Get Buddy Blasted – Ethan’s Typhlosion for NAIC

Hey everyone! It's Charlie and I'm happy to be back with another article. NAIC is coming up very soon, and I wanted to share one of the most fun decks I've been testing for it - Ethan's Typhlosion! While not seen by many as a top threat in the meta, this deck has a lot of really good qualities going for it. Ethan's Pokemon got a bunch of cards in this new set, including the new Ethan's Ho-Oh ex as the headliner, but this one sicks out as the best. Before getting into the list, let's break down why a deck like this is particularly strong right now.

NAIC Meta Overview

This is shaping up to be one of the most dynamic metagames we've seen for NAIC in a while, and I'm very excited to see what does well. As of now, it looks like we have a ton of different decks vying for the crown of BDIF, both informed by my own testing and the results of online/Japanese tournaments. Here's how I see the format right now:

The Big Three - Gardevoir ex, Dragapult ex, Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex

I see the three Stage 2 decks as the three biggest threats in the format right now. The first two are very familiar, with Gardevoir ex having dominated the entirety of the previous format, winning the vast majority of events held in it. Dragapult ex has also been a consistent factor throughout the format, doing well at tons of events and holding its spot as the other top deck for the past few months. However, a newcomer has also joined this list: Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex! This card, when paired with incredible partners like Munkidori and Froslass, gives us a really interesting and powerful new deck that combines hard-hitting attacks with extreme damage control. It's honestly pretty close to a hybrid between Gardevoir and Dragapult, notably without the on-board draw engine in Dragapult but a basically infinite source of damage for your Munkidori in Froslass.

I think all three of these decks will see a lot of play, and if you're planning on playing any of them, I think you're making a great choice. Each deck also has its weaknesses (either matchups or consistency), but both have more than enough going for them to be some of the best choices.

The Fast Decks - Raging Bolt ex, Joltik Box

These two decks also showed up and did very well throughout the previous format, and I don't expect that to change massively. Raging Bolt ex won a Regional Championship and was a presence at every event, and while Joltik Box peaked at Top 4, I think it gets considerably better going into NAIC format. Joltik takes a strong matchup against Grimmsnarl and is good enough into Dragapult, but struggles mightily into Raging Bolt and Gardevoir. Raging Bolt on the other hand is just as powerful as ever, but the advent of Shaymin reduces the effectiveness of Baby Raging Bolt significantly, which worsens your Dragapult and Gardevoir matchups a lot. However, it's still good enough into Grimmsnarl and the rest of the field that I'd still consider it a solid pick.

The Rest - Eevee Box, Gholdengo ex, N's Zoroark ex, Roaring Moon

These decks are all outside the top 5, but each one still has its merits going into the event. Eevee Box takes a great matchup spread on paper and easily fits Leafeon ex as a solid out to Grimmsnarl, but it takes collateral damage from Team Rocket's Watchtower and general fragility. I liked this deck a lot and played it myself in Portland, but have since ruled it out for NAIC due to these concerns. Gholdengo ex is another interesting case. It's consistent, generally solid into Dragapult and Gardevoir, and takes playable matchups against the fast linear decks, but its unfavored Grimmsnarl matchup is really annoying and I don't think Picnic Basket is the cure. N's Zoroark ex might sound appealing, but Shaymin blocking N's Darmanitan is a pretty big problem. Lastly, the Roaring Moon deck from my last article is honestly not in that bad of a spot! It takes a naturally favored Grimmsnarl and Gardevoir matchup, good matchups into the fast linear decks, and is generally consistent, but Watchtower can turn off Dudunsparce and too many Dragapult decks are adding Stadium cards now that the Neutralization Zone strategy doesn't work against them anymore. Regardless, all of these decks are powerful enough to make an impact, and if you hit the right matchups, you can go on a deep run for sure!

The Answer - Ethan's Typhlosion ex

Now let's get into some of the specific strengths of Ethan's Typhlosion. First of all, it's a 170 HP Stage 2 that attacks for one Energy, which is pretty powerful. However, that would usually be bad because it's not usually easy to set up multiple Stage 2s very efficiently. That all changes with Ethan's Quilava. We've seen successful Stage 2s like Dragapult and Gardevoir (prior to rotation) do well on the backs of Stage 1s with great Abilities, and it's the same deal here. Quilava has a quite unique Ability, allowing you to search your deck for Ethan's Adventure whenever you like. This pairs perfectly with Typhlosion's attack, dealing 60 more damage for each Ethan's Adventure in your discard pile. With all four in the discard, you can deal 280 damage for one energy!

Ethan's Adventure itself is also incredible for setting up. Searching your deck for three in any combination of Ethan's Pokemon and Basic Fire Energy is insane, and very reminiscent of Lance in pre-rotation Dragapult decks. On turn one, you can find a bunch of Cyndaquil, then a single Quilava guarantees you can chain it as much as you'd like. Also, with multiple Quilava, you can find a bunch of them at once, which is very useful if you're going for an early high-damage attack and can discard them with Ultra Ball or something. Paired with some other unique choices like Victini and Gravity Mountain, you can hit up to 320 damage with a single attack!

This concludes the public portion of this article.

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