Expanded Deck Tech: Chandelure + Charizard (Vivid Voltage) - Dynamic Burning

Hello everybody. I'm Rodrigo, bringing news about the Pokémon TCG and its vast media. And with the return of some decks from the Expanded format, I will talk about a deck that at the time of Sun/Moon: Unified Minds, had the objective of discarding Pokémon to do as much damage as possible, and we're talking about Chandelure, which marked the era for the fire archetype, as a simple and practical deck to be built.

But now with updates practically three years old, with new fire Pokémon that have appeared in the meantime, like Charizard from Sword/Shield: Vivid Voltage, we have an option of a strong second attacker that does 300 damage and which can be invoked right into the game! And with these new card additions to make Chandelure potent, let's talk about the deck for the Expanded format with these new changes.

So, let's analyze its deck and understand how it works.

Decklist

Chandelure: The Main Attacker

1) Attack - Spirit Burner (F): This attack does 10 damage plus 60 for each Pokémon that is discarded on the top five cards of the deck. You may choose them to put on your Bench.

It is one of the most vital attackers in the deck. It simply has absurd raw damage that can cause up to 310 damage (if the five cards are Pokémon), being able to knock out most VStar Pokémon that may appear and give a headache for some Pokemon-VMax, like Mew VMAX FST 114.

And with its effect of putting discarded Pokémon on the Bench, you can take Pokémon evolutions of stage 1 and 2 directly and put them in without the bureaucratic part of evolving from basic form. So, with this advantage, we can put Pokémon that can help with recursive recoil effects, energy, “catcher” effects and attack addition, in the respective case of Ninetales FST 31, Blaziken DRM 6, Volcarona SLG 13 and Incineroar UNB 29.

In addition, we have Lampent RCL 32 from Sword/Shield: Rebel Clash, which is great thanks to its Top Entry ability, if it is drawn on your turn, at the start of the game, and if your bench isn't full, you can place it directly. And this helps to accelerate the evolution through Dusk Stone UNB 167, hitting aggressively in the first turns.

Even so, even though the deck has a slow setup (I chose not to put an Oricorio-GX CEC 95, even though it is a good Pokémon to accelerate draws for each Pokémon knocked out - which is very common in this deck because it gives two prizes to the opponent, and my focus is to maintain the advantage of it being “Single Prize”), we can still count on draw resources with Rosa CEC 204 more than with Raihan EVS 152 because it gives you three options: Pokémon, Trainer card and energy, while Raihan only energizes one card from the discard pile and looks for any card in the deck, and well, it's three effects against two.

And speaking of additional cards, then we enter with Leon VIV 154 that came precisely to increase damage during your turn. Then we entered the utopia of trying to deal 340 damage in a single turn, using the attack of 10 + 60 for every five cards discarded, giving 310, and of that, plus the 30 of Leon VIV 182 dealing 340. And in that, it even manages to destroy the Pokémon-VMax with the highest HP in the game: Eternatus VMAX DAA 117.

Charizard: The Second Raw Damage Attacker

1) Skill - Battle Sense: you can look at the top three cards of your deck. Choose one to put into your hand, and the rest are discarded.

2) Attack - Royal Blaze (F)(F): This attack does 100 damage plus 50 damage to Leon cards in the discard pile.

And here we enter with the novelty that changed the most significantly in the deck: Charizard enters as the second attacker with the high attack of a maximum of up to 300 damage - and clearly, the objective is to discard all the Leon VIV 154, and from that we have three methods to burn these cards:

1) The very Battle Compressor Team Flare Gear PHF 92 that serves to take three cards from the deck and discard them, in addition to filtering with these Trainers so as not to disturb Chandelure UNM 30 to do the burning effect from the top of the deck with a higher chance of being Pokémon.

2) The stadium Giant Hearth UNM 197 which can discard a card from hand (which we want to be Leon VIV 154) and look for two fire cards in the deck, and since the deck only has eight energy cards, being scarce, it is best to preserve them in your hand, so they don't get lost with Chandelure UNM 30.

3) Chandelure UNM 30's own attack, the Spirit Burner, to discard the Leon VIV 182 cards.

