Hello everyone! I’m back with an in-depth analysis on one of the newer decks to come out of the new Fusion Strike set. When the translations first came out, I was most excited for Inteleon VMAX – not only because of it’s strong potential, but it is also my favourite starter from Sword & Shield!
With the Fusion Strike meta slowly starting to come into full swing, we’ve seen a number of different ways people have been building the deck. Some utilise a heavy Cheryl line maximising healing options to prevent Inteleon VMAX from getting Knocked Out. Others have a heavier focus on running high counts of Water Energy, allowing you to bombard your opponent’s Bench with damage counters quickly.
I believe in running a good balance of both, with a key focus on setting yourselves up for multiple Prize turns – sometimes even sealing the game from behind in two (back-to-back) turns. How do we do that? Let’s dive right into the list!
the Inteleon VMAX / Inteleon List
My recent finishes with this list:
Top8 Southeast Asia Open #29 (38 players)
20th The Sunday Open 21 Nov (137 players)
2nd Southeast Asia Open #30 (50 players)
16th The Sunday Open 28 Nov (183 players)
GAmeplay
What I enjoy the most about this deck is having a gameplan to set damage up around the field for a potential swing turn, and sometimes, two – courtesy of Medicham V’s Yoga Loop. This is done through using the Abilities of both Double Gunner and Quick Shooting. It is essential to quickly setup multiple Drizzile so that you have Quick Shooting available to you as soon as possible. All this is done while putting pressure on a big attacker upfront via Rapid Strike Inteleon VMAX’s G-Max Spiral attack. This allows you to return the Rapid Strike Energy to your hand so it is safe from Crushing Hammer and Fan of Waves.
Essentially no 60HP basic Pokemon is safe once both Rapid Strike Inteleon VMAX & CHR Inteleon is online, as you can easily use Double Gunner, Quick Shooting, then Yoga Loop to steal an extra turn – which is incredibly strong considering you get to evolve again, attach another Energy, play another Supporter, and use more Double Gunner & Quick Shooting Abilities to pile on more pressure on your opponent. I’ve come across many scenarios where I want to play Cheryl or Boss’s Orders, but have the luxury of delaying the use of one of those Supporters to the turn after I Yoga Loop.
I cannot stress how important Medicham V is in making this deck tick, as I find myself using Yoga Loop to steal extra turns in almost every other game – sometimes pulling it off more than once a game. Be sure to check if it is available to you in your first search of the deck, as Prizing it means your strategy needs to be adjusted.
Rapid Strike Basculin is a great basic Pokemon which can finish off threats that have been hit once with Rapid Strike Inteleon VMAX, with most Pokemon VMAX needing maybe an additional one Quick Shooting to be Knocked Out.
matchups
I’ll be going over a couple of key matchups as a guideline on how to approach them, but will leave the rest to your testing as I believe trying and testing decks yourself is the best way to get to know it!
Mew VMAX / Genesect V
Unfortunately one of the highest rated decks to come out of Fusion Strike also happens to be one of the harder matchups for this deck, as Mew VMAX is usually swinging for big damage by turn 2 while we set up. However it is most definitely winnable with the right approach to the matchup. In most instances, Mew VMAX only has enough firepower to one-shot a single Inteleon VMAX, and in most instances will go for other targets to cap off the other 3 Prizes, via an unevolved Rapid Strike Inteleon V or Crobat V, plus any of the single-prizers. That being said, use of Cheryl is crucial if they start to poke Rapid Strike Inteleon VMAX, intending to two-shot KO it.
My usual game plan is to pile damage via Double Gunner and Quick Shooting, targeting Latias / Oricorio and Genesect V, while hitting Mew VMAX with Rapid Strike Inteleon VMAX. In some instances, you are setting up damage to perform Yoga Loop on either the Mew VMAX (needs 1 Quick Shooting & 2 G-Max Spirals) or Latias / Oricorio on the bench. Boss’s Orders are crucial for the Mew VMAX and Genesect V. Fusion Strike Energy makes this matchup that more annoying as it blocks your Double Gunner and Quick Shooting, so your use of Fan of Waves has to be timely.
Meloetta potentially makes this matchup slightly harder, if they are able to find their Fusion Strike Energies early. I would prioritise knocking it out if it’s been benched, and to get the best value out of KOing is by attempting to use Yoga Loop on it, which would take at least 2 turns of pings. An early Fan of Waves might be able to slow them down a bit too.
