Arceus VSTAR/Dhelmise VMAX Deck: A Viable Grass Deck? Hello guys, I'm back with another article and this time I'm going to pair Arceus VSTAR with one of my beloved types in Pokemon, Grass-type. I will be

Hello guys, I’m back with another article, and this time I’m going to pair Arceus VSTAR with one of my beloved types in Pokemon, Grass-type. I will be using Dhelmise VMAX in this deck as my second attacker. Enjoy!

 

Here’s an example of the deck:

 

This is just an example, if the deck didn’t work for you, you could try to experiment with it yourself and get comfortable with it.


Deck Overview

Dhelmise VMAX will be Arceus VSTAR partner this time. With Fire-type decks currently still not in their highest form, Dhelmise VMAX can be played freely and its first attack can easily snipe any Pokemon within range. 


Pokemon


Arceus VSTAR

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I hope you guys are not bored with Arceus VSTAR because it seems every Pokemon VMAX that is paired with Arceus VSTAR will be working wonderfully. Arceus VSTAR can easily charge any Pokemon V (be it V, VMAX, VSTAR, or V-UNION) with 3 energy. That 3 energy itself usually already meets most of the Pokemon V attack cost. That’s why Arceus VSTAR seems to be the star of the format right now. Its VSTAR Power is also one of the most influential VSTAR Power in the current format because it lets you search for any 2 cards from your deck. 

 

This time, I bring the standard line for Arceus VSTAR consist of 4 Arceus V and 3 Arceus VSTAR. I think this is a pretty standard composition for the Arceus VSTAR line. 


Dhelmise VMAX

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This time, Dhelmise VMAX will be the star of the deck. Its ‘Swinging Chain’ attack can easily knock any Sobble or Drizzile and take an easy prize card. Its HP is also 330 so you will likely last more than other VMAX because most of the time they only have 320HP or get knocked easily by weakness. Then looking at its second attack ‘Max Anchor’, is a perfect number to knockout any Pokemon V but it is still short 10 damage from OHKO Arceus VSTAR (Choice Belt attached). To cover that, I bring 1 Galarian Zigzagoon. I only bring 1 copy of Galarian Zigzagoon because, in the early game, my Arceus VSTAR usually already did some damage to the enemy and Dhelmise VMAX can just finish the Pokemon. 

 

I bring a 2-2 line of Dhelmise VMAX because I think this is the standard composition for the second attacker because Pokemon VMAX will be giving 3 prize cards when knocked and having multiple of them on the board is too risky. 


Bibarel

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Bibarel will be the draw engine for this deck. As I already tell you guys many times in another article, the Inteleon engine also suits this kind of deck, but what I aim for in this article is a fun deck that still packs some punch to the opponent. Yes, it clearly gives you more damage and consistency through the whole board when using Inteleon but having Bibarel means that you will be having more deck space in your deck for other cards be it disruption or another draw supporters. Also, you can only set 1 Bibarel on your board and you can get some consistency on your end because it serves like Genesect V.

 

I bring a 2-2 line of Bibarel line because 1 Bibarel is more than enough for me most of the time. I also recommend you to save at least 4 copies of the Bibarel line because soon we will be having rotation and the 'Shady Dealing' Inteleon line will be rotated.


Trainers

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For searchers, I play the standard composition of 4 Quick Ball, 4 Ultra Ball, and 2 Evolution Incense. But this time, I add 1 copy of Adventurer’s Discovery to make sure that I can set up Arceus VSTAR and Dhelmise VMAX properly because sometimes I can attack with Dhelmise VMAX first. 

 

Then, I bring 2 Escape Rope and 2 Air Balloon. I choose not to play any Switch because Dhelmise VMAX’s first attack can be combined with Escape Rope gameplay to take an easy knockout to any Sobble or any non-Pokemon V. 

 

I also play 1 Tool Scraper because Big Charm and Cape of Toughness can easily make my opponent survives if I attack with ‘Swinging Chain’. It is definitely a very good choice to have. 

 

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Then for the supporters, I play 3 copies of Professor’s Research, 2 Marnie, 3 Boss’s Orders, 1 Raihan, and 1 Adventurer’s Discovery. I think this is a pretty standard composition because playing Raihan can help you to maximize ‘Swinging Chain’ damage. In the upcoming set, you can try to play Gardenia’s Liveliness because it can also serve you as the energy accelerator for Dhelmise VMAX or Arceus VSTAR

 

As for stadium cards, I play 2 Path to the Peak and 1 Collapsed Stadium. You can go all the way by playing 3 Path to the Peak. But, I choose to play 1 Collapsed Stadium because sometimes I can trap my opponent or even save myself from getting knocked out. 


Matchup

Setting up the board is quite easy with this deck and setting up for evolution Pokemon is also easy because you have Adventurer’s Discovery. Then, you also have Bibarel for your draw engine so you can have quite a solid pace every turn. 

 

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Facing a Fire-type deck with this deck is still manageable because you can just play Arceus VSTAR only. But when you are facing a Fighting-type deck, you can be in quite a bad spot because your source of energy acceleration (Arceus VSTAR) is weak to Fighting-type. You may want to bring Dunsparce if your place is heavily populated with Fighting-type decks.

 

However, a snipe/spread deck is not too big of a problem for you because all of your attackers have high HP. But, your Bibarel is easy to snipe and if it gets knocked, you can be in a bad spot if you don’t have any draw power in your hand. You can try to bring a Manaphy in case your place is heavily populated with decks like Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX and Jolteon VMAX.

 

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The main gameplay with this deck is hitting with ‘Trinity Nova’ and ‘Max Anchor’ because it is the most powerful attack within your deck. There’s also another scenario where you can try to snipe your opponent using ‘Swinging Chain’ because if you have 3 Grass Energy, you can snipe your opponent’s Sobble or Drizzile. But most of the time, I only hit them using ‘Trinity Nova’ and ‘Max Anchor’ because you want to close the game as fast as you can before your Pokemon get knocked out. 

 

Hand disruption in this deck is not too severe if you already set up your Bibarel. Things can go bad if you haven’t set up your Bibarel because most of the time this will be your draw engine, especially in the upcoming format where you will be having Roxanne. To make sure you’re not bricking, you can try to set up Bibarel as fast as you can in the early game besides setting up Arceus VSTAR. Even I sometimes prioritise setting up Bibarel because I have no supporter in hand. 

 

Energy disruption may be a bad thing for this deck because Grass-type has no built-in energy recycler in their arsenal. The least you can do is play Ordinary Rod so you can recycle not only your Pokemon but your energy too.

 

Other than that, I really enjoy playing this deck because I love playing Grass-type Pokemon. But seeing how the format right now, I still think that the Grass-type deck still can’t compete with another deck because they don’t have quite the damage. 


Afterword

It is quite enjoyable because Arceus VSTAR opens up a whole lot of opportunities for many VMAX Pokemon to be playable. Yes, it won’t suddenly be a busted deck because of many factors to be considered. But put that aside, it is really fun to see so many players really put their brains into the test on making their best deck so there won’t be a single deck that really stands out like the previous format with Mew VMAX. 

 

Comment down below to share your thoughts!

 

Life is too short to be anything but happy! - Arelios

There may be some mistakes and missing points of review in this writing. Please kindly comment to share your correction and point of view too.

 
 

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