Been a while since I've done one of these or been around the forums in general, but now that the TCG has confirmed cards of my favorite Pokemon and my favorite Trainer, it's time to come back out from the shadows a bit.
Want to foreword that this is just meant to be a fun, casual deck. I'm not trying to take this idea to any tournaments in the next year to win. Still open to suggestions, but the baseline for this deck, for me anyway, is that it just simply needs to include Milotic V and Nessa.
So without further ado:
16 Pokemon
3x Milotic V
1x Articuno (Team Up)
1x Black Kyurem (Cosmic Eclipse)
1x Keldeo V
2x Frosmoth
3x Snom
3x Absol (Team Up)
2x Dedenne GX
13 Supporter
4x Professor's Research
3x Marnie
3x Nessa
3x Boss's Orders
16 Trainer
4x Quick Ball
4x Pokemon Communication
3x Capacious Bucket
3x Switch
1x Ordinary Rod
1x Energy Retrieval
4 Stadium
4x Galar Mine
10 Energy
10x Water Energy
Milotic V - The main star of the deck. Doing the usual Absol and Galar Mine combo to make her work.
Articuno from Team Up - This is here strictly to prevent Boss's Orders from snatching Milotic V, Keldeo V, Frosmoth, or Black Kyurem from the bench. Its attack is also not bad chip damage while moving its energy onto something else for a follow up.
Black Kyurem from Cosmic Eclipse - A really strong 1 prize attacker that can easily be powered up in 1 turn by Frosmoth/Nessa/Capacious Bucket. Since you run Galar Mine anyway for Milotic, might as well hammer out 200 damage with Black Kyurem if you're up against a VMax Pokemon that Milotic can't OHKO anyway.
Keldeo V - If you end up battling against a deck with lots of evolutions or 0-1 retreat cost Pokemon, you need an attacker who can still scale up and compensate for things Milotic V can't handle appropriately. Don't have to worry about it getting pre-emptively killed while building it up with Articuno in the active holding the fort for at least 1 turn.
3 Snom/2 Frosmoth - You really only need 1 of these in play ever, so I didn't want to commit to a full 4/3 or even a 3/3 line up. Pokemon Communication and Quick Ball should see you through them often enough.
3 Absol - Will pretty much always be relevant since even VMax Pokemon have to evolve up from the basic V Pokemon, however once evolution happens it does become rough. Don't really feel that 4 is necessary ever since your bench can only accomodate 2-3 with a Frosmoth and Dedenne GX hanging out on the bench.
2 Dedenne GX - Self explanatory I feel with the new rules that you can't play a Supporter turn 1 if you're going first. The discarding is actually a good thing now too with Nessa to recover your energies and discarded water Pokemon.
Professor's Research - Probably will always be the most powerful draw supporter. Discarding full hands is less of an issue with Nessa around as well.
Marnie - I think most people would want this at 4, but I think 3 is just fine as well to make room for Nessa in this particular list.
Nessa - The other star of the deck. Running her at 3 simply because I feel that 2 is not enough. Being able to recover 4 in combination of Pokemon and energy is a really strong recovery tool.
Boss's Orders - I always ran Lysandre/Guzma at 3, so that stays the same here.
Quick Ball - A staple. Self explanatory.
Pokemon Communication - Better than incense I believe since it just trades Pokemon for Pokemon. Don't need my Black Kyurem right now? Get a Frosmoth instead. With 16 Pokemon in the deck this card should never be a miss.
3x Bucket - I don't think there's such a thing as too much energy in hand for the most part. I have sinisterly bad luck bricking on having energy shortages, so I will almost always go more than what people think is necessary. I think maxing out on this card is a bit too much since you have to have a Frosmoth to make it count and 2 is just a little bit unreliable.
3x Switch - Gets everything undesireable out of the active. Kind of necessary since Galar Mine makes even options like Air Balloon dead in this deck.
Ordinary Rod & Energy Retrieval - Just ways to get more energy and resources back if you really can't afford to play Nessa and need Boss's Orders for a pivotal KO.
4x Galar Mine - Basically mandatory at 4 copies I feel. Wouldn't ever go any less.
10 Water Energy - Could probably get away with 9, but the more the merrier. The higher total energy count I have the harder Keldeo V can hit.
So to just touch on a few cards that people would probably think are obvious picks:
No Jirachi simply because I feel that having some one ofs like Keldeo V and Articuno are ultimately more impactful and increase the deck's ceiling and flexibility since Milotic V has some crucial weaknesses. I feel like if you aren't going to run it at 4 to make it your starter, you shouldn't bother running it at all, and this deck can't afford room for 4 Jirachi. So ultimately 4 or 0 is the call, and I decided on 0.
I know about the Arceus & Dialga & Palkia GX method of getting energy and for its GX attack to have Milotic hit even higher numbers, but I don't think it offers the same amount of persistent and consistent energy bonuses as Frosmoth. You can obviously run both, but I also didn't want to deal with the awkwardness of running a low metal energy count and some special energy. Pure water energy is simply more consistent I feel.
As I said up top, advice and feedback are always still welcome with the exception of Milotic V and Nessa must remain in the deck. I've been out of the loop for a long while so I may have missed a handful of cards that are good but didn't catch wind of.
