Blastoise/Keldeo EX - The comeback of Raindance

O Raindance, where art thou?

Hello everyone!


Today, I’m going to take a look at a deck that can be called old school, because it has so many predecessors in the past formats. Rain Dance –like Abilities have been around from the Base Set and they have always been tournament-winning concepts. I expect nothing less from the new Boundaries Crossed Blastoise – even though its Ability’s name is Deluge, not Rain Dance.

Blastoise has been one of the most discussed cards of BC ever since it was released in Japan, because of its history. However, it hasn’t really been that successful in the Japan. What is the reason behind this and is it going to break its way to the tier1 in the west? I’ll answer these questions and more in this article. I’ll take a look at many different Blastoise variants and discuss which techs are the best and why.

The Skeleton

So, let’s start with the very basic skeleton of Blastoise/Keldeo.

Pokémon:

3x Squirtle
1x Wartortle
3x Blastoise
4x Keldeo EX
2x Mewtwo EX
=13

Trainer:

4x Professor Juniper
4x Bianca
3x N
2x Cheren
4x Ultra Ball
1x Computer Search
4x Rare Candy
4x Pokémon Catcher
Xx Heal
=26


Energy:

14x Water Energy
=14

= 53




Skeleton’s card explanations

Blastoise Evolution line

Probably the best part of Blastoise’s evolution line is Squirtle. Thanks to Squirtle, Blastois can be called as a direct counter against Landorus EX. Not only is Landorus EX weak to Water, but Squirtle’s ability prevents all the damage done to Squirtle when they are on the bench. So, unlike against other stage decks, Landorus EX isn’t able to get multiple KOs in two turns with Hammerhead, because you’re able to prevent the bench damage. Same goes with Darkrai EX.

The Squirtle’s ability is huge for many reasons. If your opponent has run out Catchers, cards like Raikou EX can’t take a prize for it.  Squirtle is very rarely a free prize when you play it on your bench. Squirtle by itself makes Blastoise jump a one tier higher than it would be with a standard Basic Pokémon.

Keldeo EX

Keldeo EX is the main attacker of most of these decks. It’s good for two main reasons:

1) Its Ability gives your deck more space
2) It OHKOs Landorus EX with only 3 energy

First, let look at the stats: Keldeo EX has a whopping 170 HP; which any EX-Pokémon is more than happy to have.  It’s funny that in the current format it makes almost no difference if you have 170 or 180 HP, you’ll never get OHKOed, but you’ll always get 2HKOed. Keldeo EX is also weak to Grass, which is a type that is almost non-existant in the current format. The only real threat to Keldeo EX is Shaymin EX; which only some Hydreigon variants play. However, Shaymin EX can be teched in almost any deck with right kind of Blend Energy, so it will probably see a small increase in play if Keldeo EX becomes a real contender in the metagame.

Keldeo EX’s attack is interesting, because it practically can’t OHKO anything that isn’t weak to Water, but it easily 2HKOs everything. If you can get a T2 Keldeo EX running with the help of Blastoise, you’re in a very strong shape, because Keldeo will start a prize race, where the healing cards are in the key position to change the course of the game. All the stage decks are pretty much the same: manipulate energy and then don’t get OHKOed. This applies to Eelektrik, Hydreigon and now to Blastoise.

Keldeo EX’s Ability is however the THING in it. It lets you switch any your active Pokémon with Keldeo EX. So simply put, your every Pokémon has a free retreat as long as you want to change Keldeo EX to the active spot. And it’s pretty obvious that a Blastoise with retreat of 4 really appreciates this kind of Ability. This opens so many slots from your deck since you don’t have to stress about Switch and this is what makes Blastoise playable with Keldeo – free spots open more spots for consistency. Due the consistency that these spots open, you are able to play various techs in Blastoise decks as I’ll later on introduce.


Mewtwo EX

Mewtwo EX can be counted as a tech in this deck, but in the end it’s a staple. The reason why it’s a staple or at least should be a staple in any deck relying on Blastoise, is that all the attackers you play in a Blastoise deck require a lot of energy. And there is nothing better against attackers with a lot of energy than Mewtwo EX. And what’s the best card against Mewtwo EX? Mewtwo EX of course!

It’s also good to notice that Blastoise can very quickly make your Mewtwo EX also a very strong attacker. If your opponent doesn’t for some reason play Mewtwo EX (which shouldn’t be possible), your Mewtwo EX can become a lot deadly than your Keldeo EXs. However, loading a lot of energy on your Mewtwo EXs is always risky, because your opponent can drop any time the DCE + Mewtwo EX down and KO your fully loaded Mewtwo EX with only one X-Ball.

Professor Juniper – Bianca – Cheren

Juniper is the best draw supporter in the game. Every single deck in the format needs to play it in order to be really competitive. And when it comes to energy accelerating stage decks, Bianca is also a must play. It draws a lot thanks to heavy Item counts and Ultra Balls and most of all, thanks to Blastoises Ability, which is able to get rid of every single Water energy in your hand. All of these things combined, Bianca is your number 2 supporter just after Juniper.

