Pokémon TCG: Expanded Deck Tech - Lugia VStar + Team Rocket Moltres ex

The last Scarlet & Violet base set, Destined Rivals, gave us some pretty interesting options for Expanded. Some cards from this set definitely have a lot of potential and deserve to be explored a bit more.

One of them is Team Rocket's Moltres ex DRI 31, which we'll discuss today alongside Lugia VSTAR SIT 139 and Archeops SIT 147. We'll take full advantage of Archeops' ability, which lets us attach special energies to our Pokémon, to set up this powerful attacker: Team Rocket's Moltres ex DRI 31.

That being said, let's see how this deck works.

Decklist

Deck Structure

Team Rocket's Moltres ex: The Star of the Deck

This Pokémon's main attack is Evil Incineration. It costs (F)(C)(C)(C), and you have to discard 1 Team Rocket's Energy DRI 182 attached to it to use it. After you do, you may discard the opponent's active Pokémon and all cards attached to it, including energies and tools. It's a "disruptive" attack.

The Lugia VStar/Archeops combo sets up Team Rocket's Moltres ex DRI 31 with 2 Aurora Energy SSH 186 and 1 Team Rocket's Energy DRI 182.

Iron Hands ex: Alternative Attacker

Iron Hands ex is only useful in some situations. It has two decent attacks:

Arm Press deals 160 damage without applying weakness. After applying weakness against Water Pokémon, it deals 320 damage to them.

Amp You Very Much stands out because it gives you an extra Prize card when you Knock Out enemy Pokémon with it. You'll get a huge advantage in the Prize card race this way.

Recursive Pokémon

Lugia V & Lugia VStar: The Main Engine

Lugia V SIT 138 is quite useful because of its attack, Read the Wind. With it, you can discard Archeops PR-SW SWSH272 so you can use Lugia VSTAR SIT 139's VStar ability later on and put it on your bench. On top of it all, you'll also draw cards with it.

Lugia VSTAR SIT 139 is critical in this strategy. Its ability, Assemble Star, lets you look for two colorless Pokémon without a Rule Box (like Archeops SIT 147) in your discard pile and put them on your bench.

After you put Archeops SIT 147 on your bench with it, you can use its ability, Primal Turbo, to attach two special energies from your deck to any Pokémon on your board. With these two cards, you'll set your plans in motion as soon as the game starts, and they're why this strategy is so fast.

Other Recursive Pokémon

Lumineon V PR-SW SWSH250's ability, Luminous Sign, lets you get 1 Supporter from your deck when you play it on your bench.

As for Mew ex sv3pt5 151, its ability, Restart, draws up to 3 cards for you.

These Pokémon can also be attackers, depending on the game state.

You may attach Aurora Energy SSH 186 and Double Colorless Energy GRI 166 to Lumineon V PR-SW SWSH250 and attack with it.

You can also use Mew ex sv3pt5 151's Genoma Hacking to copy enemy attacks. It is a versatile Psychic attacker.

Trainers

Supporter to Get Resources

This card lets you look in your deck for a Stadium, and, if you also discard two cards, you can look for a tool and a special energy.

Supporter to Renew Your Hand

Unlike Professor's Research, you can use this card on the very first turn. It lets you discard any unwanted cards and then draw 5 new ones. Evidently, it is great if you get a bad hand early on.

Supporter to Pull and Swap Pokémon

Items to Get Pokémon

Capturing Aroma SIT 153 lets you look in your deck for basic or evolution Pokémon based on a coin flip.

Quick Ball FST 237 lets you look in your deck for basic Pokémon if you also discard a card. You should use it to discard Archeops SIT 147.

Hisuian Heavy Ball ASR 146 lets you look in your Prize cards for basic Pokémon.

Item to Discard Cards From Your Deck

This card is extremely useful to set up Archeops SIT 147 in your discard pile so you can use Lugia VStar's ability on it later on.

Item to Recycle Special Energies

This item lets you shuffle any special energies you discard back into your deck.

Tools

Float Stone BKT 137 is essential, as it lets you retreat the Pokémon it is attached to for free. For instance, if your opponent is stalling, you can swap your active Archeops and progress your plans.

Stadium

Chaotic Swell CEC 187 is a great answer for many disruptive Stadiums, such as Silent Lab PRC 140 (which disables abilities on basic Pokémon), Path to the Peak CRE 148 (which disables abilities on Pokémon with a Rule Box), and Temple of Sinnoh ASR 155 (which disables special energies).

ACE SPEC

If you discard 3 cards from your hand (for instance, any unused Battle VIP Pass FST 225 you may have), this card lets you look for:

1 Supporter

1 Stadium

1 Item

and 1 Tool.

Other ACE SPECS

Computer Search BCR 137 lets you discard two cards to draw any card from your deck. Ideally, you should discard 2 Archeops with it.

Prime Catcher PRE 119 is useful in aggressive strategies. It essentially lets you pull benched enemy Pokémon.

Pros

This deck has versatile answers for many archetypes: Iron Hands ex deals with Water Pokémon, Team Rocket's Moltres ex deals with Grass Pokémon, and Lugia VStar deals a lot of damage consistently.

It also plays recursive Pokémon that you can use as attackers occasionally, and as such you can adapt to the enemy strategy quite easily.

Finally, Team Rocket's Moltres ex is so disruptive many opponents simply can't do anything against it.

Cons

This strategy can be a bit slow if you fail to set up early on. You'll need a great turn 1 to make it work.

It is also a bit vulnerable to cards like Dusknoir VIV 71, which disable special energies, Pokémon that are immune to these energies, like Duraludon VMAX CRZ 104, and control lists, like Glimmora ex sv3 123, which make it harder for you to set up.

This deck shows how Team Rocket's Moltres ex DRI 31 can do a lot in a format that benefits special energies and efficient energy setups, like Lugia VSTAR SIT 139 and Archeops SIT 147. It is also a lot more practical than Porygon-Z UNB 157, as the lists that play it are slower and need many Supporters to keep playing, like Iono, Cynthia, Marnie, and N.

Furthermore, this deck is quite flexible because it plays support attackers as well, like Team Rocket's Zapdos DRI 70, to make Team Rocket's Energy DRI 182 even more efficient.

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

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!