Expanded Deck Tech: Heatran VMax - Burn, baby, burn!

If you enjoy "burn" strategies in Pokémon TCG, then you'll love today's list, which also plays a fairly uncommon combo. Because we built this list for the Expanded format and thus could use some interesting cards, it actually ended up quite efficient.

Our main attacker will be Heatran VMAX ASR 26 from Sword & Shield: Astral Radiance, but we'll also use Magmortar JTG 21 from Scarlet & Violet: Journey Together to deal even more Burn damage.

Decklist

Deck Structure

Heatran V & Heatran VMax: The Main Attackers

About Heatran V

Its two main attacks fit our overall game plan perfectly. Let's see them.

Heat Burn burns an enemy Pokémon, the "bad status" this deck revolves around. Magmortar JTG 21's ability, then, adds 3 extra damage counters to Burned Pokémon in between turns, so they'll take 50 damage between each turn if the opponent misses their coin flips.

Its second attack, Magma Fall, deals 90 base damage and 90 extra damage if a stadium is in play.

In that sense, you could use Wela Volcano Park DRM 63 to make these attacks even more powerful, even more so if you use Heat Burn beforehand.

About Heatran VMax

Its ability, Magma Gain, heals it by 50 HP if a stadium is in play. The idea is to play it with Wela Volcano Park DRM 63, as this stadium also goes really well with its main attack.

Heatran VMax's main attack, Max Heat Burst, deals 180 damage and burns the enemy Pokémon. As such, at the beginning of the opponent's turn, they'll have to flip a coin. If it's "tails", their Pokémon will take 20 damage and remain burned until they get "heads" in the following turn.

Considering how much damage this attack already deals, you'll deal a total of 200 damage to enemy Pokémon, or 230 with Magmortar JTG 21's ability, which puts 3 extra damage counters on burned Pokémon. Furthermore, Wela Volcano Park DRM 63 will make sure they won't be able to remove that condition from their Pokémon, even if they get "heads".

The result is that you'll deal 50 damage in between turns, guaranteed!

Entei V: Alternative Attacker

Entei V's Fleet-Footed ability draws 1 card for you when it is your active Pokémon.

Its attack, Burning Rondo, deals 20 base damage and 20 extra damage for each benched Pokémon, both yours and the opponent's. In the best-case scenario, with 5 Pokémon on each bench, it deals 220 damage!

Recursive Pokémon

"Baby" Recursive Pokémon

Magmortar JTG 21 is essential in this list. Its ability, Magma Surge, puts 3 extra damage counters on burned Pokémon (they'll take 50 damage total in between turns).

Oricorio sv2 33 is useful because its ability, Ardente Dance, heals 20 HP from your active evolution Pokémon, so you'll use it to heal Heatran VMAX ASR 26. With Heatran VMAX's own ability, you'll heal up to 70 HP in between turns.

Recursive "Rule Box" Pokémon

Radiant Greninja ASR 46's ability, Concealed Cards, lets you discard one energy from your hand to draw 2 cards.

Squawkabilly ex PR-SV 160's ability, Squawk and Seize, lets you discard your entire hand and draw 6 new cards, but you can only use it on the first turn and when you play this Pokémon from your hand on your bench. It is a perfect way to fix bad opening hands.

Trainers

Supporter to Retreat and Heal Pokémon at the Same Time

This card does two things:

It retreats your active Pokémon.

If you discard 2 cards from your hand, it also heals 120 HP from it.

Supporter to Draw Cards

Carmine PRE 103 is different from Professor's Research JTG 155, which draws 7 cards if you discard your hand. Carmine might only draw 5 new cards, but the best thing about it is that you can play it on turn 1 even if you're playing first. This will be quite helpful whenever you get a bad opening hand.

Supporters to Attach Energies

Welder UNB 189 lets you attach up to 2 basic fire energies from your hand to one of your Pokémon. If you do, you may also draw 2 cards.

Blacksmith FLF 88, on the other side, recycles 2 basic fire energies from your discard pile and lets you attach them to one of your fire Pokémon in play.

Item to Get Pokémon

You can only use Battle VIP Pass FST 225 on your very first turn. It lets you look for 2 basic Pokémon in your deck and put them on your bench. If you get it after turn 1, you can just discard it with cards like Ultra Ball or others that force you to discard something to work.

As for Ultra Ball BRS 150, it is the standard item to get any Pokémon from your deck, basic or evolution, but you'll have to discard 2 cards from your hand to use it.

Item to Filter Supporters from your Deck

Pokégear 3.0 UNB 182 lets you look for a supporter in the top cards in your deck, reveal it, and put it in your hand. It essentially lets you set up for your next turns.

