Hey there Trainers! I hope you’re enjoying the time in between NAIC and Worlds - it’s one of the most fun times to be a player because people are trying to break the format as creatively as possible! Many testing groups are keeping their decks secret, and some people are itching to test out their new concepts on the ladder. Okay, not just some - A LOT of people are trying out new concepts on the ladder! One of those unique concepts is actually this Palkia VSTAR/Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX deck that can hit extremely hard and take easy OHKOs. It can carry this pressure throughout the entirety of the game and does a really good job of it too. Let’s chat about Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX today!

I booted up my Pokemon Trading Card Game Online app, loaded up some PTCGO codes, and then traded those Pokemon online codes to trade for this Pokemon Online deck. I was very excited, and it honestly didn’t take that many Pokemon TCG Online codes to make the deck. If you’re looking to buy some codes, we sell them here on PTCGO Store, and I highly urge you to check out our competitive pricing and swift delivery! Let’s talk about the newest way to play Ice Rider, Calyrex VMAX!

Strategy


Choice Belt

I enjoy this deck right now because it hits the correct numbers when it needs to. A Max Lance for 250 damage comes up a little short of OHKOing most Pokémon VSTAR, however, with a Choice Belt, this gap becomes mitigated. This deck is mostly a beatdown-style deck - it has so much versatility to it, though, that makes it one of the best neutral choices right now. You’re probably curious what I mean by “neutral”, but look at it this way - this format is dominated by Pokémon that hit for certain weaknesses. Mew VMAX? Countered by Galarian Moltres and Path to the Peak. Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX? Countered by Mew VMAX. Palkia VSTAR? Countered by Flying Pikachu VMAX. Everything kind of gets countered, so an important start on its own is to pick a Pokémon that has a weakness to a deck that isn’t popular. Our deck doesn’t really hit any popular deck for weakness however, our weakness is to Metal-type. However, the primary Metal deck is Dialga VSTAR which we can actually beat since we can OHKO them! Since our bases are covered, we can hit hard against Pokémon and not get hit back for weakness; this means we can pull ahead of our opponents in grindy matchups. When all else fails, let’s try our hardest to OHKO the opponent’s active.

Deck List


Pokemon - 19 

3 Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX CRE 46
1 Palkia VSTAR ASR 40
1 Palkia V ASR 39
4 Sobble CRE 41
3 Drizzile SSH 56
2 Inteleon SSH 58
1 Radiant Hawlucha ASR 81

Trainer Cards - 34 

3 Melony CRE 146
2 Professor's Research BRS 147
2 Marnie CPA 56 
1 Roxanne ASR 150
1 Boss's Orders BRS 132
4 Evolution Incense SSH 163 
4 Quick Ball FST 237
3 Level Ball BST 129 
2 Scoop Up Net RCL 165 
2 Ultra Ball BRS 150
2 Capacious Bucket RCL 156
1 Pal Pad SSH 172
1 Tool Scrapper RCL 168
2 Choice Belt BRS 135
4 Path to the Peak CRE 148

Energy - 7 

7 Water Energy 3 

Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX Palkia VSTAR decklist

Key TCG Cards


Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX

3 Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX - Coming in at 320HP (much like its Psychic counterpart), this Pokemon is weak to Metal-types (which means it will naturally struggle against Zacian V and Dialga VSTAR decks). That being said, it will do extremely well against everything else! It can really abuse Path to the Peak because this deck doesn’t rely on too much to hit high numbers on the second turn; it doesn’t need Crobat V in order to hit the resources required to attack at all. In fact, the only Rule Box Pokémon with abilities we play are Radiant Hawlucha and Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR! The most important stuff you’ll need is two energy (which we can get off of a single Capacious Bucket), the Calyrex V, and lastly, the VMAX. Max Lance, for two energy, threatens a 250 damage slug on any Pokemon and threatens many Pokemon V. Ride of the High King (for two energy also) does a great job of providing an efficient way to OHKO a Crobat V (provided the opponent has a full bench + you have a Choice Belt) or to potentially soften up a VMAX for a Max Lance KO. This Pokemon is a powerhouse! Two retreats are a little hefty, but we trade efficiently with the entire format. The biggest thing this Pokemon can abuse is Melony, which we’ll talk about later. Melony can help this deck stream attacks back-to-back and pump up the consistency of Water-types. This deck does a great job of OHKOing V Pokemon and 2HKOing VMAXs. I don’t have much else to say about the card because it is pretty simple, but the rest of the deck is what elevates such an easy concept to life.

Ice Rider Calyrex V

4 Ice Rider Calyrex V – Something you’ll learn quickly when playing this deck is that there are no bad starting Pokemon - you either start Ice Rider Calyrex V or Sobble. We play four of the V because it is a must-have on the first turn of the game! We need to attach energy onto something, and ideally, that something is an Ice Rider Calyrex V. 210HP is pretty decent for a Pokemon V, but I really just want to talk about how efficient Pierce is. 40 damage for a single energy isn’t a common attack, and it’s great for softening things up! 40 + 250 from Max Lance spells doom for many VSTAR and VMAX Pokémon, so be sure to use this attack accordingly!

