Discussion VMAX ONE: Alternative SwSh-on Format

Yaginku

H-on Will Save Pokemon
Member
Some of us will soon return to the stores and regular play will resume. Yay! However, we won't really have an option but to engage with a broken and repetitive Standard metagame. Bleh.

This period that comes after a rather massive break in play means that a lot of players won't have their Standard decks ready, at least for a while. That's a great opportunity to start with other, alternative (and more balanced) formats. Obviously Single-Prize Only is a great option, but it's a completely new metagame that's quite unexplored, and it might feel daunting to some. I was looking for something in the middle - familiar enough to be instantly appealing, but still fixing some issues with the format. That's where the idea of a Single VMAX came to my head.

It's rather simple - each player is only allowed to play a single VMAX card throughout the game. This might seem insignificant, but has a bunch of wide-reaching consequences. For a start, every game will feature at least three knockouts (no ADP in SwSh-on) - you cannot count of another VMAX with 300+ health to soak up the damage. Regular V cards are often quite underwhelming, even compared to their previous GX equivalents, which limits their explosiveness and allows single-prize Pokemon to be viable options as follow-up attackers.

The main advantage of this format is that the core Standard decks are actually still viable, they just need to be built in more interesting ways. There is no worrying about kids in the store pulling a shiny VMAX card and then finding out that nobody wants to play a Standard that features them. It's definitely a more appealing option to sell to your players, rather than having them build completely new SPO decks. I'll be trying out this format in my League soon and will return back with some feedback, but if you have any initial thoughts, let me know.
 
this is how I initially thought that Vmaxes would work before they were fully revealed. this works with the video games as well, and differentiates them from megas instead of just being better megas
 
Sounds cool! I particularly like the options it gives to VMAX decks on when to play their VMAX. In the normal meta, it's just, ASAP, but with the format you suggest, it could be beneficial to have your single VMAX as your final prize. But then again, a huge fully powered up VMAX can do a lot of damage early game. Just this choice alone could both determine and swing games. Please report back with the feedback when you've tested it out :)
 
I'm interested in seeing the success rate of decks that rush out their VMAX as quickly as possible compared to the decks that save their VMAX for late game- I'm not sure if there's much of an incentive to hold on to it for a while. I really hope that I'm wrong!
 
I could see something like Frosmoth doing particularly well in this format. Build a nuke of a Lapras VMAX behind a Wailord V or a Doll or something, Boss the opposing VMAX, then sweep with whatever because you have the flexibility of having so many different Water-type attackers while forcing a seven-Prize game.
 
Zacian one shots everything that isn’t a VMAX and can tech Aegislash V for Decidueye. Plus Intrepid Sword, Metal Saucer, Rusted Sword, Cape of Toughness, etc. Card’s too broken for this meta
There are 3 Vs that don't get OHKOed by an unboosted Brave Blade, but yeah, it is quite strong.
Those Vs are Wailord V, Steelix V, and Blissey V.
 
I agree that Zacian V looks and sounds threatening, for the absolute broken card it is, but I wouldn't ban it outright without having some play time and seeing what the players come up with.
What I like about this "VMAX One" mechanic is the "queen effect" - you have an obviously broken piece, but you've only got one, so it adds another layer of depth if you choose to play it.
In my LGS, we've currently came back to Standard play and obviously I wanna let our patrons play and get back into things, before throwing any "alternative ideas" at them. However, if anyone's interested in playing this format Online, perhaps a tourney, let me know.
 
So in this alt format VMAX would essentially be ACE-SPEC cards?
You know, I honestly thought this was the route PokeComp would have taken with bringing Dyna/Gigantomax to the TCG since that mechanic had a "once per match" restriction itself, doubly so since that was how they translated Z-Crystals into GX attacks. Another boon gained from this alternative system would be a tangential buff towards the upcoming V-Union cards, which have the same stats and rulebox but are MUCH harder to get into play by comparison.
 
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