Items to Filter Energies

This card lets you look for 2 basic energies in your deck and get them, but you'll have to discard any card from your hand to use it. You should, whenever possible, discard Battle VIP Pass FST 225 if it's not turn 1, as it is basically useless from turn 2 onward.

Sugestion:

You can play 1 copy of Fiery Flint DRM 60 instead of 2 Earthen Vessel PRE 106, as well as another Battle VIP Pass FST 225. It's up to you!

Items to Recycle Cards in General

Ordinary Rod SSH 171 lets you pick between:

Recycling 2 Pokémon (basic or evolution) from your discard pile and shuffling them back into your deck.

Recycling 2 basic energies.

Recycling both 2 Pokémon and 2 basic energies at the same time.

Fire Crystal UNB 173 recycles up to 3 Basic Fire Energy sv3 230 from your discard pile and puts them directly in your hand.

VS Seeker PHF 109 is one of the most valuable items in this list because it recycles 1 supporter from your discard pile and puts it in your hand. Your priority should be recycling cards like Welder UNB 189 or Blacksmith FLF 88.

Tools

Forest Seal Stone SIT 156 is extremely useful with the Pokémon V in this list, like Entei V, Heatran V, and Heatran VMax. If you attach this card to them, they can use its VStar ability, which, in turn, lets you look for any card in your deck and add it to your hand.

Float Stone BKT 137 is essential. It lets you retreat your Pokémon for zero energies, and that's crucial for Pokémon like Magmar/Magmortar, which cost a lot of energies to retreat. You can also use it to protect "heavy" Pokémon like Heatran V and Heatran VMax, which also cost a lot of energies to retreat.

Stadiums

Heat Factory ◇ LOT 178 lets you draw 3 cards if you discard 1 Basic Fire Energy sv3 230.

Wela Volcano Park DRM 63 is a key part of this entire strategy. Its ability prevents the opponent from removing the "burn" status from their Pokémon even if they get "heads". That means "burned" Pokémon will take damage every turn, guaranteed.

It is pretty great with Magmortar JTG 21's ability, which adds extra damage counters to burned Pokémon in between turns. In fact, this combo is one of the most powerful and essential parts of the entire deck.

ACE SPEC

To use this card, you'll have to discard 3 cards from your hand (ideally, you should discard any cards you can't use, like Battle VIP Pass FST 225 after turn 1). In exchange, you'll be able to get the following options from your deck:

1 supporter.

1 stadium.

1 item.

1 tool.

Other Cards You Can Use

Infernape UPR 23's ability puts 6 damage counters on enemy Pokémon you burn with Heatran VMax. However, as it is a stage 2 Pokémon, you'll need to find space in the list for Rare Candy and its evolution line (Chimchar and Infernape). To make it work, you should bring a 2-3-2 line.

Radiant Charizard CRZ 20 is an ideal single prize attacker in the end game.

Chi-Yu ex sv2 40 lets you get multiple energies from your discard pile and attach them to your benched Pokémon. Its attack also "disrupts" the top of the enemy deck and is useful in some situations.

Pros

This deck is very efficient at knocking out basic Pokémon ex, basic Pokémon V, and "baby" Pokémon because it deals damage turn after turn through burn. Particularly with Wela Volcano Park and Magmortar's ability.

Heatran VMax is quite resilient because it has a lot of HP.

Cons

Most Pokémon in this list cost a lot of energies to retreat, so you'll need to plan ahead whenever you want to swap your active Pokémon. Particularly before you set up Heatran VMax.

Water archetypes are a big challenge for this list because they deal more damage to fire Pokémon, and this deck doesn't play any tool or special energy to deal with this.

Single prize water decks, like Kingdra, are almost impossible to beat. That goes for both Standard and Expanded.

Water decks that play powerful, cheap attacks, like Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR ASR 40 or Suicune V EVS 31, are another issue.

Decks based around Mewtwo & Mew-GX UNM 71 and Glaceon-EX FCO 20's second attack (which prevents evolution Pokémon from dealing damage) are favored against it.

Control decks that control how many Pokémon you can put on your bench, like Glimmora ex sv3 123, are also a problem for this deck.

Finally, strategies that constantly sabotage your setup, like Avery CRE 130, are troublesome to deal with.

Some alternative versions of this list lean heavily into making Heatran VMAX ASR 26 even more resilient with cards like Lucky Ice Pop EVS 150 and special energies like Heat Fire Energy DAA 174. In our case, we decided to deal as much damage through burn as we can.

Magmortar JTG 21, from Scarlet & Violet, freed us from Infernape UPR 23, which forced us to use Rare Candy as well. As a result, we can now use other options.

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

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!