Standard Deck Tech: Ting-Lu ex

With the recent release of Scarlet & Violet: Paldea Evolved, I'll discuss the decks referring to the "Treasure of Ruin Pokémon".

To give you all some context: in Paldea, there are these legendary creatures from the Pokémon world which, according to local legends, were responsible for the destruction of that continent. They were fed by their ill-intent towards humanity, due to a tyrannic king who used them as a source of war power, until, after wars in the region, these four creatures were finally sealed.

Today, we'll discuss Ting-Lu, marked by its origin with the artifact on its head, which is a ceremonial item used by the king, who contained evil forces, and which corrupted this object, giving life to this Pokémon.

Decklist

Ting-Lu ex: The Star of the Deck

The essence of the deck is basically controlling the opponent and locking down the use of abilities which could be used, such as, for instance, Lost Box, Mew VMax and Regieleki VMax decks, and other attacking and recursive members from Gardevoir ex's deck, such as Kirlia SIT 68 and Zacian V CEL 16

With that type of control, we'll depend on Hawlucha sv1 118 and Radiant Alakazam SIT 59 placing more counters and moving that damage against the opponent's Pokémon which might represent a threat.

Koraidon ex: Energizer and Tanker

Its ability is excellent to energize your Pokémon. It has the downside of ending the turn (that is because you still need to discard these basic energies, with Ultra Ball sv1 196 being ideal to execute this combo), and that is very dangerous, as there are some decks which can speed up their set-up enormously, such as Mew VMax, besides not being able to attack again next turn.

The Wild Impact attack can be countered if it is retreated, because, as per the TCG rules, every time a Pokémon is placed back on the bench, all effects contained in it are abolished, using Switch Cart ASR 154 or even Escape Rope BST 125. This is this Pokémon's main strategy: being a tanker, and being capable of choosing two tool options:

1) Rock Chestplate sv1 192 which gives it 30 damage reduction (after applying weakness and resistance)

2) Bravery Charm sv2 173, which gives the basic Pokémon it is attached to 50 extra HP, going from 230 to 280.

So, when you have sectioned your energies on your Pokémon, then, yes, you'll use Hisuian Arcanine V SIT 90 as a blunt force attacker, in case you need to be more offensive.

Hisuian Arcanine V: Alternative Attacker

Hisuian Arcanine V SIT 90 can stack as many energies as you want to deal the necessary damage to take down Pokémon which are weak to this archetype, such as Regieleki VMAX SIT 58, and even Arceus VSTAR CRZ GG70, which is back to being relevant in the past few weeks.

Recursive Pokémon

- Spiritomb sv2 89 has Fettered in Misfortune, which makes all V type basic Pokémon in play (yours and the opponent's) to not have abilities.

This is a way of sabotaging your opponent which abuses these abilities, such as Lumineon V BRS 156, which is usually used as a recursive Pokémon for Supporter cards, not to mention Genesect V FST 185, which shows up in Mew VMAX LOR TG30.

- Hawlucha sv1 118 has Flying Entry, which allows you, during your turn, to play this Pokémon from hand and place it on your bench. And, by doing that, you choose two enemy Pokémon, and they get 1 damage counter each.

It is the same reasoning as Galarian Zigzagoon SSH 117 in the previous rotation, only, instead of a Pokémon as target of damage counters, you choose two Pokémon at once to place this counter, combining the future effect of Ting-Lu ex sv2 127's ability to lock down your opponent's Pokémon which depend on abilities.

- Radiant Alakazam SIT 59 has its ability Painful Spoons, which allows you, during your turn, to transfer 2 damage counters among your opponent's Pokémon in any way you'd like.

And with it, it is also vital the mobilization and pliability of these damage counters quoted above with Hawlucha sv1 118, because with Alakazam on board fulfilling its role, and with Ting-Lu ex sv2 127 holding the position of active Pokémon, the more counters you're able to place, the more efficient will be these counters' mobilization.

Trainer Cards

Supporters

Professor's Research (Professor Sada) sv1 189 is useful as "draw power": discard your hand and draw 7 cards.

Boss's Orders (Ghetsis) sv2 172 is useful to pull a specific Pokémon from your opponent's bench to deal the damage to victory, to speed up the drawing of Prize Cards.

