Pokémon TCG Meta Snapshot May 2023: Mew VMAX! We are living in the Mew VMAX world!

The Pokémon TCG Meta Snapshot is an article that aims to encapsulate the state of the meta for a given 1 month period.

The Pokémon TCG Meta Snapshot also aims to rank decks in a somewhat lesser tier system. The tiers that we will use are as follows:

Tier 1: Highly Competitive Meta Decks. 10% or more of tops based on Limitless Online Tournament Platform deck spread and/or at least WIN a big official event once (Regionals, Internationals, or Special Event)

 

Tier 2: Semi-Competitive Meta Decks. Less than 10% of tops are based on the Limitless Online Tournament Platform deck spread.

 

Tier 3: Semi-Competitive non-Meta/Rogue decks. 1-2 tops. Specifically includes decks that only top small events or get lower rankings at medium events. Can also include decks that can potentially top but have not yet in a given format.

 

Tier 4: Casually Competitive non-Meta decks. Decks that can compete at the local level, but cannot top an event.

 

Tops = 1st - 8th place.

 

This article is written based on the Scarlet & Violet format.


Deck Overview

 

The format is not complete with Mew VMAX. This month, the Double Turbo Energy build and the Fusion Strike Energy build have successfully toppled down some of the big and major tournaments across the world. It has a very easy and consistent draw mechanism with Genesect V and Mew VMAX itself can easily dish out at least 190 damage with the Double Turbo build while Meloetta can easily do 280 damage with the Fusion Strike build. Let’s take a look!



Mew VMAX

Once again, we talk about Mew VMAX again. It is a very interesting Pokemon because you can copy other Fusion Strike Pokemon with its Cross Fusion Strike attack and you can use Max Miracle to go through some wall abilities like Duraludon VMAX. It has 310HP which is a small number for a Pokemon VMAX, but with its Psychic-type and free retreat, Fog Crystal and Feather Ball can easily be a staple in the deck even though there are better options. 

 

Then we look into its first attack, Cross Fusion Strike. It has 2 Colorless Energy as its attack cost so Double Turbo or even a 2-turn manual attachment will be very possible. Next is its effect where you can copy the other Fusion Strike Pokemon. You can easily copy Genesect V’s attack to do an easy 210 damage attack and if you combine that using damage-boosting cards such as Power Tablet and Choice Belt, you can do an easy OHKO to your opponent’s Pokemon VSTAR or even Pokemon VMAX. However, the downside of this attack is that you cannot attack the next turn. But don’t worry! Because Mew VMAX has a free retreat, you can easily retreat to another Mew VMAX and attack again. 

 

Following up next is its second attack, Max Miracle. Even though it has low firepower with only 130 damage. You can easily go through any attack because its attack effect will ignore any effect that affected your opponent’s Pokemon. However, unlike its first, attack, it has 2 Psychic Energy as its attack cost so you cannot use Double Turbo Energy to attack with it. However, Fusion Strike Energy can easily fill that up because Fusion Strike Energy provide any type of Energy. You can also utilize Elesa’s Sparkle to fill up 2 Mew VMAX at the same time while also doing a manual attachment which can help you set up your second attacker. 

 

As for how many copies you want to bring, if you are using the Double Turbo Energy build, I think it is recommended you bring a 3-3 line of Mew V-VMAX and bring at least a 3-2 line of Mew VMAX if you are playing the Fusion Strike Energy build. Whichever it is, I think we can say that this Pokemon is one of the strongest Pokemon in the modern Pokemon TCG era. 


Genesect V

Then we have the almighty draw engine, Genesect V. As you guys may already know, this card is just phenomenal when it works. You can basically draw more than 15 cards in a single turn if you have your field set up. Genesect V is a Basic Pokemon so you can easily call it using Nest Ball or Battle VIP Pass. So in my opinion, setting things up won’t be a big problem in the early stage if you have your cards available. 

