Why Knot? — Going Green with Leafeon VMAX

Hello PokeBeach readers! Isaiah here, and I’m happy to be bringing you all another article about the Standard format! Last time, we discussed Jolteon VMAX and Zeraora V and their growing presence in Standard thanks to the surge of Suicune V decks, the general popularity of Inteleon-based decks, and each of the Lightning-type Pokemon’s natural strengths. Since then, both decks have had the results we expected to see from them, with the most significant being Jolteon VMAX’s takedown of an event with over 100 players.

However, Jolteon VMAX isn’t the only Evolving Skies Eeveelution seeing success. Umbreon VMAX and Sylveon VMAX have both been consistently popular since the set’s release, each taking down multiple events with over 100 players each. However, one Eeveelution whose popularity has been growing by leaps and bounds lately is Leafeon VMAX — which also happens to be the topic of today’s article! How about we take a look at how the deck operates?

Leafeon VMAX’s General Strategy

When it comes to straightforward Standard decks, Leafeon VMAX might take the cake. Every game is the same: turn one, you get out a few Sobble and Leafeon V and use Greening Cells; turn two, you use Drizzile to get the pieces you need to use Grass Knot; and from there, it’s just Grass Knot and occasionally Max Leaf until you win.

With such simplicity, Leafeon VMAX isn’t really capable of complex plays like Dragapult VMAX or Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX can pull off, but it makes up for this with extreme consistency at its strengths. Thanks to Leafeon V’s Greening Cells Ability, you don’t have to worry so much about your turn-one Energy attachment, as you can almost guarantee you’ll get an Energy on board by the end of the first turn. Additionally, thanks to the Inteleon line, you can easily search out the deck’s many critically important Trainer cards, such as Galar Mine or Tool Jammer. Even better, the overall simplicity of the deck’s strategy allows you to explore a wide variety of tech options, such as Chatot / Scoop Up Net, Pokémon Center Lady, Team Yell Grunt, and more.

Key Matchups

Alongside its natural consistency, one of Leafeon VMAX’s best traits is its exceptional matchup spread against many of the top decks in Standard.

Suicune V / Ludicolo – 60-40

This matchup can be really bizarre from game to game, but it’s pretty straightforward on paper. With Galar Mine, Grass Knot hits 240 on Suicune V, taking an easy one-hit Knock Out as long as there is no Cape of Toughness. And if you include Tool Jammer or Quick Shooting, you can grab that one-hit Knock Out anyway! As long as you keep your Bench size at two or below (which is much easier than it sounds, especially with a high count of Scoop Up Net), it’s extremely difficult for them to grab a one-hit Knock Out in return. Even if they somehow pull it off, they probably can’t manage it two turns in a row, paving the way for your victory.

Single Strike – 65-35

This matchup is really good for Leafeon VMAX. All of their attackers get Knocked Out in one hit by Grass Knot, between Weakness and Single Strike Urshifu VMAX having a Retreat Cost of five after Galar Mine. The matchup can easily go wrong if they draw exceptionally well, but in general, I would consider this to be one of Leafeon VMAX’s best matchups, if not the best outright.

Dragapult VMAX – 55-45

This matchup percentage can vary a lot based on techs, but I’m going with the somewhat standard view, assuming that Leafeon VMAX plays Pokémon Center Lady and assuming that Dragapult VMAX plays few (if any) options for Energy removal. This matchup is largely affected by who goes first, as Dragapult VMAX getting to go first gives them more of an opportunity to scoop up early Knock Outs on Sobble before they become Drizzile. Additionally, being generally ahead on the attack race is a huge deal for Dragapult VMAX, as it takes one more attack for them to Knock Out Leafeon VMAX than it does for Leafeon VMAX to Knock Out Dragapult VMAX.

Given this, the matchup may seem pretty linear, but that’s where Pokemon Center Lady comes in. The combination of Max Leaf and Pokemon Center Lady heals off most of the damage from a Max Phantom attack, buying you at least one extra turn, and even two if you’re lucky. Pulled off correctly, this shift in tempo swings the matchup considerably, making it the 55-45 matchup I claim it is. However, the win rate for Leafeon VMAX plummets if the Dragapult VMAX build includes Crushing Hammer and other Energy removal techs.

Jolteon VMAX – 40-60

It doesn’t take a genius to see that this matchup is miserable for Leafeon VMAX. Jolteon VMAX and Jolteon V both have an incredible Retreat Cost of zero, giving Grass Knot a damage ceiling of just 120. Jolteon VMAX can also tear down Leafeon VMAX’s critical Inteleon-based support engine, denying the ability to pull off interesting combos like those with Pokemon Center Lady. The one saving grace in this matchup is that the combination of Max Leaf and the aforementioned Pokemon Center Lady can heal almost an entire Max Thunder Rumble, and when paired with Tool Jammer to shut off Elemental Badge, Leafeon VMAX can scrape out some victories here and there. However, I would certainly never go into a match against Jolteon VMAX expecting to win the game.

Leafeon VMAX / Scoop Up Nets

Now that we have looked at some of the most critical matchups for Leafeon VMAX, how about we take a look at my current favorite build for the deck? In my opinion, the version of Leafeon VMAX with a high Scoop Up Net count is the absolute best way to play it, as it gives you a ton of different options when it comes to reusing powerful Abilities, or even reducing your Bench against decks like Suicune V or Dragapult VMAX.

This concludes the public portion of this article.

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