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Pokemon TCG: Kyurem VMAX Deck Guide

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  • Kyurem VMAX Deck List
  • Kyurem VMAX’s Key Cards
  • Kyurem VMAX Strategy
  • Kyurem VMAX’s Common Threats

Everyone in the Pokemon TCG community remembers Lost Origin because it was the expansion where the Lost Zone toolbox saw the light for the first time. Yes, it’s such a great strategy to use, but the thing is that Lost Origin also introduced a card that helped pro players dominate the competitive tournaments for a long while, and it was Kyurem VMAX.

Kyurem VMAX lands on the play mats like an icy meteor destroying everything in its path. There’s not an easy way to take this deck down because of Kyurem’s high HP count and the damage it can do with its main attack, Max Frost. If you want to have a battle against this deck, you have to know that you’ll have a tough time.

Kyurem VMAX Deck List

Pokemon Cards

Kyurem V (x3)

Kyurem VMAX (x2)

Origin Forme Palkia V (x2)

Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR (x2)

Empoleon V (x2)

Radiant Greninja (x1)

Oranguru (x2)

Energy Cards

Wash Water Energy (x1)

Water Energy (x9)

Trainer Cards

Battle VIP Pass (x4)

Capacious Bucket (x4)

Irida (x4)

Melony (x4)

Rotom Phone (x3)

Ultra Ball (x3)

Quick Ball (x3)

Training Court (x3)

Switch (x2)

Choice Bell (x2)

Evolution Incense (x1)

Hisuian Heavy Ball (x1)

Boss Orders (x1)

Marnie (x1)

Kyurem VMAX’s Key Cards

Kyurem VMAX

Kyurem VMAX is the most important card of this deck; everything will be around the Icy Meteor Dragon. Kyurem VMAX is the undoubted king of the One Hit-KOs in the TCG because of its main move, Max Frost, which inflicts 120 damage plus 50 per every card you decide to discard. This move can only be charged with Water Energy cards, hence why Kyurem synergies with Pokemon like Palkia VSTAR and Empoleon.

When attacking, you can also opt for not discarding any of the Energy cards of Kyurem and only deal 120 damage. Remember this, as there will be moments when you need to keep all of Kyurem’s Energies only to give a strong hit against a bulky Pokemon!

Kyurem’s Ability is also pretty important, and it works well when combined with cards that modify the deck, like Oranguru. Kyurem’s Ability, Glaciated World, makes you take a look at the first card of your deck. If it’s a Water Energy card, you can attach it to any of your Pokemon, but if it isn’t, you have to discard it.

Kyurem V

Don’t dare to think that Kyurem V doesn’t have a reliable option to progress through the match.

Kyurem V has a move named Rapid Freeze, which lets you attach as many Water Energy cards as you have on your hand to any of your Pokemon. The best part of this move is that it works with only a Water Energy Card, so if you use a Capacious Bucket and then use Rapid Freeze, you can attach a lot of Energies in a single turn.

Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR

Palkia VSTAR is a beast of a supporting Pokemon card to use on almost any Water-type deck. Its VSTAR Ability, Star Portal, lets you attach up to three discarded Water Energy Cards to any of your Pokemon. Of course, this Ability works well with Kyurem VMAX’s Max Frost, but only if you discarded energy cards after attacking. In short, this card lets you deal as much damage as you wish in two turns!

Radiant Greninja

Palkia VSTAR doesn’t only work to make a Kyurem VMAX hit hard in two consecutive turns; you can also use it to suit a Pokemon to have it prepared to attack at any second. So, to help Palkia VSTAR on its task of rescuing Water Energy Cards from the Discard Pile, Radiant Greninja is on this deck.

Radiant Greninja has two functions; it can be your attacker in case you are against a strategy that nullifies the damage from V Cards (like the typical annoying Miltank), or you can use it to send some Water Energy cards to the Discard Pile with its Ability, Concealed Cards, which lets you draw two cards from your deck but only if you discard anEnergy card from your hand.

This card is vital, but you can only have one on your deck; that’s the rule. So, if this card is on your Prize Cards and you can’t get quick access to it, you must include a Hisuian Heavy Ball on your deck!