Single Strike Urshifu VMAX / Umbreon VMAX
This matchup happens to be one of my favourites because of the high potential of taking all 6 Prizes within 2 consecutive turns with Yoga Loop. However, it can easily go in the opposite direction should your timing be one turn too slow. The fact that Single Strike Roar puts damage on the Pokemon it is attaching Single Strike Energy to makes your math much easier to either plan for a Yoga Loop turn off Single Strike Urshifu VMAX or simply scenarios where a few Quick Shooting pings knocks out an active Single Strike Urshifu VMAX, allowing you to potentially attack or Knock Out something else.
Don’t sleep on Medicham V’s second attack, Smash Uppercut, which hits Crobat V for weakness and being an easy target for 2 Prizes. Often times I’ve taken game simply by using Yoga Loop to knock out a Single Strike Urshifu VMAX, a benched Houndour / Houndoom via Double Gunner & Quick Shooting pings, and on the second turn simply attaching an additional Energy and using Boss’s Orders on a Crobat V for game. This scenario is also incredibly useful in any other matchups where the opponent plays down their Crobat V, which can be an easy target.
Suicune V / Ludicolo
This is one of the decks that simply strolled its way from the previous meta into one with Fusion Strike, almost unaffected, in fact stronger. Just as the case with other evolution decks, I would focus on getting Double Gunner and Quick Shooting online fast so you are able to start taking cheap Knock Outs from multiple Sobble and Lotad. I would be weary of filling up the bench too early, usually keeping one slot empty to prevent Inteleon VMAX from being Knocked Out one-shot.
There are instances mid-game where Sobble and Lotad are put back to the Benched after a Scoop Up Net – I would use this opportunity to try and steal an extra turn and a cheap knockout via Yoga Loop. Apart from that, it is a pretty straightforward matchup where you need to prevent your opponent from taking a one-hit KO your Inteleon VMAX and healing it using Cheryl, while setting up damage for cheaper Prizes.
Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX / Inteleon
The last matchup that I will be covering is Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX, which of course has multiple ways of being built in this format. Regardless, I wouldn’t stray too far away from a general gameplan of filling up your bench early on (easier said than done) so your setup is not compromised from G-Max Rapid Flow picking off your Bench. Likely they will go after Remoraid as one of the targets, which I would try to replace the following turn. If possible take an early Boss’s Orders Knock Out on their Octillery, or start pounding damage counters on it as a potential Yoga Loop target.
Unfortunately this matchup also boils down to who gets the better setup and can maintain that momentum. I find that Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX can struggle a little bit once Octillery has been picked off (as do you!) so I would definitely try to prioritise taking a Knock Out on Octillery.
weaknesses
No deck is perfect of course. As much as I enjoy piloting this deck, it’s always important to identify weaknesses so you can improve on them and not get too frustrated when bad draws happen.
As with many Evolution and setup decks, having thick Evolution lines do have the tendency of being clunky and present you with unplayable opening hands (think, Medicham V start and multiple Drizzile, Cheryl and no Sobble). This absolutely happens, and bad draws can happen to any deck.
This deck also doesn’t pop off as easily as Basic & Stage-1 Pokemon focused decks like Mew VMAX / Genesect V, so sometimes the first few turns can be overwhelming. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you should concede too early, as there is a high comeback potential with the deck.
Jolteon VMAX. Before we wrap up, we need to talk about Jolteon VMAX. Not only do they pick off your Bench so effortlessly, but they also hit your main attacker for Weakness. Thankfully they do not one-shot you, but that’s usually not enough to turn the tides here. There is a slight possibility of winning – you could pull off Yoga Loop on a Sobble, and the following turn attach another Energy for a Knock Out on a stray Jolteon V. The other Jolteon VMAX can be two-shot with an Inteleon VMAX plus one Quick Shooting ping. However I find that scenario very farfetched and unlikely to happen. Another scenario you may find yourself in is going first with an energy available to you – I would absolutely search for a Medicham V and attach to it, as you threaten to knockout a Jolteon V the following turn. If they somehow aren’t able to find 2 Jolteon V, the game is potentially an easy win.
closing points
It feels like a weird transition phase for Pokemon TCG, where certain parts of the world have started announcing events in the future, whether in real life or online. I find myself enjoying the current card pool and format we are in as it allows for plenty of diversity.
For most of us, we are one set away from official events making a return (fingers crossed!) and so gaining a good understanding and foothold on the current meta is a great idea to slowly get back into the game.
Thank you for reading this far and I hope you enjoy giving the deck a try if you do!
The Southern Islands 