 

It also has a great attack which does 210 damage for 3 energies. But you won’t be using Genesect V to attack and instead, you will copy its attack using Mew VMAX. This attack will be your bread and butter because the damaged base itself is already big and you can easily boost it using Power Tablet (more on that later). However, you may notice its 2 retreat cost, so you may want to think twice before putting it in the active. 

 

As for how many copies you want to bring, I think you must bring 4 copies of Genesect V because you can easily put out 2-4 Genesect V on the bench and draw so many cards from it. This card is just too phenomenal. 


Power Tablet

Now, the Mew VMAX deck is incomplete with this card. A damage booster card is always a thing in Mew VMAX deck because you can hit some magic number to do an OHKO to your opponent. Power Tablet is also an Item card which you can use any amount in a single turn so that will be a big advantage. This card can be a game-changer because Genesect V draw power can easily find this card and you can just thin your hand so you can draw more cards using Genesect V’s ability. This card works so well in the Mew VMAX deck that 4 copies of Power Tablet are a must because you can do an OHKO to even a VMAX Pokemon if you are attacking with Meloetta. 

Then, you must be thinking that this card will be very strong if you put it in any deck because you can get a free damage boost. But that’s where the bad news is. Power Tablet only applies to Fusion Strike Pokemon such as Mew VMAX and Meloetta so you MUST attack using Fusion Strike Pokemon in order for the damage boost to work. So, I think it is quite obvious that you need to bring 4 copies of Power Tablet in your deck if you are planning to play Mew VMAX deck.


Cram-o-matic

Last but not least, we have the one and only coin flip card with controversy, Cram-o-matic. It is a very simple card where you need to flip a coin first then if you flip heads, you can get any card from the deck. However, you need to discard an Item card in order for you to play this card. This may sound a bit hard to achieve, but because the Mew VMAX deck mostly consist of Item cards, Cram-o-matic becomes viable to play. You also have Battle VIP Pass which can be discarded since it has no use when you are already past your first turn. I think this is a very powerful card if you manage to flip heads because you will basically get a free search from your deck which you can use to find cards such as Power Tablet and searcher card. You also get the benefit of thinning your hand when playing it. So, even if you flip tails, you basically have less hand and Genesect V’s ability can easily fill your hand up with more cards. 

 

As for how many copies you want to bring, I think having 3 copies is the bare minimum but recently, 4 copies will be your safe bet because even when you don’t use it, you can still use it as discarding fodder for cards like another Cram-o-matic or Ultra Ball. This card is so great if you can ‘roll’ your dice. 


Other Things to Consider

As always, there are many things that make the Mew VMAX decks a very strong deck. Here are the other things that you can consider adding to your deck.


Meloetta 

Who doesn’t know Meloetta at this point? This single-prize Pokemon can easily deal 280 damage to the opposing Pokemon when you have 4 Fusion Strike Energy attached to your Pokemon in play. With this in mind and having Power Tablet,  Meloetta can be one of the deadliest attackers in the modern era because of its potential. However, most of the time, we will be only having 3 Fusion Strike Energy attached because one of them is prized, not enough resources to make the 4th attachment happen, or other things. But despite having only 3 energy attached, dealing 210 with the addition of Power Tablet can easily knock Basic Pokemon V, Basic Pokemon, Pokemon VSTAR, or stage-1 Pokemon ex. 

 

It also counts as a Fusion Strike Pokemon so you will be at an advantage when using Genesect V. I really like this kind of attack where you pile up energy and go for the big hit. However, the downside is that sometimes you can fail miserably and only deal a small amount of damage. 

 

As for how many copies you want to bring, I think 1 to 2 copies is already enough because as of now, we still don’t have any means to recycle special energy. So, once Meloetta and Fusion Strike Energy are out, you just go attack with Mew VMAX.


