Hi everyone, I’m back with a new deck, Glaceon VMAX+Glaceon VSTAR. People were playing Leafeon VMAX+Leafeon VSTAR so I was like, ‘why not do the same with Glaceon V?’. This has brought me to this. I first started this review before Brilliant Stars was even announced, so I had to update this deck so many times, but here we have a finalised deck. I had to also take a long break so I apologise, but now, I present to you, Glaceon VMAX and Glaceon VSTAR, in the same deck.
First, let’s break down the 2 Glaceons. Wait, make that 3. Yep, let us look at Glaceon V, Glaceon VMAX and Glaceon VSTAR.
Glaceon VMAX has an ability, Crystal Veil, that blocks all attacks from VMAX Pokemon. Although VMAXes are running rampant in today's Meta, it is still not as good of an ability as you might think. Let me explain. Firstly, due to the nature of this ability, this deck takes auto losses against Suicune V decks and any other ‘V-centred decks’. Secondly, Glaceon VMAX is a VMAX, and is very susceptible to attacks before evolving, which is hard to survive any hit. But that can be solved. However, yet another problem arises. Brilliant Stars brings about the new archetype, VSTARs. This poses a problem, as Glaceon VMAX cannot do much against cards that can bypass its ability with much ease. The mechanic itself favours VSTAR Pokemon, which means that you WILL be swept. Lastly, it is very vulnerable to Path to the Peak, which is a very popular card. Many decks which do not play abilities on Pokemon V play this card, which poses an issue. Many decks that do not use abilities are throwing Path to the Peak into their decks (especially Gengar VMAX). Glaceon VMAX will lose its power to wall the opponent, which will cause Glaceon VMAX to lose if it does not find a counter Stadium. Glaceon VMAX can do its job well, which is to wall VMAX Pokemon, like Mew VMAX, which is made stronger with the release of Double Turbo Energy and Ultra Ball. Mew VMAX has become so fast that some decks cannot even cope with the speed and just get swept. Glaceon VMAX just has to do its job, and do it well. But it can do more than just wall. It can threaten the opponent’s active Pokemon as well as benched Pokemon, which allows you to checkmate the opponent.
Glaceon VSTAR has 2 moves. The first move, Icicle Shot, can deal a nice 180 damage and prevent the opponent from retreating. This is another piece that can fit into this checkmate deck. Glaceon VSTAR can keep Pokemon stranded in the active, which can be quite useful. It forces the opponent to switch or to hit into a 2 Prizer that could outrade the opponent. In order to switch, the opponent cannot use Air Balloon, use their free retreat cost, or pay for the retreat cost. In other words, they can only play Switch. That is a really nasty combo with Boss’s Orders, but we’ll get there soon. The next attack, Crystal Star, can OHKO a typical V Pokemon, and can wall all damage the next turn. You might say ‘Well, I can boss out another Pokemon’. But how much more resources are you going to have to waste to get that Boss’s Orders, and trust me, you are going to have to use so many Boss’s Orders, you'll be regretting not playing 4 copies. This card synergises well with Glaceon VMAX as it offers that offensive power which Glaceon VMAX lacks, and can punish those V Pokemon that refuse to evolve in order to damage Glaceon VMAX. More pieces to the puzzle.
Glaceon V has only 1 job. To get out Glaceon VMAX on turn 1. This uses the move, Ascension. Wait no that’s Gible’s move. Right, Frozen Awakening. By bringing out the wall on the first turn, the opponents that play VMAXes will be forced to keep their V Pokemon in play, which removes the weakness of being vulnerable before evolving. It can also bring out Glaceon VSTAR if need be. With that said, let’s discuss the gameplan.