Oranguru

Time to talk about the Sage Pokemon and its Ability, Primate Wisdom. This Ability lets you switch one of the cards of your hand with the top card of your deck. If you use this Ability when having a Water Energy card on your hand, you can put the Energy card on the top of your deck. Then, you can use Kyurem VMAX’s Ability, Glaciated World, to pick the card and attach it to Kyurem VMAX or any other Pokemon you like!

Empoleon V

Dealing with Lost Zone decks is always annoying, as these decks usually can sweep Kyurem VMAX in a couple of turns. That’s why Empoleon V is on this deck. Empoleon V has an Ability named Emperor’s Eyes that prevents your opponent’s basic Pokemon from using their Abilities but only if Empoleon is in the Active Spot. Empoleon works like a charm to prevent Comfey from using its Ability, Flower Selecting, which is the main engine of most of the Lost Zone’s decks.

Irida

Let’s now talk about the Trainer Cards. These are the ones you’ll use in case you have a bad first hand and need more Pokemon or energies. Irida is the best card you can use in this deck, as it lets you draw a Water-type Pokemon and any item you like. It’s preferable to draw a Kyurem VMAX or a Palkia VSTAR and a Capacious Bucket to prepare your Pokemon to attack.

Melony

Melony is another famous card as it lets you attach a Water-type energy to any V Pokemon and then lets you take three cards from your deck. Melony is a great card to use if you need more options or want to give more energy cards to Kyurem VMAX before attacking!

Battle VIP Pass

The Battle VIP Pass card only works on your first turn, and it lets you take two Basic Pokemon cards from your deck and put them directly onto your bench.

Tip: If you want to accumulate a lot of benched Pokemon, you can use Irida to draw a Battle VIP Pass. Then, you can use the Battle VIP Pass, and that’s how you can have three Pokemon on your bench in your first turn.

Kyurem VMAX Strategy

You have to start first, as you want to have Kyurem V in your Active Spot and suit it with Energies as soon as possible. As you get your first hand, you must try to have a Kyurem V on your Active Spot and another on your bench. The benched Kyurem will work as your backup if your first Kyurem falls. You have to suit both at the same time! Then, you have to evolve Kyurem V into Kyurem VMAX.

As soon as you find a Palkia V, bench it and try to evolve it to Palkia VSTAR. There’s not an exact moment when you can use its VSTAR Ability, but its usual usage is when you want to give the coup de grâce to your rival and claim your last Prize Cards or to suit a Kyurem VMAX as soon as possible.

If you don’t find any Palkia VSTAR, remember you can use the Ultra Ball or the Evolution Incense.

The Choice Belt is a great item to increase the damage output of your Kyurem’s attacks. If you have it on your hand, attach it to your Kyurem V as soon as possible, and if you have a chance and you don’t need any other card (you can still do a lot of damage with it, so it’s not an essential thing to have), you can always draw it from your deck and use it.

When you are ready, start attacking! If you are against a bulky Pokemon with a lot of HP, you can always increase the damage you deal with Max Frost by discarding all the Energy cards you attached to Kyurem VMAX. Don’t worry about these cards; you can pick them up with Palkia VSTAR’s Ability! But if you already use it, try to find a Training Ground and put it as your Stadium card!

Now, if you are in a hurry and don’t want to let your opponent build its strategy, you can try to find Radiant Greninja and start sending Water Energy cards to the Discard Pile only to attach them to Kyurem VMAX through Palkia VSTAR’s Star Portal Ability. The strategy with Radiant Greninja works well against decks like Eternatus VMAX or decks that don’t need many cards to start dealing damage, like Blissey V.

Kyurem VMAX’s Common Threats

Eternatus VMAX is a big problem because its strategy goes around accumulating benched Pokemon only to deal an astounding amount of damage. To counter it, you can switch a Training Ground for a Collapsed Stadium. Collapsed Stadium is a great card because it forces your opponent to discard all of their benched Pokemon until letting them have four.

If you are against a Lost Zone deck (you’ll know because these decks usually start with Comfey as their Active Pokemon), you can try to find an Empoleon and put it on your Active Spot. If you don’t have an Empoleon on your hand, you can try to find Irida and use it to take both Empoleon and a Switch from your deck. Then, you can use Switch to put Empoleon V into the Active Spot. It’s simple to use and can disarm any Lost Zone strategy you can imagine!

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