Good Hands To Start The Game

Here in this hypothetical case, we have a Rare Candy PGO 69 that helps to evolve Litwick directly into Chandelure, that is, using Pokémon Communication TEU 152 as a way of exchanging Lampent from your hand to replace it for Chandelure (that's when Dusk Stone doesn't come).

In this other simulation, we have Battle Compressor Team Flare Gear PHF 92, which helps to discard three Leon VIV 154 to filter the deck well and eliminate these cards, so they don't become a stumbling block of use of Supporter of the turn that could use another more suitable one like Bill's Analysis TEU 133 - this one is also in your hand, to be able to make other plays, right after using the Battle Compressor.

And we still have the Pokégear 3.0 SSH 174, to pull some essential Supporter from the deck and put it in your hand, so you don't lose it when discarding for the Chandelure's attack.

Recursive Pokémon

- Ninetales FST 31 comes in here with its ability Byway of the Nine-Tailed Fox, which reduces the retreat cost of your fire Pokémon.

This is good in order not to suffer from mobility locks that the opponent can do with a Boss's Orders BRS 132, Guzma BUS 115, Escape Rope BST 125 or even the Cross Switcher FST 230 to pull a “heavy” Pokémon, since the deck doesn't have Switch. Its only concern is Charizard VIV 25 which needs two energies to hit and has three to retreat, which then will be exempt two energies, spending only one to retreat.

- Blaziken DRM 6 comes in here with its ability Firestarter, which allows you to cycle only one Fire Energy from the discard pile to one of your Benched Pokémon.

- The Volcarona SLG 13 comes in here with its ability Heat Cyclone, which means that during your turn, you can pull an opponent's Benched Pokémon into position, literally a Boss's Orders BRS 132.

And in my opinion, I decided to put it over Ninetales TEU 16 because this Ninetales depends on discarding two fire energies from the hand to be able to use its “catcher” ability, and it can have moments in the game where you won't have fire energy (but remember that it's always good to keep it, so you don't lose the Chandelure's attack discards to guarantee the Pokémon coming to be discarded in the process), and it can be annoying to be unable to use the ability as a key to victory due to lacking a “piece” of this great resource.

So, on the face of it, I am of the philosophy of “insure yourself as much as possible”, and therefore my choice goes to Volcarona.

- Incineroar UNB 29 comes in here with its ability Strong Cheer, which makes all of your Pokémon deal 30 more damage against your opponent's Active Pokémon.

And this Pokémon is wonderful for boosting damage, given that within our hypothetical range, let's say that in one turn, you managed to apply Chandelure by discarding the top five Pokémon from the deck. With that, you have 310 damage, and even more with the 30 of Incineroar, you already have there the possibility of causing 340 damage at once! - and that's not to mention that if you happen to play Leon VIV 154 on the same turn, you get 30 more damage, dealing a whopping 370 damage!

And more: there is the possibility that there is a more interesting move where, having three Leon VIV 154 cards guaranteed in the discard, the fourth Leon comes to be played as the Supporter of that turn, and you guarantee the sum of the damage from using it that turn and being discarded at the same time, coming to a total of 80 (30 from the turn and 50 from the discard effect), therefore, 330 damage in a hit, and with Incineroar on the bench, you already have the additional 30 of its ability - reaching 360 damage!

Trainer Cards

- Leon VIV 154 serves to increase your damage that turn by 30 more damage points.

It is vital for your Charizard VIV 25 to gain damage power, this is indisputable and obvious.

- Rosa CEC 204 is used to search for resources. It can only be played if one of your Pokémon was Knocked Out the previous turn. In this, you search for a Pokémon, a Trainer card and a basic energy, reveal them and put them in your hand.

- Bill's Analysis TEU 133 is used to look at the top seven cards of the deck and look for two Trainer-type cards and put them in your hand.

- Brock's Grit TEU 135 serves as a Pokémon and energy recycling. You choose a combination of up to six cards of Pokémon and basic Energy from the discard pile and return them to the deck.

- Pokégear 3.0 SSH 174 is used to search the seven cards at the top of the deck for a Trainer card of the Supporter type and put it in your hand.