This deck aims to do one thing. Give the opponent a bad time (*insert Megalovania meme*) by removing as many of their win conditions as possible. You want to go second, then evolve your Glaceon V into a VMAX. If the opponent plays a V deck or a VSTAR deck, you are not in trouble, don’t worry. If you feel pressured, slap on an EXP. Share to secure an energy attachment. If not, pressure the opponent by attaching to benched Glaceon V. The opponents that play VMAXes, like Mew VMAX, Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX, will be screaming internally already, so you can use the time to set up a Glaceon VSTAR. Just note not to reveal your Glaceon VSTAR first, because you want the opponent to focus on the threat, Glaceon VMAX.
IF you want to put even more pressure, you can go ahead and play Melony, attach an energy, and use Max Icicle. If you are about to be KOed, let me reveal my secret move. Switch out, Play Collapsed Stadium from Brilliant Stars and discard that injured Glaceon VMAX. That saves you from having to play Cheryl. Of course this may get out of hand and the opponent starts to run you over. You can drag out some bench sitter and trap it in the active. If the opponent still breaks free (using Switch or Boss’s Orders), you can just simply hit it with Crystal Star and it stalls for another turn or waste the opponent's resources.
Turbo decks will suffer at this point, because they have to set up their attackers, and you are going around and messing with their board state by slapping damage counters here and there, and trapping things in the front. Since they are trying not to deck out and thus trying to take Prizes, start Prize Trading. They will be digging harder to find Switches, or any card that can help them set up faster. In that case, try to get rid of your Glaceon VMAX, and just use Glaceon VSTAR. You can also trade with V Pokemon, as a Choice Belt can help to KO them much more easily. Even though they might survive with 30 hp, do not worry, because Max Icicle can snipe off any remaining Pokemon if need be. The opponent at this point is put on a timer. If they cannot take prizes fast enough, they will deck out.
Obviously they might waste more resources trying to KO your Pokemon, but if they do not, they also cannot slow the game down to prevent Deckout. You can continue to pressure them with ease and play some Cheryl here and there to stop any KOs. If the opponent brings out Rapid Strike Energy, Double Turbo Energy, Fusion Strike Energy, or any special energy, you can do the second secret move. Grab your Yveltal, and discard energy. Simple as that. How? Just remember, any Quick Ball and Ultra Ball can get you that combo. Assuming you don’t prize any of the parts, you can grab Lumineon V, which can grab Piers, which can grab Yveltal and Double Turbo Energy, to discard all of the opponent's energy. On another note, Glaceon VMAX can use Double Turbo Energy to attack, so I decided to play it over Twin Energy. Obviously this is not foolproof, but it can really force out some forfeits, because this deck can go offensive and defensive quite easily.
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Diagram showing the logic behind discarding bench sitters (hope it helps).
Card counts:
3-3 Minccino+Cinccino line: This is my main engine. Cinccino engine is chosen over Drizzile engines, due to its consistency. The main difference between the 2 engines is that Cinccino can last longer than Drizzile. Take control decks in expanded. Many of them opt to play Zoroark GX, with its ability, Trade, basically doing the same thing as Cinccino. A control/wall deck should want to amass a gigantic hand, to get the resources it needs to counter the opponent. If you have 2 Cinccino set up, you gain 2 cards per turn, and if your opponent is still having troubles, Cinccino can allow you to just draw more cards. Also, I do not advise playing Bibarel, because your hand will only be able to be kept at 5 cards, which is not as ideal, but still is an idea worth exploring.
2 Snow Leaf Badge: Snow Leaf Badge removes Glaceon VMAX’s retreat cost and its weakness, which is very handy in this deck. It states that Glaceon VMAX, Glaceon V and Glaceon VSTAR “has no Retreat Cost'', which means unlike Air Balloon, they can still retreat even with Galar Mine in play. This allows you to freely move around, while your opponent has to find their Switch cards. Also, if they try to counter-strand you in the active, you have no problems switching out. As for the weakness removal, they are no longer weak to Metal Types, which means Zacian V, Zamazenta V as well as Genesect V is no longer a big problem, which can help improve matchups so much more. This card fits perfectly into this deck, which is what I love to see.
