Pokémon TCG: Standard Deck Guide: Jellicent EX

Black Bolt & White Flare is the latest Pokémon TCG set. Besides being great for collectors, as it includes over 72 Illustration Rares, this set also brought us incredibly impactful cards for the meta, from Trainers to Pokémon.

It is also the first time The Pokémon Company has brought us a western set that looks a lot like Japanese sets, considering Black Bolt & White Flare are actually two parts of the same set and mirror each other. It's the first time we get two sets at the same time as well.

From these new cards, a new version of Gardevoir ex sv1 245 was born. This version controls the game a bit better and slowly sets up devastating win conditions. Finally, the control archetype is once again finding space in Standard!

Gardevoir has been an incredibly popular Pokémon ever since it was released. Gardevoir ex sv1 245's ability, "Psychic Embrace", lets us attach Psychic energies to our Pokémon however we like but also forces us to put damage counters on them as we do. Logically, we'll actually use this in our favor.

For instance, Scream Tail PRE 42 deals more damage to active enemy Pokémon according to how many damage counters are on it. After attacking with it, we can just use Munkidori SFA 72's ability, "Adrena-Brain", to move these damage counters to enemy Pokémon.

Putting damage counters on our Pokémon is our main strategy: it is how we'll set up our attackers, in fact. For that reason, this list is a bit complex. We'll have to calculate exactly how many damage counters we can put on our Pokémon with Gardevoir ex before they become too vulnerable to deal as much damage as possible.

This strategy is already quite popular and familiar to many players. What actually sets this list apart from the old ones is Frillish WHT 126 and Jellicent ex WHT 45.

Frillish's attack, "Oceanic Gloom", deals 20 damage and prevents the opponent from using Items for just 1 Psychic energy. Considering we'll go second in most matches, we'll always be able to use this attack as a way to control them. We can also use Technical Machine: Evolution sv4 178 early on to set up our board.

The star of the deck is actually Jellicent ex WHT 45. Its ability, "Oceanic Curse", states that, as long as it is in our active spot, our opponent can't use Items or Tools. For 4 energies, it can also deal 160 damage, or even more if our Munkidori SFA 72 have energies attached.

This iconic "item lock" strategy might be the best control strategy available in Standard today, considering all decks in the meta use at least 30 Items. So, though we gave up classic attackers, like Drifloon sv1 89, we'll control the match very efficiently.

Please note that our opponent can play around these Pokémon if they find a way to move them from our active spot during their turn.

Gardevoir + Jellicent Decklist

Frillish has 80 HP, so we can't get it with Buddy-Buddy Poffin PRE 101. As such, we removed it from this list. Instead, this list plays 2 Nest Ball sv1 181, 2 Artazon sv4pt5 76, and 4 Ultra Ball sv4pt5 91 to get Pokémon from our deck. As recursion, this list plays 2 Night Stretcher SFA 61 and 1 Super Rod sv2 188.

For this entire strategy to work, we'll need to set up our Pokémon as soon as possible. So, we'll play a few Pokémon and Tools to do just that. Technical Machine: Evolution sv4 178 is a great way to evolve Ralts into Kirlia on the very first turn. Cleffa sv3 80 fixes bad opening hands, and Klefki sv1 96 also locks down the opponent on turn 1 with its ability, Mischiveous Lock.

Besides Fezandipiti ex SFA 92, this list also plays all the card draw Supporters it needs: 4 Professor's Research JTG 155, which also helps us discard Psychic energies from our hand, 4 Iono sv4pt5 80 to disrupt our opponents, and 2 Arven sv1 166, which can get our ACE SPEC and Technical Machine from our deck for us.

Please note that we must discard the Psychic energies in our hand, so this list also plays 3 Earthen Vessel PRE 106 to get them from our deck, and Ultra Ball sv4pt5 91 to discard them. It is also a way to get our 3 Darkness energies from our deck, as we need them for Munkidori.

Our attackers aren't that strong, so we play Technical Machine: Devolution sv4 177 as an alternative win condition. All we need to do is deal small amounts of damage to evolution Pokémon like Charizard ex sv4pt5 54 and Dragapult ex PRE 73 bit by bit, and then use Technical Machine to Knock them Out.

Finally, Secret Box is the best ACE SPEC for this list. It both discards cards, which is great for our strategy, and also lets us get specific cards from our deck. It is often essential in later turns to get a Iono, for instance.

Dragapult EX - Highly Favorable

Besides preventing the opponent from using Items, Lillie's Clefairy ex svp 195 Knocks Out Dragapult EX very easily. All we need to do is keep an eye on how many energies are in our discard pile: locking down one of our Pokémon in the active spot without any energies attached would be a valid strategy for the opponent.

Otherwise, our Munkidoris will make this matchup very easy, considering they'll make our opponent's single attacker completely useless.

Dragapult EX decks also use Budew PRE 4, which could delay us considerably. However, you can easily Knock it Out on later turns.

Raging Bolt EX - Favorable

The deck above was already very vulnerable to the "Item lock" strategy, but this one might be twice as vulnerable. Without using Items, Raging Bolt EX will hardly find its Noctowl PRE 78 and, as such, hardly set up its own strategy.

However, this Electric ancient dog is still a formidable attacker, so we must find a way to make the opponent draw an odd number of Prize cards. For instance, we can Knock Out Hoothoot SCR 114 with Scream Tail PRE 42. Please note that, in this matchup, Lillie's Clefairy ex svp 195 also easily Knocks Out Pokémon. Our opponent must respect it or perish.

Gholdengo EX - Unfavorable

Gholdengo ex sv4 139 got a few presents when the new set came along, namely Air Balloon BLK 79 and Genesect ex BLK 67. With these cards, it is a lot more consistent, sets up its Pokémon faster, and deals a lot of damage.

This matchup is very difficult because, even if we play our "locks", they can easily Knock Out our Pokémon, and the ability "Coin Bonus" lets them play around our Ionos.

Our plan is to Knock Out enemy Pokémon by moving damage counters with Munkidori, then wait for our opponent to fail a Boss's Orders (Ghetsis) sv2 172 or a Superior Energy Retrieval sv2 189.

Marnie's Grimmsnarl - Unfavorable

Grimmsnarl can get its main attacker with Spikemuth Gym DRI 169 and get its own Munkidoris with our Artazon sv4pt5 76. As if that didn't make this matchup hard enough, this deck also deals twice as much damage to our Pokémon because of their type, which means we won't be able to use Jellicent EX as easily.

Our main plan is to disrupt the opponent and prevent them from putting Grimmsnarl EX in play. If they manage to do that, Technical Machine: Devolution sv4 177 is our secret weapon to Knock Out Pokémon.

Pros

This deck relies heavily on an "Item/Tool lock" strategy, which is great for the current meta.

It easily moves damage counters from our Pokémon to the opponent's.

It can attack in several ways.

It is difficult to predict.

Cons

It doesn't perform that well against Gholdengo and Marnie's Grimmsnarl.

It relies on Supporters to draw cards.

It has weak opening hands.

And you must know the meta really well to use it.

This Jellicent EX version has been popular among Japanese players, and I bet soon it will be popular in the west too.

It could become a delightful surprise at the next World Championship in August. Though some players find this type of strategy toxic, it is super fun to play, and I highly recommend it if you enjoy control strategies.

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

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!