Pikachu and Zekrom Tag Team GX (otherwise known as “Pikarom”) is just a deck that will never die - in a recent bout of events, this popular archetype has been piloted by Pokemon veterans from around the globe to high placements! As the first Tag Team to come out, it’s surprising that this deck has had such longevity over the course of time. Its recent resurgence is also unexpected due to the loss of Thunder Mountain Prism in the rotation, which was a key card Pikarom would use to obtain a Turn 1 Full Blitz attack. Now, with just Tapu Koko Prism to lean on, the deck is still managing to find new ways to tackle the format and beat down on meta decks.
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Pikachu and Zekrom Tag Team GX


Strategy

The main strategy for the Pikarom deck is to get a couple Lightning Energy in the discard pile and use Tapu Koko Prism to accelerate energy onto a benched Pikarom using its Dance of the Ancients ability. Then, using a copy of Energy Switch, you can move one of those energy accelerated earlier from a different Pokemon onto Pikarom. Lastly, when you attach an energy for your turn (ideally a Speed Energy to draw additional cards), you can then promote your Pikarom into the active position and use Full Blitz to accelerate additional energy anywhere onto your field. This is where the deck really becomes skilled, because you need to choose the correct attacker to power up, whether that Pokemon is RaichuRaichu GX, a Boltund V, or perhaps even a Vikavolt V! Your options with this deck are endless, and all of the Lightning-type attackers in it are very strong. While some are situational, they each serve a very specific purpose in this Pikarom deck. Let’s take a peek at the list and what some of our star cast can do!

Pokémon - 11 
1 Crobat V DAA 104
1 Eldegoss V RCL 176
1 Boltund V RCL 67
2 Dedenne GX UNB 195
2 Pikachu & Zekrom-GX TEU 33
1 Raichu & Alolan Raichu-GX UNM 54
1 Tapu Koko TEU 51
1 Vikavolt V DAA 60
1 Tapu Koko V

Trainer Cards - 36 
2 Energy Switch ROS 109
2 Big Charm RCL 206
4 Crushing Hammer SSH 159
4 Switch SUM 160
4 Marnie SSH 200 
1 Team Yell Grunt
2 Chaotic Swell CEC 187
3 Boss's Orders RCL 189 
4 Professor's Research SSH 201
4 Quick Ball SSH 216 
3 Electromagnetic Radar UNB 230
2 Reset Stamp UNM 253
1 Air Balloon SSH 213 

Energy - 13 
4 Speed Lightning Energy RCL 173
9 Lightning Energy SWSHEnergy 4

Total Cards - 60 

Key Cards

Pikachu and Zekrom Tag Team GX (‘Pikarom’)Pikarom is traditionally going to be our first attacker in almost every matchup we play in. The main reason why they’re our go-to is that once we power them up, they can use their Full Blitz attack and power up more Pokemon for us. By utilizing Pikarom as our first attacker, we’re able to invest in making sure that our future attackers will be setup too. Pikarom’s Tag Bolt GX attack is fantastic for closing out games, or just finishing up a Pokemon on our opponent’s bench. It has a hefty cost to pay for its GX bonus, but sniping a Pokemon for 170 damage can’t be overlooked – this Pokemon has the ability to KO two 3-Prize Pokemon at once, which means we have the potential to draw all 6 Prize Cards in a singular turn! Overall, this is our superstar Pokemon that we’ll start most games with.

Raichu and Alolan Raichu Tag Team GX (‘ChuChu’)ChuChu is a very strong support Pokemon that has utility in either A. buying us time or B. capitalizing on our opponent playing low counts of switching cards. Its first attack has the potential to Paralyze our opponent’s active (providing ChuChu switches into the active that turn), which means we can prevent our opponent from attacking turn after turn. If our opponent is playing a deck such as Eternatus that plays notoriously low amounts of switching cards, Paralysis could indefinitely mean that they will be unable to attack whatsoever! Combo this with Reset Stamp, and Raichu’s first attack is devastating. For this reason ChuChu is a very strong card, but that’s not all – it also has a killer GX attack that is able to swing for 250 damage AND switch into another Pokemon; the pivot addition of that attack is one that we can use to shove a Pokemon that is worth less Prize Cards into the active, resulting in potentially prolonging the game extra turn(s). It also preserves our ChuChu for further attacks, which can be a solid game plan. The extra HP ChuChu has can prove difficult to our opponent depending on the matchup – I know against Eternatus the extra little HP combined with Big Charm can prove tough to overcome.

Boltund VBoltund does an excellent job of speeding up the game state by accelerating energy as early as the first turn. If our opening hand doesn’t look optimal, then Boltund does a great job of committing one turn to power up our Pikarom. Boltund’s second attack is an early game poke, where we can soften up big VMAX Pokemon or other Tag Team decks for big attacks later. It can also be a late-game sweeper attack that can just blow through and OHKO large HP Pokemon such as Centiskorch VMAX. Boltund’s 200HP gets it just out of range of an Ultimate Ray OHKO from an ADP that has used Altered Creation, which is very strong. This is one of the few 2-Prize Pokemon that you can safely bench in the early game of the ADP matchup, so be sure to use that to your advantage!