2 Choice Belt: Sheesh I cannot tell you how happy I was when this card was announced. This card can turn 2HKOs into OHKOs with ease. Choice Belt can be slapped onto a Glaceon VSTAR, which means it can now deal 180+30 damage, which is a nice 210, which can OHKO many V Pokemon, which is useful. 180 is not a really great number, and you mostly want attackers that can hit at least 220 OHKO V Pokemon and 2HKO any VMAX/VSTAR.
2 EXP. Share: EXP. Share can really grab those energies that are about to be discarded when your Pokemon is KOed. This can really help with the setup, because you need to fuel 3 energy in 1 turn if you want to attack immediately. This means that with EXP. Share, Melony and the attachment for the turn, you can attack the opponent. This card can really ensure an attack that could revenge kill the opponent, which is always good to have.
1 Shopping Centre: Shopping Centre (Or rather, Shopping Center) is a really neat card that can return any tool card from any Pokemon into your hand. This can be useful, in specific situations. For example, if you have an EXP. Share attached, and you want to KO the opposing Pokemon V, you need to get Choice Belt attached, but you cannot. This is where Shopping Centre comes in. It can help to give you that extra damage, or that free retreat/no weakness at any time.
4 Marnie, 0 Research: Missing out on a powerful draw supporter may seem detrimental, but remember, I have a Mincinno engine to help me draw cards. Also, Melony helps to draw cards as well, so it is not really a problem. Marnie is still good enough to draw cards and disrupt the opponent at the same time.
2 Cheryl: Cheryl can heal off all the damage taken from Glaceon VMAX/Glaceon VSTAR, which is a neat trick to pull off when you are about to get KOed. Although it may seem counterintuitive to remove all your energy and not be able to attack, you can still prolong the game, and try to survive another turn. When you stall out 1 more turn, you could possibly set up more Cinccino, or even remove tons of energy. You could even take that time to set up another Glaceon VMAX/Glaceon VSTAR, or find a counter stadium to Path to the Peak. The possibilities are limitless, and that is why Cheryl is great on this deck, which allows for more time to recover and bounce back. However, finding Cheryl is always a pain for me, and with no Drizzile engines in this deck, you may not be able to pull this off.
Lumineon V: Lumineon V, a similar card to Tapu Lele GX from Guardians Rising, is a really great card from Brilliant Stars. It can search out any supporter card from the deck, be it Piers or Melony. Also, this means that any supporter is searchable by Quick Ball or Ultra Ball. Why? Lumineon V provides the bridge between the Pokemon search cards and the supporter cards. I really think that this card is very strong for this deck and can provide that extra support anytime. Unfortunately, it is not reusable, but it is fine, because you probably will not use it more than once. Also, it may seem like a vulnerable target that is on the bench. However, that can be solved. Collapsed Stadium can not only discard the injured Glaceons, it can also discard Lumineon V. Path to the Peak can block Lumineon V’s ability, so do watch out for that, and try to discard it as fast as possible.
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1 Manaphy: Similar to Mew’s Bench Barrier ability, it can really do a good job keeping out the Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX, and Jolteon VMAX, which is why they have seen reduced play. It can protect Cinccino and Lumineon V, which could pose a problem if they are sniped off.
Yveltal: As I have explained earlier, Yveltal is great for energy denial, at a relatively low cost. Yes, you will need to search it out and find a Twin Energy/Double Turbo Energy, but there is a solution. I like to think of it as a chain ‘reaction’. By finding a Quick Ball/Ultra Ball, you can get both Yveltal and an energy. Piers can be searched by Lumineon V and thus Yveltal can be set up in one turn. Yveltal can be very useful in many matchups, and you could even add an Ordinary Rod to reuse it. So many decks are now relying on special energy. Arceus VSTAR uses Double Turbo Energy, Mew VMAX uses both Double Turbo Energy and Fusion Strike Energy. Gengar also uses Single Strike Energy. The list goes on. The longer the list, the more the reliance on Yveltal. This would thus increase its usage. This can also disrupt the opponent, or even discard all the special energy, which would provide another lock to prevent some attackers from attacking.