Deoxys

Then we have another single-prize Pokemon, Deoxys. It has quite a unique mark on itself where it has all of the Strike marks from Fusion Strike, Single Strike, and Rapid Strike which can be a very great addition to some decks such as the Mew VMAX deck. Because it has a Fusion Strike mark, you can easily use Power Tablet on Deoxys so it can do more damage to the opponent where OHKO is a possibility. Then we look at its attack, Photon Boost. It has 3 colorless energy as its attack cost meaning that we can easily fill it with anything starting from Fusion Strike Energy to Rapid Strike Energy. However, the fun part is its attack effect where you can get extra damage when you have Fusion Strike Energy attached meaning that you can basically do a minimum of 160 damage while not accounting for Power Tablet's increased damage. This can be very crucial for you because if you already attack with Mew VMAX and not knocking the opponent out, you can use Deoxys as your follow-up attacker so at least Mew VMAX won’t be vulnerable in the active spot as it cannot attack the next turn if Mew VMAX uses ‘Techno Buster’ from Genesect V.

 

Despite its great use, the main trait of the Mew VMAX deck is its high firepower to OHKO the opponent and Deoxys doesn’t have that. So, most decks won’t play it or just bring 1 copy to go for a 1-1 pair with Meloetta. But despite that, I still like this kind of card because of its uniqueness.


Elesa’s Sparkle

When we talk about the Mew VMAX deck, don’t forget about Elesa’s Sparkle. If you guys play the Fusion Strike Energy build, Elesa’s Sparkle will become a very lovable card if you manage to get it in your first or second turn because it means that you can attack with your Meloetta. However, if you don’t get it, it can be a very harsh time for you the entire game because you cannot fully utilize your board. But still, it has its usage and it is very phenomenal because while it can search and attach Fusion Strike Energy to your Fusion Strike Pokemon, you can also thin your deck so you won’t end up with Fusion Strike Energy in your hand. 

 

This card is very simple and straightforward to play. As for how many copies you want to bring, right now the sweet spot will be 2-3 copies because even if you don’t manage to get it by drawing, you can still use Forest Seal Stone to get it straight from your deck. Also, if you are collecting Full-Art Supporter card this may be a great card to collect because it has phenomenal artwork. 


Forest Seal Stone

Now you must be thinking, ‘What if my Cram-o-matic fail?’. Fear not, Forest Seal Stone can easily help you find that card you want. Forest Seal Stone is the new addition to the Mew VMAX deck in late 2022 and it has become a very great card in so many situations not only in the Mew VMAX deck because of its effect. Even though you will use up your VSTAR Power when using this, you can easily search for a single card from your deck when you use this card’s effect. 

 

However, a little bit of an update in the Scarlet and Violet era is impacting this card a bit because Tool card is not considered as an Item card anymore. If you are playing Pokemon like Mew from Celebrations, this must be affecting you big time because you cannot choose Forest Seal Stone anymore. But luckily, that is not the case here because in the Mew VMAX deck, there are no exact searchers for Item cards and instead, Cram-o-matic can search for any card from your deck. 

 

I think this card has revived some of the decks out there and given more variation to the already existing decks because who doesn’t want a free extra card from the deck? As for how many copies you want to bring in the Mew VMAX deck. I think 2 copies will be the sweet spot here because you can only use this card once and if you already use it, you can just attach it to Genesect V in order to thin your hand. 


Battle VIP Pass

Mew VMAX is not complete without this searcher card, Battle VIP Pass. It can easily bring up so many Basic Pokemon to the bench and having multiple Genesect V on the bench will be your priority here because you can draw for more cards and you can also dig for another Battle VIP Pass so you can set up for more Pokemon on the Bench. However, the downside of this card is that you cannot use this card once you have gone past your first turn making this card unplayable. However, you can use this card as your discard fodder when using Cram-o-matic or Ultra Ball so you won’t discard any important cards from your hand. 

 

This card really changes how people perceive first-turn set-up because when you have this card, you can easily set up your board quickly. However, if you don’t get it, this card can be a bit annoying if you are digging for certain cards but get this card instead. Despite that downside, bringing 4 copies of this card in the Mew VMAX deck will be very much a must because setting up multiple Genesect V and Mew V or Meloetta is a must because you want to dig for more cards such as Power Tablet, Cram-o-matic, and so on. 