I use Cheren in this skeleton just, because this deck deeply enjoys straight draw. You want to draw into Candys and Blastoise at the same time and N-like shuffle & draw cards aren’t that optimal for that.

N

N is a double-edged sword in any deck that accelerates energy from their hand. In the early game it’s a very good draw card, because it lets you refresh your hand and if you have Blastoise in play, you’ll be getting through your deck almost as well as with Juniper. However, in the late game Ns are nothing but a nuisance for you. You don’t want to use your Ns in the late game, because you’ll draw dead from them and when your opponent Ns you into 1-2 cards, you’d better topdeck well or have a great set-up at that point. N was enough to make any Emboar variant unplayable (excluding MagneBoar), but it doesn’t make Blastoise completely unplayable. N is still the only real shuffle&draw in the format, so it’s a must in this deck even though you wouldn’t want to play it. Also, it’s good to remember that as you’re playing with a stage2 deck, you’re the one that usually gets the advantage of N in the early game.

Ultra Ball

Ultra Ball is the only right choice for Pokémon searching even if you don’t energy accelerate energy from the discard pile. The reason for this is that the usual Pokémon amount in the current meta’s decks are very low. This makes Pokémon Communication unplayable and as Ultra Ball is the only Ball that can search for any Pokémon from your deck – it’s the obvious choice. Just be careful what you want to discard.

Computer Search

To be honest, Gold Potion could  be a playable ACE Spec in this deck since the deck’s strategy is to keep the attackers with a lot of energy alive. However, the reason why I think Computer Search is the staple ACE Spec. for this deck is that Computer Search should be played by every single stage2 deck if they want to succeed. It adds so much consistency for decks that long for the Rare Candy in T2 that you can’t really afford losing the T2 Blastoise if you want to win any games.

Rare Candy

Four of these – surprise? No. Any other option? No. It’s already very difficult to be a stage2 deck in the current format and in order to be even nearly competitive, you need to maximize the odds to get your stage2 Pokémons in play as soon as possible. With max Ultra Ball, Computer Search and Max Rare Candy, you’ve maximized the odds for that prudently. However, is it enough? That’s the question that remains until Cities start.

Pokémon Catcher

No real reason to even explain this. Pokémon Catcher is a must for any deck trying to win games. However, as you will see in this entry, one of the variants play fairly low amount of Pokémon Catchers –for a good reason.

Heal Cards

Every deck in the current format that energy accelerates bases their strategy on healing, Hydreigon and Eelektrik both rely on Max Potion. Also, even the Basic decks may run Potions or Max Potions. Blastoise/Keldeo EX variants are no exceptions.

The interesting thing about Blastoise variants is that they may want to play Super Scoop Ups as well as Max Potions/Potions/Gold Potion. The reason for this is the energy acceleration from hand. Even though SSU is a flip card, it’s very good in a deck like this, because you can get the energy from your attacker back to you hand and attach them to another of your attacker. This makes the Blastoise deck a bit more versatile thus making it more dangerous at the same time. Just imagine SSU:ng a 4 energy Keldeo EX and playing down Mewtwo EX and attach all of those energy to the new Mewtwo EX. With only 2 more energy, it would be able to OHKO a Darkrai EX.



The standard build

Pokémon:

4x Squirtle
1x Wartortle
3x Blastoise
4x Keldeo EX
2x Mewtwo EX
=14

Trainer:

4x Professor Juniper
4x Bianca
3x N
2x Cheren
3x Ultra Ball
1x Computer Search
4x Rare Candy
4x Pokémon Catcher
2x Super Scoop Up
2x Max Potion
1x Super Rod
2x Tool Scrapper
=32


Energy:

14x Water Energy
=14


Card Choices

This is THE standard build of this deck. No big techs, no huge tricks, just consistent Blastoise/Keldeo/Mewtwo EX with optional healing cards. The draw supporter amount (13) is enough since I also have 1 Computer Search and 3 Ultra Balls. Earlier, I discussed about the importance of 4 Ultra Balls, but as this list already so consistent, I decided to sacrifice 1 Ultra Ball for getting good match-ups against most deck (i.e. place for Tool Scrapper).

This deck’s worst enemy is by far any Garbodor variant. Especially if the Garbodor variant is able to spread damage with e.g. Registeel EX. The deck is fully reliant on Abilities. It doesn’t really matter if you want to accelerate energy on your Pokémon or retreat the active Blastoise, you need to have Abilites for that. At least 2 Tool Scrappers is a must for this deck if you want to survive in a metagame with Garbodor in it.

One thing that also needs probably some explanation is the 2-2 SSU-Max Potion line. Even though Super Scoop is pretty much the best heal card in this deck due its versatility, which I explained earlier, it’s still a flip card. And do I want to rely on flip when it comes to preventing my opponent to take the last prize? No, I don’t. However, I can’t deny the fact that when SSU hits heads, it’s SO good. That’s why I’ve decided to go with a 2-2 line. In playtesting, I’ve found myself drawing Max Potions and SSUs occasionally at the wrong time, but mainly the split has worked very well. When you just need to prevent your opponent taking a prize – use Max Potion – if you want to replace your energy, use SSU.