2 Switch: Yes I said that Snow Leaf Badge can provide that free retreat, but sometimes, you might have Choice Belt attached instead, which can lead you to be unable to retreat for free 2 Switch is enough, just in case you discarded one earlier or you prized one, you can get out of any sticky situation with Galar Mine still in play. I think a Switch card is still necessary, because there are so many times where you do not have Snow Leaf Badge in play, which means you will also be stranded in the active. Also, it is a way to avoid Paralysis, but Paralysis is not that common in today's meta.
4 Quick Ball, 2 Ultra Ball and 2 Evolution Incense: An odd count of Pokemon search cards indeed, but it does make quite a bit of sense if you think about it. Ultra Ball can act as both Quick Ball and Evolution Incense. Which means there is no need to play max Quick Ball and Evolution Incense. I do not play too many Ultra Ball, because I need to keep a big hand to get the things I need, so I do not want to discard too many vital cards that I may need later. For example, I only play 2 Collapsed Stadium, which means if I discard it, I cannot discard Pokemon on my bench anymore.
Other things that can be considered:
3 Boss’s Orders + 2 Galar Mine: This is a deadly combo that punishes decks that do not play Switch. Many decks are confident that they have no problem with pivoting, so they just play 2 copies of Air Balloon. Even if Tool Jammer is in play, Retreating is simple enough. Similar to Leafeon VMAX, Glaceon VMAX/Glaceon VSTAR can now trap bench sitters like Crobat V with ease, and since Scoop Up Net is also not an option, Crobat V can become fodder before getting KOed. This can also be chained, by using Boss’s Orders to drag out another bench sitter and snipe of the damaged Crobat V with Max Icicle. Also, one problem with Glaceon VSTAR is that if it can block damage from the opponent, it cannot stop them from retreating. These kinds of problems are very common, but this time, Galar Mine can help solve that problem by acting as a temporary block. I think it is good enough, because now the opponent has to find a Switch card and Boss’s Orders to attack, which is a little hard. Not improbable, but hard.
Temple of Sinnoh: What can I say, the new card is simply broken. Temple of Sinnoh is basically Dusknoir’s ability but as a stadium. Dusknoir originally had to rely on the Dream Ball combo, or actually evolve it. However, the exact same things can be done with a single Stadium Card. This has many implications. For one, It is easier to disrupt the opponent, but it is definitely easier to cancel out. The opponent can just throw in a counter stadium, and their lock is over. Similar to Path to the Peak, it can be very disruptive, and if not countered quickly can easily stall either player. Secondly, it can also cancel out your Double Turbo Energy, which can be a problem, but can be easily resolved by beefing up the EXP. Share counts, and slapping a few Raihan in. Lastly, I think that more people would be playing this card simply because of the current meta’s over reliance on Special Energy. Arceus VSTAR would be slowed down by the loss of Double Turbo Energy. Mew VMAX would also be slowed down significantly. Single Strike and Rapid Strike decks will be easily put out of business. Also, Malamar, which has seen a significant rise in play, Also only usually plays two Psychic energy at max, and one Ordinary Rod. This could really affect the performance of Malamar. Charizard VSTAR (which has not seen much play) can still attack as per usual, but is weak to Glaceon VMAX/Glaceon VSTAR, which would mean it would pose much less of a threat.
Floatzel: Floatzel from Brilliant Stars is simply crafted for Control Decks. It has Sableye’s Junk Hunt attack, which would make it quite good as well. It can recycle anything and put it directly into your hand. You could recycle one-offs easily and use it immediately next turn. This could really be a 1-1 line, or even a 2-2 line if you want to play more aggressively. I think it is quite good if you have placed a lock on the opponent, and they are about to break free from the lock, Floatzel can easily act as a fodder, and recycle cards into your hand at the same time
Energy Denial: I think that energy denial would be good as well, but I feel that energy denial is not as useful now that the meta has shifted a lot since Darkness Ablaze, where energy denial was useful. Arceus VSTAR Also makes it hard for energy denial to make an impact. However, if the spam is effective, this could put the opponent in a tough spot, or simply hold them off as you set up.
