Hello everyone!
Today’s deck discussion will revolve around Victini VMAX, a rogue-ish deck that has seen play at recent tournaments. Here is a sample list, and without further ado, let’s get into it!
Nate Frautschy, 15th Place, GGtoor Chill TCG Showdown #5
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General deck strategy
This deck is more of a tempo-based one. The aim of this deck is to take 2HKOs quickly with Max Victory, whilst stalling the opponent out with multiple forms of disruption including energy denial and Path to the Peak. The list is made to be as consistent and fast as possible, the only Pokemon being Victini and its VMAX. Going first in a match usually helps this deck gain a slight edge over opponents; but if this deck goes second, the disruption could force the opponent to whiff an attack, opening an opportunity for a comeback.
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Key Cards
4-4 Victini VMAX
Just plain old Victini VMAX, no support pokemon or alternate attackers required. Victini VMAX is a cheap and strong attacker, only requiring four pieces (basic V, VMAX and two energy) to attack. Due to its low set-up requirement, there is much room for consistency and disruption cards alike.
Maximum counts of both Victini V and VMAX are to ensure that the deck can get off a turn 2 Max Victory going first. Max Victory is quite a strong attack, packing 220 damage and being able to KO many basic Pokemon V. Note that the card text reads “Pokemon V” when mentioning the damage boost; Pokemon VMAX are a type of Pokemon V, so Victini still does 220 against VMAXes. Unfortunately, it does a mere 100 damage against non-V Pokemon such as RS Malamar and Inteleon, whiffing a OHKO on both.
Additionally, not playing any other basic Pokemon V means that the player will always start with Victini V. That also means that the player has to find one less piece; only needing the VMAX and two energy. However, this comes at the cost of multiple mulligans, which could potentially give the opponent extra cards.
There are two types of Victini V; one from SSH and the other from BST. Victini SSH has the useful Spreading Flames attack which accelerates energy from the discard pile. This could be useful if the deck is forced to go second, speeding up the deck’s set-up. Few players actually ran Victini BST early on this year, but it has seen a rise in play recently. Victini BST is able to swing 60 damage for 1 energy; while Victini SSH needs 2 energy for the same amount of damage. Victini BST thus offers a relatively cheap emergency attack.
A max count of Boss’s Orders is crucial for Victini to gust out and KO unevolved Pokemon V on the bench, such as Dragapult V and Leafeon V. Getting an early KO on these Pokemon can be helpful for slowing the opponent down. If the opponent fails to bench a backup Pokemon V, the earliest they can get a VMAX into play would be Turn 3; and in a tempo game against Victini the game would turn unfavourable very quickly.
2 Team Yell Grunt, 4 Crushing Hammer, 3 Rugged Helmet, 2 Fan of Waves
This is energy denial at its finest: 11 whole cards dedicated to removing the opponent’s energy from play. In order to attack, most Pokemon need at least two energy, meaning that they either need two turns of manual attachment, or a form of energy acceleration. However, if two of these energy denial cards are played at once, both energy will be removed, which can force the opponent to whiff an attack. For example, playing a Fan of Waves + a Yell Grunt will remove a Rapid Strike energy and a Darkness energy from Sylveon VMAX. Without Raihan, Sylveon VMAX will be unlikely to attack with Max Harmony the next turn. Once the opponent whiffs an attack, they often fall behind, which can then be taken advantage of by Victini.
4 Path to the Peak + 4 Marnie
These two sets of cards combo nicely together. Marnie reduces the hand size to 4, which could potentially leave the opponent with a dead hand. Path to the Peak blocks abilities such as Crobat V’s Night Asset and Calyrex-Shadow’s Underworld Door, preventing opponents from drawing out of their dead hands. When combined together, they could force the opponent to whiff a crucial energy attachment, or even a VMAX.
Not a lot of decks include Pokégear due to its unreliability (just like how few decks include Great Ball). However in a Victini deck, the main goal is to maximise consistency, and in order to increase the chances of finding a supporter (whether a draw supporter or Boss), this deck runs Pokégear.
0 Switch, 0 Air Balloon, 0 Escape Rope
Switching cards are noticeably absent in this deck, and for good reason. Victini doesn’t need to switch out to another attacker, or a fodder Pokemon, since there are no other Pokemon in the deck. When one Victini gets KOed, the next is promoted: no switching required at all. Even in emergency situations, both Victini V and VMAX have relatively low retreat costs (1 and 2 respectively), meaning that they can retreat quite easily without a switching card.