Palkia VSTAR

1-1 Palkia VSTAR - This is an amazing supplementary attacker that shifts how the whole deck functions. Palkia VSTAR allows us to accelerate energy using its Star Portal VSTAR ability, which means we can be flexible with our Supporter card for the turn instead of using Melony. This will also allow us to utilize Palkia VSTAR’s attack in a pinch which can seriously catch some opponents off guard. This card is extremely potent and can dish out just as much as it can take. Palkia could potentially be bumped up to a 2-2 just because it is so strong, but I like it at a 1-1 for now because the focus of our deck is Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX.

Radiant Hawlucha

1 Radiant Hawlucha - This card is really in here in order to shut down decks like Mew VMAX that can escape our damage output. With a Choice Belt and a Hawlucha in play, we can OHKO huge VMAX Pokemon in play and take three Prize Cards at a time. Radiant Greninja is also an excellent option to play in this deck. However, I prefer Radiant Hawlucha for a more aggressive matchup spread.

Melony

3 Melony - Water Energy acceleration for our main attacker! This Supporter allows us to stream back-to-back Max Lances. That being said, it does mean we can’t play Boss’ Orders. However, our deck does a ton of damage, so we make up for it. We do play Palkia VSTAR in our deck, though, so the caveat of being unable to power up Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX and play Boss’ Orders in the same turn doesn’t apply like it once did in previous lists. This is the same reason why we don’t play four Melony - due to Palkia VSTAR’s Star Portal ability, we don’t need to rely on a Supporter card for all of our energy acceleration needs.

1 Roxanne - This disruptive Supporter can set our opponent back quite a bit, allowing us to catch up with one stacked Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX. Time this card perfectly alongside Path to the Peak for big results!

2 Choice Belt - These help us to get OHKOs and are absolutely massive tempo swingers in games. I love this card for sweeping Arceus among other 280HP Pokemon. They can come in the clutch against tanks like Mewtwo V-Union, amongst other Pokémon.

2 Scoop Up Net - Very useful switching cards that can help you pivot between Inteleon, while also providing you with the utility to reuse abilities like Shady Dealings. Scoop Up Net is a staple in any deck that plays Inteleon!

2 Marnie - An efficient way to shuffle our opponent’s hand in an effort to disrupt them. It can also help to set us up in the early game.

1 Tool Scrapper - This card is absolutely clutch at removing Tool Jammer and Big Charm off of tanks Pokemon. Without Tool Scrapper, we would always just be slightly short of KOing some very common threats such as Arceus VSTAR or really anything that can abuse Pokemon Tools.

1 Pal Pad - This card is very useful for recycling Supporter cards that we play low counts of. Need another Boss? We have Pal Pad! Need more Melony? Don’t worry, Pal Pad can save you. Need a final Roxanne and Path to seal the game? You know what card to look for. This card can really do it all and works perfectly in Inteleon-based decks.

2 Capacious Bucket - This Item is very key in order for us to setup because it lets us search out multiple copies of Water Energy. This means we can toss one of the two energy into the discard pile for Melony and attach the other one as our energy for the turn. Capacious Bucket can also be searched out by Drizzile similar to how people play Energy Search in their Inteleon engines. For all these reasons, Capacious Bucket is better than playing two more Water Energy.

4 Path to the Peak - The most oppressive Stadium in standard, Path to the Peak, can lock up abilities on Rule Box Pokémon. Since we barely play any abilities whatsoever in our deck, this card is effectively a one-sided Stadium that can slow our opponent down from using key abilities like Palkia VSTAR’s Star Portal and Crobat V’s Dark Ascent, or Arceus VSTAR’s Starbirth ability. Path to the Peak can also be used to bump other popular Stadium cards, like Training Court or Tower of Darkness. Sticking this card down on the first turn of the game can sometimes just shut it down for your opponent, hence why we play four! The only annoying thing is that this can shut down our Radiant Hawlucha’s ability, but don’t worry - it causes our opponent way more harm than it’ll cause us. I’m certain that if you time your Star Portal ability prior to playing Path, you’ll be fine.

7 Water Energy - This may seem very low, but since we can search them out aggressively with Capacious Bucket and recycle these energies with Melony/Palkia VSTAR, we don’t need a lot to get this deck going!

Conclusion


This deck is one of the best answers to Mew VMAX, Arceus VSTAR, and Palkia VSTAR right now in the metagame, and it really stands a chance on most things, provided there isn’t a ton of Metal-type decks like Zacian V/Dialga VSTAR around. If you like flexibility each turn and the ability to lock your opponent out of games with Path to the Peak, then I highly urge you to try out this deck. This deck requires a decent bit of new stuff from the newest expansion Astral Radiance, so you should check out our shop for your PTCGO code needs. I’d suggest nabbing some PTCGO codes and building this deck online because this deck seems like it will stick around for a while. Until next time, have fun!
 
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