- Battle Compressor Team Flare Gear PHF 92 is an item card that makes you choose three cards from your deck to discard.

It basically and only has the function of discarding the cards Leon VIV 154 and filtering the deck.

- Dusk Stone UNB 167 serves to search the deck for these Pokémon (Mismagius, Aegislash, Honchkrow, Chandelure), which can be up to GX, to evolve one of your Pokémon in play immediately (and you can use this card during your first turn when playing).

Basically, and solely, it's to speed up the evolution from Lampent to Chandelure in the same turn.

- Rare Candy PGO 69 is used to advance the evolution of a basic Pokémon right to stage 2. It can only be played in the turn after the one in which you put your basic Pokémon into play.

It is very situational, in case there might be a possibility to evolve by skipping Lampent between Litwick to Chandelure, but it is not a mandatory rule to follow this path, but just an alternative in case Dusk Stone takes time to come.

- Pokémon Communication TEU 152 is used to exchange a Pokémon in your hand for another in the deck and replace it, revealing it to the opponent and putting this new Pokémon in your hand.

It's another way of speeding up the deck's filter to look for more Litwick and place them as fast as possible, or look for their evolutionary line to speed up the evolution.

- Fire Crystal UNB 173 searches the discard pile for three fire energies and puts them in your hand.

It is essential that you keep the fire energies in your hand so that you don't lose them when you make the Chandelure attack, having the greater guarantee of the deck's filter to carry out the attack successfully.

Stadiums

- Giant Hearth UNM 197 is used to search the deck for two fire energies by paying the tribute of discarding a card from your hand as a requirement.

It can serve in particular for filtering the deck to get fire energy to have on hand at the cost of discarding a Leon VIV 154, for example, if Battle Compressor Team Flare Gear PHF 92 does not come.

Advantages

As a “Single Prize” deck, it doesn't have the risk of taking damage from ultra-rare Pokémon like EX, GX, Tag Team-GX, V, VStar, VMax, VUnion, etc; in addition to being too explosive to deal a lot of damage for just one or two energies (in Charizard's case, the two energies), which makes it much easier to get around situations where the opponent uses the Crushing Hammer to discard energies and can recover quickly.

In addition to the recursive Pokémon that help with retreat, energy, amplified damage, and with the "catcher" guaranteeing it, this deck can face the strongest of the format such as an Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX CEC 156, for example, which every so often, is common to appear in the Expanded format.

Disadvantages

- The deck can fail at the beginning of the set-up assembly because it is a bit slow, but it only improves when you already have a guarantee of being able to evolve Litwick as quickly as possible and have another one in the bench, and of course, always being careful with sniper decks, to put Mew UNB 76 - I chose to include this one because it accepts any energy and can put three damage counters.

- Control and spread decks like Mewtwo-VUnion can take a bit of work because it constantly heals and uses damage counters and starts gradually tearing down your Pokémon. And a strong list that can appear, we have the example of this list from Stuttgart Regional which was showcased here.

- Aggressive decks with great raw damage, like Gyarados TEU 30, which also has the archetype advantage.

- Decks that take Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX CEC 156 using their GX attack first and buying prizes quickly.

- Mewtwo & Mew-GX UNM 71 decks that copy the Crystal Ray attack of Glaceon-EX FCO 20, where it does 70 damage and is exempt from damage from Evolved Pokémon.

- “Single Prize” decks like Alolan Raticate PGO 42 and Raticate BREAK BKP 89.

- Deck with “Deck Out” strategy like Centiskorch, such as this one.

- Decks that use Lost Zone combos like Lost City LOR 161.

- “Instant Kill” decks like Absol GRI 81 and Hisuian Zoroark LOR 76 before you have a secure set-up of your game with Pokémon in the bench.

It's a very interesting and simple deck to build, and for those who are fans of the fire type, it's an excellent choice to be able to test something aggressive for just one or two energies.

Did you like this deck? Would you make your list different? What do you think you would change to improve it? And if you've played with it, what was your experience? Your comments are welcome.

Until next time for a future article.