Winners’ Decklist

Now let’s see what people bring on their Mew VMAX deck and we will start with the winner of Indonesia National Championships, Dyatmika Paramaanindya with the Double Turbo Energy Build.

 

First, we look at the Pokémon list. Because Dyatmika uses the Double Turbo Energy build, the Pokemon list is almost the same as all the other Double Turbo Energy build. In this tournament, Dyatmika decided to not bring Oricorio and only bring the core Mew VMAX build. A 4-3 line of Mew V-VMAX is the sweet spot for Mew VMAX and of course, followed up with 4 copies of Genesect V. I think the Pokemon list will not change too much unless there is a really meta-defining Pokemon that really needs to be included in the deck. 

 

As for Supporter cards, Dyatmika brings a full copy of Judge, while also bringing 3 copies of Boss’s Orders. I think it is perfectly reasonable because you are playing the Double Turbo Energy build and playing Judge not also disrupting your opponent but you can refresh your hand while shrinking your hand size so Genesect V can draw new cards. On the other hand, Boss’s Orders is a very straightforward card for gusting and I think it is a great card to have in the deck.

 

Then we move on to the searcher cards. As always, Battle VIP Pass here is a must and Dyatmika brings 4 copies of this card. Then Dyatmika also brings 4 copies of Ultra Ball because it is the most powerful searcher card now and even though you must discard 2 cards from your hand, you can just discard Battle VIP and/or other cards such. Dyatmika also brings 2 copies of Nest Ball which (I think) is the maximum number that you can bring in a Mew VMAX deck if you want the deck to be consistently drawing. Why? Because even though you are thinning your hand by playing it and help you to find Basic Pokemon but if your Bench is already full, you cannot play it making the card unplayable. Last but not least, Dyatmika brings 1 copy each of Feather Ball and Great Ball. I think Feather Ball is a great card here because not only you can search for Mew V for free, but you can search for Mew VMAX too. On the other hand, Great Ball is a unique addition here because I think it has a certain risk of playing it but even though it failed, you will refresh your deck while also thinning your hand. 

 

As for the Tool card, Dyatmika brings 2 copies each of Choice Belt and Forest Seal Stone. Choice Belt is a simple Tool card for damage modifiers because it can easily boost 30 damage if you are facing Pokemon V. Then, Forest Seal Stone will be the VSTAR Power for this deck and an exact searcher for you. I think this is a very simple Tool card because of their usage is so straightforward.

 

Then we are into the Item cards. Dyatmika bring 4 copies of Lost Vacuum which I think right now is a staple for the Double Turbo build. But 4 copies is quite a heavy line for it and I think in the Indonesian environment it proves quite useful where Dyatmika manage to win the tournament with it. Then, of course, Dyatmika also brings 4 copies of Cram-o-matic. I think it is very straightforward and there’s no gimmick whatsoever for this card. Up next, Dyatmika brings 1 copy each of Pokegear, Trekking Shoes, and Pal Pad. Pokegear is a unique card in the Mew VMAX deck because usually, you will be relying on Genesect V draw. But this time, it proves to be very useful. Then, Trekking Shoes is another weird addition to the deck because once again, the Mew VMAX deck usually rely on Genesect V draw. Lastly, Pal Pad is a great addition here because sometimes you will discard your Supporter card and Pal Pad can easily recycle it. As for switching cards, Dyatmika brings 2 copies of Escape Rope and 1 copy of Switch Cart. I think this is a great composition of switching cards because Escape Rope can sometimes disrupt your opponent’s momentum and Switch Cart can ruin your opponent's damage calculation because it will heal your Basic Pokemon if there is any damage on it. 

 

As for the Stadium cards, because Dyatmika is playing the Double Turbo build, Path to the Peak will be the stadium choice here and Dyatmika brings 4 copies of Path to the Peak in the deck. 

 

Overall, I think this deck is very solid because even though there are a lot of unique cards being included in the deck, it proves to be a solid addition. So once again, congratulations!

 

Next, we have Joshua Doctolero who won the Philippines National Championships with Double Turbo Energy build too. 

