Pokémon TCG: Standard Deck Tech - Team Rocket's Weezing

Destined Rivals, the newest Pokémon TCG set, is finally out! It brought us beloved Pokémon and more support for new strategies. It also brought back Team Rocket Pokémon, such as Mewtwo, Tyranitar, Arbok, and many more.

Among these, one particular evolution line that many know and only a few love got some very cool new cards and unique effects: the new Koffing and Weezing inspired us to build a new rogue deck centered entirely around them.

Team Rocket's Koffing DRI 125 is at the center of this entire strategy, and its evolution, Weezing, will be our main attacker. Koffing's ability, Smog Signals, lets us get two other Koffings from our deck and put them on our bench. It works even if our opponent Knocks Out our active Pokémon.

Team Rocket's Weezing DRI 126's attack, Explode Together Now, deals 40 damage to the opponent's active Pokémon for each Koffing or Weezing in play. So, if your active Pokémon is a Weezing, and 5 Koffings are on your bench, you'll deal a total of 240 damage, which Knocks Out most basic Pokémon EX in the format.

Furthermore, regular Weezings and Koffings are different from Team Rocket Weezings and Koffings, so we can play a total of 8 of them in this list!

Our second type of Weezing is Weezing sv3pt5 110, which was released in the 151 special set. Its attack is weaker, but its ability makes Knocking it Out a pain, and it may give us an edge in the Prize card race. It will be incredibly helpful while we set up our main attacker.

Deck List

To deal as much damage as we can, we'll only use Pokémon that make "Explode Together" even more powerful. As a result, we need to make up for the lack of support Pokémon with a wide array of supporters, items, and stadiums that benefit Team Rocket Pokémon.

To set up and look for Pokémon, we play 3 Buddy-Buddy Poffin PRE 101 and 4 Ultra Ball sv4pt5 91. We also play Team Rocket's Proton DRI 177, particularly for turn 1. It lets us get 3 basic Team Rocket Pokémon from our deck and add them to our hand. This supporter is even more consistent with Team Rocket's Transceiver DRI 178, which lets you look in your deck for any "Team Rocket" supporter. Like so, it's like we're playing 7 Protons in the deck, considering we'll use Transceiver on turn 1.

Here are a few other Team Rocket supporters that deserve honorable mentions: Team Rocket's Archer DRI 170 is similar to Unfair Stamp; Team Rocket's Giovanni DRI 174 is like an upgraded Boss's Orders for Team Rocket Pokémon; and Team Rocket's Ariana DRI 171 lets us draw until we fill our hand, and we don't even need to discard any cards to use it.

Furthermore, our stadium, Team Rocket's Factory DRI 173, lets us draw two cards every turn whenever we use any Team Rocket supporter.

As we only use a few Pokémon, we play 2 Night Stretcher SFA 61 and 2 Sacred Ash DRI 168 for recursion.

Team Rocket's Energy DRI 182 is how you'll get the energies you need for your Pokémon. With it, your Weezing only needs one energy to attack. We'll also commonly start the game with our Prize cards because of our setup, so we also use Reversal Energy sv2 192.

Finally, our ACE SPEC: we decided to use Deluxe Bomb SCR 134 to make tough matchups, like Dragapult, better. However, a completely viable option is Neutralization Zone SFA 60, as it will make the Raging Bolt matchup better.

Dragapult EX - Unfavorable

We will draw cards with Team Rocket supporters, but Dragapult is more consistent because they play Drakloak TWM 129 and Unfair Stamp TWM 165. This could mean game over if we can't create a big advantage. Dragapult EX also has a lot of HP, no weakness, and Phantom Dive can Knock Out your benched Koffings very easily. In this matchup, you'll usually have to Knock Out enemy Pokémon with Weezing's ability to win.

Raging Bolt EX - Favorable

Raging Bolt EX loves Knocking Out 2 Prize card Pokémon, but we don't play those! On its own, this is already a huge advantage. We can also deal exactly 240 damage if we have 6 Koffing/Weezing in play, and Knock Out this ancient dog with a single attack. Keep in mind that our attackers will also not last more than a turn, so we'll need to attach energies several turns in a row.

Gardevoir EX - Favorable

As we play Dark attackers, we can Knock Out enemy Pokémon very easily in this matchup. A well-played Team Rocket's Giovanni DRI 174 on a Gardevoir ex sv4pt5 29 can end the game. At the same time, Scream Tail PRE 42 can also hurt our benched attackers before they can attack, so you should Knock it Out first.

Pros

• It only plays single Prize card Pokémon.

• It is consistent because it plays Team Rocket supporters.

• It's a rogue deck, so it may catch your opponents off-guard.

• It deals a reasonable amount of damage.

Cons

• It needs Team Rocket Pokémon to work, so it's a bit limited in terms of deckbuilding.

• It needs the double Team Rocket energy to work as well.

• It struggles against one of the best decks in the format, Dragapult EX.

Team Rocket's Weezing is a unique attacker, as well as quite fun and semi-competitive. Furthermore, all Team Rocket supporters work really well together and make the deck flow rather nicely. It might not win a regional, but it's quite fun and can crush your local competitive scene!

What do you think of it? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!