In the past, Victini ran Welder, which required basic Fire energy in hand to be played. If the deck ran Heat Fire energy, it would have to run fewer basic Fire energy, or there would be too much energy. However, this also meant that there would be fewer opportunities to use Welder, thereby decreasing consistency. Nowadays, since Welder has rotated, Victini can run Heat Fire energy without any drawback.
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Other Options
Some lists play Altaria EVS, which can help the player search for a supporter much more easily. However, I personally feel that starting with a Swablu in the Active can be quite detrimental to this deck’s consistency; the deck will need 5 pieces (basic Pokemon V, VMAX, 2 energy and a switch) to get off an attack.
Earlier on, some lists played 2-2 Umbreon VMAX for its Dark Signal ability to gust out Pokemon from the bench. However, that became too clunky and was dropped in favour of Straight Victini/Victini Altaria.
Another option would be Raihan for energy acceleration, which I am in favour of. Raihan can help recover any lost tempo, and being able to power up in one turn is always useful. However, since this deck only plays three prize attackers, opportunities to use Raihan are probably few and far between.
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Matchup Spread
Dragapult: Dragapult is a slightly favourable matchup for Victini. Energy denial really helps in this matchup considering that Dragapult only has Raihan to accelerate energy (which is a one-time use). However, Dragapult can spread damage all over the board too quickly for Victini to keep up. It certainly doesn’t help that Victini V only has 190 HP, leaving it at risk of being KOed before it evolves.
Jolteon: Jolteon is more of an even matchup. Max Thunder Rumble doesn’t do much to Victini, but Jolteon’s disruption, consistency and near-immunity to energy denial make things difficult for Victini.
Sylveon: This matchup appears to be even. Prioritise picking off basic Pokemon V before they evolve, and focus energy denial efforts on Rapid Strike energy (which is worth two energy). If they play Leafeon V, it's free real estate (I mean prizes).
Zacian: Victini has heavily favoured in this matchup, thanks to weakness. Even with Cape of Toughness attached, Zacian cannot escape the OHKO from Max Victory. Additionally, Path to the Peak allows Victini to bypass Zamazenta’s Dauntless Shield to take a KO.
Urshifu-RS: This matchup is a slightly unfavourable one for Victini. Path to the Peak doesn’t really affect Urshifu, and Urshifu’s attack cost is so low that energy denial doesn’t work very well. Heat Fire Energy could make things difficult for the Urshifu player, considering that Urshifu barely 2HKOs Victini with Quick Shooting Inteleon.
Urshifu-SS/Umbreon VMAX: This matchup is quite even. Urshifu-SS VMAX takes a OHKO on Victini with G-Max One Blow, but Victini can also take easy KOs on Urshifu V and Umbreon V. Energy denial doesn’t really work on this deck since energy can just be recycled by Urn of Vitality and accelerated by Houndoom.
Leafeon: This matchup is very favourable due to weakness. Few lists actually run Snow Leaf Badge since Victini isn’t such a big meta threat. This matchup is quite simple; just gust out and take OHKOs on the VMAXes.
Suicune: This matchup is highly unfavourable. Weakness to water means that Victini can potentially be OHKOed; and the fact the Suicune can trade prizes favourably doesn’t help. However, Suicune can be OHKOed by Victini, provided the former doesn’t have a Cape of Toughness attached. Try not to bench anything more than one backup Victini V, as Suicune deals damage based on Benched Pokemon. (6 x 20 + 20) x 2 = 280, barely missing the OHKO on Victini VMAX.
Calyrex-Shadow: This matchup is slightly unfavourable for Victini. Calyrex-S does take a while to get going, but after it’s set up, it can easily take OHKOs on Victini with G-Max Whisk and Max Geist. Path to the Peak helps with this matchup, but it might get bumped by Training Court.
Calyrex-Ice: Victini’s worst matchup, also due to weakness. Unlike Suicune however, Calyrex VMAX can consistently take OHKOs on Victini, and is not OHKOed in return. If Victini has any hope of winning, it probably involves gusting out and KOing basic Calyrex V before it evolves.
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Conclusion
Victini is certainly a force to be reckoned with, due to its high consistency, speed and disruptiveness all in one. However, the meta hasn’t been kind to it. Suicune and Calyrex-I, some of its worst matchups, are very common meta decks. Additionally, looking at the matchups carefully, we can notice that most of them are very close. This is because Victini relies heavily on going first so as not to lose momentum, and going first depends on a coin flip. Honestly, I don’t think Victini is particularly viable in today’s meta, but it might shine again one day.
That’s it for this article, and I hope you enjoyed it. Goodbye!