 

Similar to Dyatmika, Joshua brings the same Pokemon composition and also the same composition of searcher cards with the exception of Great Ball. Then, Joshua also brings the same amount of Cram-o-matic, Lost Vacuum, Path to the Peak, switching cards, Forest Seal Stone, and Pal Pad. I think with that in mind, we can see a sweet spot amount for certain cards. 

 

As for the other cards, let’s take a look at the Supporter cards first. Joshua here also brings Judge and Boss’s Orders but with a reduced amount. In Joshua’s deck, Judge and Boss’s Orders are being cut down by 1 copy each and then Joshua adds 1 copy each of Serena, Roxanne, and Avery. Serena is a great gusting card while also it can be a great drawing supporter card. Then, Roxanne is the late-game hand disruption where you can easily disrupt your opponent and Avery will be the full-bench deck disruptor card while also giving you 3 cards draw. I think this is still a reasonable amount of cards because, in the Mew VMAX deck, deck space is not that limited unless you go for big copies for each card. 

 

Then, Joshua brings 1 copy each of Echoing Horn, Fan of Waves, and Cleansing Gloves. I think this build is more oriented toward disrupting the opponent rather than Dyatmika build which I think is more oriented toward getting set up much quicker. However, this build may also be caused by the country format where Joshua’s kind of build is more oriented on disrupting Lugia VSTAR players because you have Fan of Waves and Echoing Horn can easily disrupt the Lugia VSTAR gameplan. You also have Cleansing Gloves which is used to face Gardevoir ex. 

 

Overall, the deck is perfectly built to tackle popular decks such as Gardevoir ex and Lugia VSTAR. It has all the things it needs to disrupt both decks while also still giving the full potential of Mew VMAX firepower. 

 

Then we have another Mew VMAX deck but this time, it is the Fusion Strike build by Rowan Stavenow who won Regional Hartford. 

 

Quite different from the Double Turbo Energy build, the Pokemon lineup in Rowan’s build has a 3-3 line of Mew VMAX while also adding Meloetta and Deoxys as the single-prize attacker. The deck incorporate single-prize attacker because Fusion Strike Energy is being played in the deck and those Pokemon benefit greatly from it. 

 

Then we look at the Supporter cards lineup. As expected, Elesa’s Sparkle is being played here and at 2 copies. I think right now 2 copies of Elesa’s Sparkle is the sweet spot because you can easily find them using Genesect V’s ability, Cram-o-matic, or Forest Seal Stone and most of the time, you only use it once. Next is Boss’s Orders as it is the current go-to gusting card. Roxanne and Penny are being played here and at 1 copy each. Roxanne is a great hand disruptor and you can do the Roxanne and Path to the Peak combo. On the other hand, Penny can help you to scoop up Basic Pokemon in case they are in danger which is quite a good thing to do in case you are in a tough spot. 

 

As for the other cards, there are similar cards with the previous Mew VMAX decks such as searcher cards (Battle VIP Pass, Ultra Ball, and Nest Ball) but Rowan also brings one Hisuian Heavy Ball. I think this is a great card because you only bring 1 copy of Meloetta and Deoxys so you can use Hisuian Heavy Ball when one of them is prized. Then, for the switching cards, Rowan also plays the same amount of Escape Rope but goes for the regular Switch instead of Switch Cart. I think this one depends on your preference because most of the time you will be switching Basic Pokemon as Mew VMAX already has a free retreat. Rowan also brings 4 copies of Cram-o-matic and a single copy of Pal Pad which is great because these cards are very important in this deck. What surprised me is that Rowan decided to go for the third copy of Forest Seal Stone instead of having a damage modifier such as the second Choice Belt or Cleansing Gloves. I think this one depends on each player’s preference as it shows that even with a build like this, the deck manage to win the event. Rowan also brings 4 copies of Trekking Shoes which is a great addition in my opinion because in the Fusion Strike build, digging cards can be harder than in the Double Turbo build because you have more cards that cannot be played all at once such as Elesa’s Sparkle and Fusion Strike Energy. This means that Genesect V won’t be helping you too much and the addition of Trekking Shoes can help you to dig for cards in case you cannot use your Genesect V’s ability. As for the other cards, Rowan goes for only 2 copies of Lost Vacuum as in this build, deck space is more limited than in the Double Turbo build. 

