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So, you've gone and done it. You've purchased the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Pokemon TCG's Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX League Battle Deck. Or, alternatively, you'd like to build one of your own — maybe adding a few twists along the way. Whether you're a diehard fan of Glastrier's noble rider, or you simply wish to pummel your opponents with a relentless barrage of VMAX mayhem, you've come to the right place.
Let our guide be your doorway to the Crown Tundra's most powerful pal. Perhaps we should say 'tied for most powerful pal', so as not to offend lovers of Shadow Rider Calyrex? At TheGamer, we're nothing if not polite.
What Is The Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX League Battle Deck?
It might be best to begin with a little history lesson. In modern official Pokemon Trading Game terminology, everything you can buy comes with an on-the-box descriptor called a 'Play Level'. There are three levels. Play Level One is mostly reserved for the Battle Academy line of products these days, which is a two-deck starter set designed around the simplest possible strategies and mechanics. It's a great way to get cozy with the TCG's rules, but not much more than that; the decks aren't even 60 cards (the only legal number), but 40.
Play Level Two is where most Battle Decks come into view. They're far from the best, but more complex than Level One, with some decent cards and relatively easy concepts. Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX League Battle Deck shares the spotlight with the Shadow Rider Calyrex variation as one of the first two Play Level Three decks ever made. This is significant for two primary reasons. Firstly, you're paying a premium here — though still less than you would if you were to venture online and purchase all these cards secondhand. Play Level Three decks contain a whopping three V Pokemon and three VMAX Pokemon. (Unsurprisingly, the Vs and VMAXs are all Ice Rider Calyrex.)
The other reason, which ties into the higher price tag quite tidily, is that these are strong enough decks to be used competitively pretty much right out of the box. If you're wondering why anybody should start out with anything less than Player Level Three, do bear in mind, you're dealing with more complex strategies at this stage, and it can be overwhelming for beginners.
Here's what you can expect to find in the Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX League Battle Deck, should you elect to fetch one. In our humble estimation? They're totally worth the buy.
- Three Ice Rider Calyrex V
- Three Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX
- Two Inteleon (Sword & Shield Expansion)
- Two Rapid Strike Inteleon (Chilling Reign Expansion)
- Four Rapid Strike Drizzile (Sword & Shield Expansion)
- Four Rapid Strike Sobble (Chilling Reign Expansion)
- Two Air Balloon
- Three Boss's Orders
- Three Capacious Bucket
- Three Evolution Incense
- Four Level Ball
- Two Marnie
- Four Melony
- Four Path to the Peak
- Two Professor's Research
- Four Quick Ball
- Two Switch
- Nine Water Energy
Playing The Ice Rider VMAX Deck, Part One: Shady Dealings, Spiffy Feelings
With three each of Ice Rider Calyrex V and VMAX, it doesn't take a wizened Pokemon Master to figure out where most of your damage will come from. But a lesser build centered on this frigid assault could get messy in all sorts of ways. Whether it's poor access to Water Energy, Trainer cards that don't synergize with your attackers, or even leaving the proper draws to begin your assault entirely to chance, plenty of things can go wrong.
That's why this deck's backbone is the ever-popular 'Inteleon engine'. The player base chose this term early in the Sword & Shield era, when it was soon discovered that this particular Inteleon card's ability, 'Shady Dealings', is exceptionally strong. Evolving Drizzile into Inteleon permits the player to search their deck for up to two Trainer cards, including Supporters and Stadiums. You'd need the right Trainer Cards to take full advantage of this technique, of course, but so long as you have that p👍art covered, you can possess a very powerful hand, very quickly.
Here's what paints a more complete picture as to the Inteleon engine's full might. Note that all four Sobbles and their equal number of Drizziles are of the Rapid Strike variety. Rapid Strike Sobble, for the measly price of a single Colorless Energy card, lets you search your deck for up to three Basic Rapid Strike Pokemon and put them into your hand. There's only one kind of card that fits the bill here, and it is, in fact, that self-same Rapid Strike Sobble.
With a bunch of Sobbles on the field, you may feel compelled to cry. Dry those tears, because you're about to work some magic. Your Level Balls will let you search your deck for Pokemon possessing 90 HP or less. Now wait, you might think — this is the Sword & Shield era. 90 HP is to the modern structure as 40 HP was back when the original Charizard card was every kid's Christmas wish. But we just so happen to have four Rapid Strike Drizziles, and they just so happen to have precisely 90 HP.
Playing The Ice Rider VMAX Deck, Part Two: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Discards
Now that you've got Drizziles to evolve your Sobbles with, you'll be triggering their version of 'Shady Dealings', which is a touch weaker than Inteleon's. Instead of searching your deck for two Trainer Cards when Sobble evolves into Rapid Strike Drizzile, you get to do so with one. But that's still a big deal in the Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX Battle Deck.