This card has two options:

1) On your turn, all Fighting type Pokémon get 30 extra damage against the active Pokémon.

2) On your turn, if this card (Grant) is in the discard pile, discard two cards from your hand (except Grant). If you do, place this card (Grant) in your hand.

If possible, always try to recycle this card to increase the amount of damage from your Pokémon, which is always something welcome.

- Iono sv2 185 is extremely powerful, as it is the combination of its predecessors', N FCO 105 and Marnie SSH 169, effects together: you and your opponent shuffle your hands and place them at the bottom of the deck. After that, you'll draw cards from the top of the deck equal to the number of Prize Cards you have in play, in that case, on each of the player's game.

Example: if your opponent has 2 Prize Cards and you have 4 Prize Cards and use this card as an effect, you'll shuffle your hands to the bottom of the deck, and, in that, your opponent will draw only 2 cards and you'll draw 4 cards.

- Judge sv1 176 is also useful for both players. You and they will shuffle your hands back into the deck and draw 4 new cards.

Items

- Pal Pad sv1 182 is an item that recycles two Supporter cards from the discard pile to your deck.

The goal is to recycle Grant ASR 144 in this case, as often as you can, but it would also be welcome to bring Iono sv2 185 or Boss's Orders (Ghetsis) sv2 172

- Escape Rope BST 125 has a "similar" effect to Guzma BUS 115: your opponent will choose a Pokémon on their bench which will be promoted to the active position, and, next, you'll do the same with your Pokémon. The opponent will do this swap first (and, if they don't have any Pokémon benched to swap, they won't need to.)

- Ultra Ball sv1 196 is useful to look for any Pokémon, evolution or basic, common or ultra-rare, as long as you fulfill its requirement of discarding two cards from your hand to play it.

- Nest Ball sv1 181 is useful to look for a basic Pokémon in your deck and place it directly on the bench.

- Battle VIP Pass FST 225 is useful to be used only on your first turn in the game: look for two basic Pokémon in your deck, and then place them directly on your bench.

- Gutsy Pickaxe ASR 145 is useful to look at the card on the top of your deck: if there is a Fighting type energy, you'll attach it to one of your benched Pokémon; otherwise, you can get this card from the top and place it in your hand, if it isn't any Fighting type energy.

- Switch Cart ASR 154 is an item which is a bit better than the traditional Switch, as it heals the Pokémon which benefits from this effect 30 damage; however, it only works if this retreated Pokémon is a basic Pokémon. And as the whole deck is made of only basic Pokémon, we're safe.

Tools

- Bravery Charm sv2 173 grants 50 extra HP to the basic Pokémon attached to it.

- Rock Chestplate sv1 192 grants 30 points damage reduction to the Fighting type Pokémon it is equipped to (after applying weakness and resistance).

Stadiums

- Gapejaw Bog ASR 142 is useful to place 2 damage counters on basic Pokémon which are put in game (valid for both players).

It is ideal to combo with Ting-Lu ex sv2 127 to use its ability with extreme efficiency, quite agile in locking down abilities, besides the help of Radiant Alakazam SIT 59 to move these counters.

- Collapsed Stadium BRS 137 is useful for both players: the bench on each side will have only 4 spaces available instead of 5 (the usual).

It is quite specific to deal against 4 decks which depend on filling their bench:

1) Lugia-VStar;

2) Gardevoir ex;

3) Mew VMax;

4) Lost Box.

Advantages

- Electric type decks, due to the weakness.

- Decks which have Arceus VSTAR CRZ GG70, which suffers double the weakness, due to the colorless type.

Decks which use abilities, such as the described: Lugia VSTAR SIT 139, Mew VMAX LOR TG30 and Lost Box in general.

Disadvantages

- Mirror Match with another Ting-Lu ex sv2 127.

- Psychic and Grass types, due to certain Pokémon's weaknesses.

It is a consistent deck, though slow to energize its Pokémon, which makes it up for it with the tools described in the article. But, after the damage counters are placed, and you have Ting-Lu ex set up, your game is won if we leave Radiant Alakazam SIT 59 in play.

And, out of all 4 Treasure of Ruin Pokémon, it is by far one of my favorites, due to its efficiency.

See you next time!