusion of ”N” and ”Marnie”, where both players shuffle their hands on the bottom of the deck and draw cards based on the number of prize cards the players have left.

Decklist changes & Suggestions

The Decidueye line from Sword/Shield: Darkness Ablaze

If you want a more aggressive line in the deck, you can opt for this suggestion, as the ability of Decidueye doesn't take damage from Pokémon GX and V, which willingly or not, are present in the Expanded format.

Advantages

- Against water archetype decks, some dark and fighting types (some that have grass weaknesses that incorporate earth and stone ones).

- Decks that rely heavily on basics as attackers, like Arceus, Dialga and Palkia Tag Team.

- Lost Box decks that only use Sableye and Cramotant and Radiant Charizard as attackers.

- Groudon and Kyogre deck from Sword/Shield: Celebrations.

- Volcarona-V with its fire energy discard function.

Disadvantages

- Fire archetype decks that use evolutions like Centiskorch VMax, which reuses fire energies to hit.

- Decks that have any Charizard as an evolutionary line with stages like VMax or VStar.

- Decks that can block the Vileplumes, like Garbodor DRX 54.

It's a control deck that's also easy to build and follow a script. Its main function is to lock the opponent and force it to give up, and this is very concrete if it is the type of opponent that only depends on basics like attacking Pokémon, guaranteeing victory easily.

And now it's up to you: what do you think of the deck?