Vikavolt VVikavolt V is one of the very few Pokemon in the standard format that can Item-lock our opponent! This unique feature of Vikavolt is enough for us to include it into our deck, as it can be powered up very early on in order to slow our opponent down, or to disrupt a deck that relies on Item cards. One deck that Vikavolt absolutely terrorizes is Baby Blowns – they rely solely on Fire Crystal and Energy Retrieval to get back their Fire Energy from the discard pile, and after a really big Fireball Circus, most of their energy will be in their discard! If you use Vikavolt after that, your opponent will most likely have very little Fire Energy to use left, and can potentially lose on the spot. Worst case scenario, you will slow your opponent down to the point where you’re so far ahead they can not catch up. Vikavolt’s second attack is also fantastic for finishing off Pokemon GX and V, because it hits for 190 damage! That can OHKO a Crobat V, Dedenne GX, or even an Oricorio GX. Pro Tip: using Boss’ Orders, you can bring up a heavy retreat cost Pokemon, and then Item-lock your opponent. From there, they won’t be able to use switch, and you can finish them off by using Super Zap Cannon for 190 damage. This combo should always resolve in a positive prize trade!

Tapu Koko V – This Pokemon is mostly included here as a pivot point that also has a free retreat. Tapu Koko is a 2-Prize Pokemon that has a fantastic pair of attacks – the first of the two which is able to draw your cards out of a dead hand. The second attack does 200 damage, which is enough to KO many Pokemon GX and V. It also has an impressive HP stat for just a V Pokemon! While free retreat may not seem like a massive selling point, it is in this deck where mobility is very key.

Matchups

Eternatus Slightly Unfavourable
Eternatus is handily able to take OHKOs on all of the Tag Team Pokemon in our deck, which proves to be a big issue for Pikarom. The best way to approach this matchup is by using Crushing Hammer to slow our opponent down and remove key energy from upcoming attackers. Our ChuChu GX is able to apply a lot of pressure on the Eternatus matchup by consistently paralyzing our opponent. Most Eternatus decks don’t play high counts of Switch - they play Free Retreat cards such as Dark City and Hiding Energy. Without a Switch, we can safely 2HKO our opponent (and use ChuChu’s GX attack afterward to pivot into a different Pokemon)! This play is usually best combined with a Reset Stamp to ensure our opponent doesn’t find a switching card. Using Big Charm in order to boost our ChuChu’s HP to 290, we can also fall slightly out of OHKO range of an Eternatus VMAX, but be warned: they can still use Galarian Zigzagoon to ping damage counters on your Pokemon (even when they’re on the bench). Play this matchup with caution, and let your opponent take the first couple of Prize Cards to get them real good with a Reset Stamp later on.

ADP – Slightly Favourable
This matchup feels very close, and it often comes down to how fast we’re able to attack. We also need to avoid benching Dedenne GX, Crobat V, and Eldegoss V (really anything that can be OHKO’d by Zacian V’s Brave Blade attack - which is 260 damage after an Altered Creation). Playing Big Charm on a Pikarom always feels like a good call In this matchup; a Pikarom with a Big Charm or a ChuChu are safe plays in this matchup, as they can’t be OHKO’d by Zacian V due to Resistance. These Pokémon are often our main attackers in this matchup to avoid giving up easy Prize Cards and buying us time. Be sure to use Crushing Hammer on opposing Water Energy to prevent potential Ultimate Rays in the early game, and you should be just fine! Worst comes worst, a Reset Stamp to a low count can often make the difference in this matchup. Tread through this matchup with caution, and you should win more than they will.

Mewtwo/Welder – Slightly Unfavourable
In this matchup it’s very difficult to win because often, you’ll find that the Mewtwo player will just use Charizard GX in order to deal 300 damage, and then follow up with something like a Magcargo-GX in order to KO multiple Tag Team Pokemon back-to-back. Try to utilize 2-Prize Pokemon such as TapuKoko V and Boltund V to take some swift Kos, and you’ll be in great shape. Using Reset Stamp in the late game is also a very effective way of slowing down the Mewtwo player because their only draw supporter in the deck is Welder usually! Using ChuChu’s GX attack to pivot into another 2-Prize Pokemon is also great.

Baby Blowns – Very Favourable
The name of this game is to use Vikavolt V at the correct timing to win. Utilize high HP Pokemon in the beginning (such as ChuChu GX) to pressure your opponent into using Fireball Circus – this will deplete a lot of your opponent��s energy. Then, once enough energy hit the discard, use Vikavolt V to lock your opponent out of Item cards. They won’t be able to retrieve that energy back with Fire Crystal/Energy Retrieval, and will promptly lose the game. Reset Stamp is also very clutch in this matchup, followed by a Chaotic Swell (your opponent relies SO much on Giant Hearth it isn’t even funny). Pro Tip: Don’t use Vikavolt too early – the opponent will often use Cramorant V for a more efficient attacker, and will have enough energy to close a game out. You have to wait for the perfect moment!

Conclusion

I’m sure you’re already running to your computer and loading up your PTCGO Codes as we speak, so I’ll let you hop to it. Pikarom seems like it’s going to be around for a while now, so you might need some more Pokemon Online codes in order to build this deck.
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