Want to foreword that this is just meant to be a fun, casual deck. I'm not trying to take this idea to any tournaments in the next year to win. Still open to suggestions, but the baseline for this deck, for me anyway, is that it just simply needs to include Milotic V and Nessa.
So without further ado:
16 Pokemon
3x Milotic V
1x Articuno (Team Up)
1x Black Kyurem (Cosmic Eclipse)
1x Keldeo V
2x Frosmoth
3x Snom
3x Absol (Team Up)
2x Dedenne GX
13 Supporter
4x Professor's Research
3x Marnie
3x Nessa
3x Boss's Orders
16 Trainer
4x Quick Ball
4x Pokemon Communication
3x Capacious Bucket
3x Switch
1x Ordinary Rod
1x Energy Retrieval
4 Stadium
4x Galar Mine
10 Energy
10x Water Energy
Milotic V - The main star of the deck. Doing the usual Absol and Galar Mine combo to make her work.
Articuno from Team Up - This is here strictly to prevent Boss's Orders from snatching Milotic V, Keldeo V, Frosmoth, or Black Kyurem from the bench. Its attack is also not bad chip damage while moving its energy onto something else for a follow up.
Black Kyurem from Cosmic Eclipse - A really strong 1 prize attacker that can easily be powered up in 1 turn by Frosmoth/Nessa/Capacious Bucket. Since you run Galar Mine anyway for Milotic, might as well hammer out 200 damage with Black Kyurem if you're up against a VMax Pokemon that Milotic can't OHKO anyway.
Keldeo V - If you end up battling against a deck with lots of evolutions or 0-1 retreat cost Pokemon, you need an attacker who can still scale up and compensate for things Milotic V can't handle appropriately. Don't have to worry about it getting pre-emptively killed while building it up with Articuno in the active holding the fort for at least 1 turn.
3 Snom/2 Frosmoth - You really only need 1 of these in play ever, so I didn't want to commit to a full 4/3 or even a 3/3 line up. Pokemon Communication and Quick Ball should see you through them often enough.
3 Absol - Will pretty much always be relevant since even VMax Pokemon have to evolve up from the basic V Pokemon, however once evolution happens it does become rough. Don't really feel that 4 is necessary ever since your bench can only accomodate 2-3 with a Frosmoth and Dedenne GX hanging out on the bench.
2 Dedenne GX - Self explanatory I feel with the new rules that you can't play a Supporter turn 1 if you're going first. The discarding is actually a good thing now too with Nessa to recover your energies and discarded water Pokemon.
Professor's Research - Probably will always be the most powerful draw supporter. Discarding full hands is less of an issue with Nessa around as well.
Marnie - I think most people would want this at 4, but I think 3 is just fine as well to make room for Nessa in this particular list.
Nessa - The other star of the deck. Running her at 3 simply because I feel that 2 is not enough. Being able to recover 4 in combination of Pokemon and energy is a really strong recovery tool.
Boss's Orders - I always ran Lysandre/Guzma at 3, so that stays the same here.
Quick Ball - A staple. Self explanatory.
Pokemon Communication - Better than incense I believe since it just trades Pokemon for Pokemon. Don't need my Black Kyurem right now? Get a Frosmoth instead. With 16 Pokemon in the deck this card should never be a miss.
3x Bucket - I don't think there's such a thing as too much energy in hand for the most part. I have sinisterly bad luck bricking on having energy shortages, so I will almost always go more than what people think is necessary. I think maxing out on this card is a bit too much since you have to have a Frosmoth to make it count and 2 is just a little bit unreliable.
3x Switch - Gets everything undesireable out of the active. Kind of necessary since Galar Mine makes even options like Air Balloon dead in this deck.
Ordinary Rod & Energy Retrieval - Just ways to get more energy and resources back if you really can't afford to play Nessa and need Boss's Orders for a pivotal KO.
4x Galar Mine - Basically mandatory at 4 copies I feel. Wouldn't ever go any less.
10 Water Energy - Could probably get away with 9, but the more the merrier. The higher total energy count I have the harder Keldeo V can hit.
So to just touch on a few cards that people would probably think are obvious picks:
No Jirachi simply because I feel that having some one ofs like Keldeo V and Articuno are ultimately more impactful and increase the deck's ceiling and flexibility since Milotic V has some crucial weaknesses. I feel like if you aren't going to run it at 4 to make it your starter, you shouldn't bother running it at all, and this deck can't afford room for 4 Jirachi. So ultimately 4 or 0 is the call, and I decided on 0.
I know about the Arceus & Dialga & Palkia GX method of getting energy and for its GX attack to have Milotic hit even higher numbers, but I don't think it offers the same amount of persistent and consistent energy bonuses as Frosmoth. You can obviously run both, but I also didn't want to deal with the awkwardness of running a low metal energy count and some special energy. Pure water energy is simply more consistent I feel.
As I said up top, advice and feedback are always still welcome with the exception of Milotic V and Nessa must remain in the deck. I've been out of the loop for a long while so I may have missed a handful of cards that are good but didn't catch wind of.