The spread build


Pokémon:

3x Squirtle
1x Wartortle
3x Blastoise
2x Keldeo EX
1x Mewtwo EX
2x Kyurem(NVI)
1x Kyogre EX
2x Ditto
1x Duskull
1x Dusknoir
=17

Trainer:

4x Professor Juniper
4x Bianca
4x N
2x Skyla
4x Ultra Ball
1x Computer Search
4x Rare Candy
2x Pokémon Catcher
2x Super Rod
1x Energy Retrieval
2x Tool Scrapper
=30


Energy:

13x Water Energy
=13


The Logic

Before Keldeo and Blastoise were released, many people associated Water immediately with Kyurem since it was the only playable Water Pokémon for a long time. However, thanks to Blastoise and Keldeo EX, Kyurem has found some new friends. It’s also good not to forget Kyogre EX, which was found in the U.S. Nationals this year. The common factor in Kyurem and Kyogre EX is that they both spread damage. Spread hasn’t been in fashion for a long time, but thanks to the new cards in the Boundaries Crossed, it just may come back to fashion.

As you can see, there is also our very good friend Ditto, which helps us to get the deck working properly. Not only it helps in getting Blastoise up as soon as possible, but it also has a great role in getting Dusknoir to play when needed. Ditto can also be turned into any Basic tech, so it’s a very versatile card in this deck. Dusknoir is highly important for this deck, because it’s the very reason why spread decks just might be playable again. When you hit with Kyurem and your opponent has a full bench, you do 180 damage!! That’s a lot. And just think what can you do with this 180 damage when you have Dusknoir in play – KO in any Pokémon. The great thing about spread is that your opponent can’t really heal the damage off. They can Max Potion their Pokémon, but who in their right mind would Max Potion 30 damage? No one, really. And that’s why spread is SO good with Dusknoir. Also, the deck only plays 1-0-1 Dusknoir line and that’s why the deck has 2 Super Rods and 2 Skylas.. You need and want Dusknoir at some point of the game.

Spread is also good even though you wouldn’t be getting Dusknoir into play. Spreading 50 and 50 with Kyogre EX can turn any EX-Pokémon easily KOable for Mewtwo EX or Keldeo EX. Weakening your opponent’s Pokémon with spread attacks is a very prudent strategy especially if your opponent has a big bench. It gives you the key for continuous KOs.

The low amount of Catchers may stand out of the crowd, but I think you already know the reason for this. Dusknoir is able to manipulate the damage counters, so you just need to put the damage on the field and then rearrange it. However, you don’t want to play WITHOUT Catchers, because you’ll miss them. Every deck wants to play 4 Catchers, but this deck doesn’t need to. And since I needed to find more space for techs and consistency, taking Catchers off the list has worked very well so far.





The tech build


Pokémon:

3x Squirtle
3x Blastoise
2x Ditto
2x Keldeo EX
1x Mewtwo EX
4x Tech


Trainer:

4x Professor Juniper
4x Bianca
3x N
2x Cheren
4x Ultra Ball
1x Computer Search
4x Rare Candy
4x Pokémon Catcher
4x Super Scoop Up
1x Super Rod
1x Energy Retrieval
=32


Energy:

9-11x Water Energy
2-4x Prism Energy
=13


Tech Options

Thanks to Blastoise attaching energy to any Pokémon and not just Water Pokémon, there are many techs, you may want to consider in this deck, if you’re looking for more adjustable version of Blastoise. Here is a small example list of them:

- Kyurem (NVI)
- Kyurem EX
- Terrakion
- Kyurem (Dragon Vault)
- Bouffalant(DRX)
- Zoroark(BW)



The current format, doesn’t really offer that much possibilities for really playable tech cards for this deck. That’s why the tech build isn’t necessarily the most optimal Blastoise build. Even if you like techs, it’s probably more prudent to put single tech in the standard version that to build a whole another tech-build-Blastoise. What I want to emphasize, is that, the more you have different attackers in your deck, the more you want to have SSUs in your deck to help to rearrange the energy on your attackers. 13 energy isn’t a lot even with Super Rod and Energy Retrieval, so you must be very careful when placing energy on your attackers.




Conclusion


I believe that Blastoise variants will get fairly popular in the upcoming City Championships. However, I wouldn’t say that Blastoise is a tier1 variant, but it will be pretty big in Cities. The success of Blastoise is connected to the popularity of Landorus EX decks. The more popular Landorus EX is, the better Blastoise variants will be. That’s why think that Blastoise won’t see its peak just yet, but after Ether is released and Landorus EX becomes a very serious contender for the spot of BDIF.

The golden-age of Blastoise is yet to come, but the deck is fun and brings some change for the metagame. Not to mention it’s a stage2 deck, which is still a rare breed in the current format. Cities and international Regionals will start soon, so the question is: is your deck Blastoise-proof?

Feel free to comment on anything. Thanks for reading!