The XY—BREAKthrough expansion introduces two cards that work incredibly well together, Magnezone and Raikou. The pair is reminiscent of another recent duo, Blastoise and Keldeo-EX, who were powerful enough to win the Masters Division at the 2015 World Championships. Both decks rely on supplying massive amounts of Energy to Pokémon whose attacks get stronger the more Energy is attached. The decks are both powerful, but have subtle differences worth checking out. Let’s go over a Magnezone and Raikou deck that is legal in the Standard format to analyze how it works and how to overcome its biggest weaknesses.
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Bring the Thunder with Magnezone and Raikou!
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12Lightning Energy
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4Professor Sycamore
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2Fisherman
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2Professor Birch's Observations
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1AZ
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1Judge
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1Lysandre
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4Trainers' Mail
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4Ultra Ball
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4VS Seeker
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3Rare Candy
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2Float Stone
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1Escape Rope
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1Level Ball
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1Muscle Band
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1Professor's Letter
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1Super Rod
Starting Up
The goal of this deck is to use Magnezone’s Magnetic Circuit Ability to power up your other Pokémon (especially Raikou) as quickly as possible so they can attack for big damage. The first step to doing that is getting Magnezone into play, which can be difficult because it’s a Stage 2 Pokémon. Rare Candy can speed things up, allowing Magnemite to skip a Stage and evolve directly into Magnezone. Finding that Rare Candy early in the game is important for this deck, so Trainers’ Mail is included to help dig for it. If you don’t get that Rare Candy, it will take at least three turns to evolve Magnemite into Magneton and finally into Magnezone. With today’s speedy decks, you may not be able to afford to wait that long.
Once Magnezone is in play, it’s time to power up Raikou. Its Thunder Lance attack costs 3 Energy and does 50 damage plus 20 more for each Lightning Energy attached. So if you’re using Lightning Energy for the attack cost, Thunder Lance is already doing 110 damage. If you can get seven Lightning Energy on Raikou (or six and a Muscle Band), the attack will hit for 190 damage, which is enough to take down even most Pokémon-EX in one attack.
Seven Energy is a lot to attach to a single Pokémon, so Lightning Energy is the most necessary resource of this deck. Getting Energy onto your Pokémon gets tougher as the game goes on, because as your Pokémon get Knocked Out, their attached Energy goes with them to the discard pile. Fisherman can solve that concern by recycling four basic Energy cards from the discard pile to your hand—and VS Seeker can recycle those Fisherman cards to get even more Energy back.
This deck’s strategy is nearly identical to the Blastoise and Keldeo-EX deck that won at Worlds: Magnezone and Blastoise both allow multiple Energy to be attached in a single turn, and Raikou and Keldeo-EX both have attacks that do more damage for each Energy attached to them. There are differences to be aware of, however. You can’t use Archie’s Ace in the Hole to get Magnezone into play on the first turn of the game (a key strategy in that Worlds deck), and Raikou doesn’t have Keldeo-EX’s great Rush In Ability or its 170 HP. Raikou’s appeal is the powerful attack that lets it stand toe to toe with Pokémon-EX, without the downside of giving up two Prize cards when it gets Knocked Out. And with its Shining Body Ability reducing damage from attacks, it may prove surprisingly resilient in battle.
Obstacles
Every strategy has weaknesses, and this one is no exception. First, Magnezone and Raikou both have a literal Weakness to Fighting-type Pokémon, so matching up against those is going to be difficult. Our example deck includes Zapdos and Lugia-EX to handle such situations. Both of them have Resistance to Fighting-type Pokémon, so they’re likely to withstand a few attacks from them. Zapdos can dish out 120 damage with its Raging Thunder attack, and Lugia-EX has two powerful attacks of its own. Alternatively, you could add a few Flash Energy to the deck to remove the Weakness of these Lightning-type Pokémon. But remember, your opponent can use Enhanced Hammer to discard Special Energy, so that Weakness could be unexpectedly restored just before an attack.
Since Magnezone’s Ability is so crucial to this deck’s success, anything that can shut it off is a problem. The best example of that is Hex Maniac, a Supporter card that gets rid of all Abilities for a turn. Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do after Hex Maniac has been played, but it is important to prepare for the possibility. For instance, if you have Magnezone in play and several Lightning Energy cards in your hand, don’t hesitate to use Magnetic Circuit to attach them all immediately, instead of waiting until the next turn and giving your opponent time to play Hex Maniac. There may be some downside to playing all that Energy right away, but having a hand full of Energy you can’t play on the next turn will likely be far worse. And of course, always plan ahead and make sure you have another Pokémon ready to attack if your Active Pokémon gets Knocked Out.
Another nuisance to this deck is Seismitoad-EX, whose Quaking Punch can be particularly annoying when trying to get a Stage 2 Pokémon into play. This attack keeps the opponent from playing Item cards on the next turn—which means you can’t use Rare Candy to evolve into Magnezone faster, and you can’t use Ultra Ball to search for the Pokémon you need. With this in mind, our sample deck includes 2 Magneton, so it can function even under the kind of Item lock that Quaking Punch can impose. Fortunately, that attack only does 30 damage, and Raikou’s Shining Body Ability can buy a lot of time by reducing that damage to 10. To really feel safe against Seismitoad-EX, you could add the Rough Seas Stadium card to the deck, which would let you heal 30 damage from Raikou every turn and give you plenty of time to get your strategy going.
XY—BREAKthrough brings many exciting strategies to the Pokémon TCG, and there are more waiting to be discovered. Check back at Pokemon.com/strategy for updates on the latest Pokémon TCG content, and be sure to use the event locator to find a City Championships event near you. Good luck, Trainers!