 

As for the Stadium cards, Rowan plays Path to the Peak while surprisingly playing Crystal Cave. I think Crystal Cave is being played here because Rowan only plays Switch and to face Lost Zone decks or spread decks, Crystal Cave can easily heal all your Genesect V in case they are being damaged. 

 

Overall, I think this is a very solid build despite all of the counters out there. The addition of Trekking Shoes may be the answer for the Fusion Strike build and it shows that it works because Rowan managed to win the tournament. Congratulations!

 

Last but not least, we have another Fusion Strike build and this time, we have Lasse Puisto who won Regional Malmö.

 

Quite similar to Rowan’s build, Lasse also has almost a similar Pokemon lineup but in Lasso’s deck, the amount of Mew V is increased to 4 copies. I think it is still beyond reasonable because you can try to copy Psyjump to save your Mew VMAX by going back to the deck and drawing it later using Genesect V’s ability. 

 

As for the supporter card, we see quite a different approach where Lasse decides to bring 2 copies of Judge while also keep having the same amount of Elesa’s Sparkle, Boss’s Orders, and Roxanne with Rowan’s build. I think Judge is a great hand disruptor although you still want to play Elesa’s Sparkle in the early part of the game. 

 

Then we look at the searcher cards where 4 copies of Battle VIP Pass and Ultra Ball is a definite must even though in Lasse’s deck, the amount of Nest Ball is reduced and swapped with Feather Ball while keeping Hisuian Heavy Ball in the deck. I think having Feather Ball is a great variation as it can help you in case you are missing your Mew V or VMAX. 

 

Following next are the other cards where we can see that 4 copies of Power Tablet and Cram-o-matic is being present in the deck. We also see that 2 copies of Escape Rope and a copy of Switch Cart are being played as the switching cards. As for the other item card, we see that there is a single copy of Pal Pad where you can recycle your used Supporter cards. As for the Tool cards, we see a balanced combination of Choice Belt and Forest Seal Stone with 2 copies each. 

 

Last but not least is the Stadium cards. Unlike Rowan’s build, Lasse’s build incorporates 2 copies of Path to the Peak and 1 copy of Lost City. I think this is more of a ‘regular’ build for the Fusion Strike deck where you can utilize Lost City to make sure the opponent’s Drapion V is forever gone from the game. Path to the Peak is also present so you can easily disrupt the opponent such as Lugia VSTAR or Gardevoir ex. 

 

Overall, there is a different approach between Rowan’s and Lasse’s decks but it turns out both builds are a very strong one where both decks managed to win a tournament. I really hope we get to see another fun card in the Mew VMAX being experimented with and manage to get a big tournament win. 


Tier Conclusion

Now we come to the tier conclusion. I think with all of the achievements be it in the current format or the past format, we can say that the Mew VMAX deck is a really strong and consistent deck overall. Even though we already have counters for it such as Mightyena and Drapion V, it turns out that Mew VMAX still comes out on top. We even have so many upgrades along the way making Mew VMAX even better. 

 

Based on the achievement and very amazing performance of the deck, the deck will still be a solid Tier 1 deck. I also hope that in the upcoming set, Paldea Evolved, Mew VMAX keeps on its amazing performance despite new cards being introduced. 


Afterword

What do you guys think of the Mew VMAX deck? I think at this point people are kind of bored seeing the deck winning the events again and again. But nonetheless, the deck itself has had a great performance for almost 2 years since its release. I really hope we get to see another of its great performance until it rotates out. Comment down below to share your thoughts!

 

This is an ongoing project on pokemoncard.io and I really appreciate all the feedback. I plan to do this on a monthly basis so you can at least grasp what is happening over the month and I think it is a very safe cycle time considering that our set is not released once a month so you guys can still see how the format goes. 

 

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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