Matchups:
Mew VMAX: The BDIF is the Best Deck for a reason. It is fast, hits hard, and very very consistent. It is obviously a big threat to this deck, but Glaceon VMAX can still stand a chance. Let’s break down the typical Mew VMAX list. It plays Meloetta to deal big damage, Genesect V to draw cards and provide the attack for Mew VMAX, which can copy Fusion Strike Pokémon’s moves. With Double Turbo Energy already out, it can attack with a single attachment. Firstly, if you can get out Yveltal, Meloetta will be put out of business and cannot attack for big numbers. This is because its attack relies on how many Fusion Strike Energy is in play. By discarding them, Meloetta/Mew VMAX has no consistent big damage. Also, Mew VMAX is walled by Glaceon VMAX, which means they will most likely resort to using Genesect V. Weakness plus bypassing abilities? Damn that’s a good deal. This is where Snow Leaf Badge comes in. It negates Glaceon VMAX’s weakness, which means Genesect V will not be OHKOing Glaceon VMAX. When you play against this deck, your priorities are to get out your Glaceon VMAX and attach a Snow Leaf Badge as soon as possible. You do not want to let Mew VMAX overrun you. Also, you can easily pick off some Mew V/Genesect V with Glaceon VSTAR, which can allow you to set up for a win, especially after you remove all of their energy.
Gengar VMAX: Another top dog of today’s Meta. I really thought it had a lot of potential when it got released, and here we are today. Gengar VMAX has taken the top spot in the SLC regionals recently, after its buff from Arceus VSTAR. A great, powerful deck that keeps Mew VMAX in check (for the most part). However, that is a problem for us… or is it? I have many thoughts as to what Gengar VMAX can do. It heavily relies on special energy, which means you could temporarily slap in the Dusknoir combo for now, if you have problems with this deck. Also, it can attack with Gengar V and Single Strike Urshifu V, which can still hit for big numbers and potentially put you into a deep Dark Slumber. It really is very threatening, but may be inconsistent at times. Personally, I think the Bibarel line really slowed down Gengar VMAX if played incorrectly, which can be good news for you. You could definitely strand one of the Gengars in front, but Hiding D Energy can pose a problem, as it easily allows Gengar VMAX to easily retreat.
Arceus VSTAR builds: Whether it is the Bird Box Arceus list, or the Arceus VSTAR Inteleon build, it really causes this deck a lot of pain. Glaceon VMAX cannot wall the Arceus VSTARs, or the Vs that are played. It can also easily 2HKO Glaceon VMAX/Glaceon VSTAR, which would pose a problem. In summary, Glaceon VMAX would struggle against this deck. However, you could add in direct counters to Arceus VSTAR, I just cannot think of any off the top of my head. Zoroark control could do a better job in this matchup, but HEY… that’s just a theory! A Game-
This deck could be fun to play, and also annoying for the opponent. Afterall, this game involves mental games as well. Making the opponent frustrated could obviously affect gameplay, but do not over rely on the fact that they might misplay in anger. Feel free to slap any questions or deck ideas into the comments, and I would like to thank all of you for making it here. I have been very busy this year, and that has definitely affected my schedule, but I managed to squeeze out an article for you guys. I hope y'all did not miss me or my articles that much (oops hehe), but this is something that could give y’all some new ideas. Remember to always build on those ideas that I present to y’all. Afterall, two heads are better than one. (Also, comment to get a free code or something I didn't really have time to check, any comment will do). Thank you once again, and I will see you soon, probably in 2 months time, hopefully less. I'm sorry this article may be a little outdated, as I said, I wrote his quite a while ago and have not been able to keep up with the meta decks. Also, if you want any analysis of any card/deck, feel free to comment as well. As of now, I think you could look forward to a Zeraora V analysis, but until then, I hope you stay safe and stay healthy, especially after what is happening in the world right now. Bye then!!