Consider the Quick Ball. By discarding one card from your hand, you can search your deck for any Basic Pokemon. The key word here is probably 'any'. You're not looking for young and timid Sobble anymore. You're chasing those Ice Rider Calyrex V cards. You can supplement the four Quick Balls with cures for any unfortunately dire hand by cashing in on a Professor's Research, which will let you draw seven new cards by discarding whatever it is you currently possess. Oh, and if you're struggling to find Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX? Evolution Incense works for VMAX evolutions, too, and you've got three of them. Just the right number.
Under normal circumstances, all this card-discarding would pile up in a bad way over the course of the game. Especially with a deck that clocks in at a relatively slim nine Energy to fuel you for the entire match. But the Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX Battle League Deck (boy, that's a mouthful) bucks tradition with a framework that handily puts it in the realm of the elite competitive scene. You have two elixirs for your discards: Melony and Capacious Bucket. Both cards rely on the premise of taking back discarded Water Energy, making any loss of Energy sting far less for what amounts to, in most cases, an entire match. Your Melony quartet lets you pull a Water Energy from the discard pile back into your hand; as a bonus, doing so means you get to draw three cards. Win-win. Capacious Bucket offers the excellent opportunity to search your deck for up to two Water Energy and place them into your hand.
Playing The Ice Rider VMAX Deck, Part Three: Your Chilling Reign Begins
That's all well and good. But setting things up for an Ice Rider sweep wouldn't be half as effective if your Vs and VMAXs weren't terrific. And, well, they are totally terrific. Ice Rider V has a sturdy enough 210 HP, and for two Water Energy and one Colorless Energy, it can hit for 200 damage with Glacial Lance. The downside to Glacial Lance is that it involves discarding two Water Energy. But, as we've already established, that's hardly an end-of-the-world ordeal.
Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX takes things even further with the whole 'revolving Water Energy' thing. Max Lance costs two Water Energy to use and starts at just ten damage. Well, that sounds bad. Until you factor its text into the equation. When you use Max Lance, you may withdraw up to two Water Energy. (There's that theme again.) Doing so nets you 120 extra damage per discard, meaning you're suddenly striking for 250.
Even Ice Rider Calyrex's weaker attack, Ride of the High King, can be great. It costs two Colorless Energy, rather than Water, though that's... not particularly relevant given this deck's construction, but anyway, it's a fun way to put the hurt on any opponent with a stacked bench. Like Max Lance, it starts out at a mere ten damage, but it gets a boost of 30 more for every Pokemon on your foe's bench. 160, eh? Not too shabby in a pinch.
How To Perfect The Deck
Maybe the Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX Battle League Deck is starting to lose its luster for you. Perhaps your friends and rivals have finally cracked the case and they're starting to outmaneuver you with clever setups and/or Mew VMAX. (That mighty little rascal.) Here are a few suggestions for how you can upgrade your Caly-wrecking to the next level. (Is that Player Level Four...?)
Radiant Greninja
Players are only allowed a single Radiant Pokemon per deck, but that suits us just fine when the deck in question is already good enough to afford limited room for updates. Radiant Greninja relies upon the same Energy-discarding path that your Calyrexes do. Its Moonlight Shuriken attack sends two Energy to the pile, but deals 90 damage to two of your opponent's Pokemon. That's frequently enough to wipe out some injured Pokemon V. Or even, a bit more rarely, Pokemon VMAX.
Palkia V And Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR
This one's fantastic, but it comes at a steep cost — not just in terms of deck space, but real-world money as well. Palkia V and especially VSTAR cards are in hot demand, so expect to shell out a not-inconsiderable amount of cash here. You can get one each guaranteed, though, if you can find and purchase the Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR Premium Collection.
That said, this can boost the Ice Rider Calyrex VMAX deck from great to golden. Palkia VSTAR's Subspace Swell hits for an initial 60 damage, plus 20 more damage for every benched Pokemon, both your opponent's and yours. Up to 260 damage, just like that, for a wildly low two Water Energy. Plus, you can tap into your VSTAR Power to attach up to three Water Energy from your discard pile to your Water Pokemon however you like. VSTAR Powers, in case you weren't aware, are once-per-game actions. But still, you can probably see how this ge🦩ls with the rest of the overarching straꦇtegy.
Choice Belt
Path to the Peak is a solid Stadium Card we didn't really get into until now, prohibiting all Pokemon on either side from utilizing Rule Boxes for the duration of its time on the field. (Which, depending on your opponent's deck setup, might mean the entire match.) This can curb the offensive enthusiasm of a high number of powerful V, VMAX, and VSTAR cards whilst not applying any penalties to your own, since Ice Rider Calyrex isn't built on that notion at all.
But do you really need four of these? Well, sometimes? Maybe your opponent is damned good at forcing you to ditch these again and again. Generally speaking, though, you can afford to drop two. If you do so, consider replacing them with Choice Belts. Choice Belt is a tool; equipping it lets you deal 30 extra damage to Pokemon V cards with any attack. Now, most of your foes will likely tr😼eat Pokemon V as stepping stones toward VMAX and VSTAR. But another 30 damage might just let you knock💞 them out before they ever get the chance to evolve.