Expanded Deck Tech: Vaporeon VMax

To celebrate Prismatic Evolutions, which came out back in January, we decided to revisit some VMax Eeveelutions that have been forgotten by the community. More specifically, we'll try to make them work in Expanded, so if you enjoy Eevee and its evolutions, and want to have fun in this format, this article is for you.

Today, we'll explore Vaporeon, whose main attack deals more damage if the enemy Pokémon has any damage counters.

Decklist

Deck Structure

Vaporeon V & Vaporeon VMax: The Main Attacker

Vaporeon V PR-SW SWSH150 has two excellent attacks. Triple Draw, as the name suggests, draws three cards. Splash Jump, which is both offensive and defensive, lets you retreat Vaporeon V and put a new Pokémon in the active spot after it deals damage.

Vaporeon VMAX EVS 30 also has two excellent attacks. Bubble Pod is a recursive attack that lets you put a Water Pokémon (basic or evolution) in play directly from your discard pile. You'll also be able to attach three Basic Water Energy sv2 279 to it.

As for Max Torrent, it is the most important attack in this deck. It deals 100 base damage, and another 100 damage if the enemy Pokémon has any damage counters!

The Main Goal: Vaporeon VMax and Max Torrent

As this attack only deals 200 damage if the enemy Pokémon has any damage counters, you'll need to put these counters on them in some way before you attack. There are two indirect ways to do this with this deck:

First, there's Calamitous Snowy Mountain sv2 174, which puts two damage counters on any basic non-Water Pokémon whenever a player attaches energies to it directly from their hand.

Second, there's Radiant Blastoise PGO 18's ability, Pump Shot. If you discard a Basic Water Energy sv2 279 from your hand, this ability lets you put 2 damage counters on one of your opponent's benched Pokémon.

Origin Forme Palkia VStar: Alternative Energy Attacker

Its main attack, Subspace Swell, deals 60 damage plus 20 damage for each benched Pokémon (yours and your opponent's).

It can deal up to 260 damage if both benches are full, which is incredible. With this attack, you'll be able to knock out enemy Pokémon, particularly stage 1 Pokémon ex, and most basic Pokémon V and Pokémon ex. This way, your Vaporeon VMax will be free to work.

However, its biggest strength is its VStar ability, Star Portal: with it, you can get up to 3 Basic Water Energy sv2 279 from the discard pile and attach them to your Pokémon.

It is perfect to set up Vaporeon V or Vaporeon VMax.

Suicune V: Practical, Fast Attacker

Its attack, Blizzard Rondo, is similar to Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR PR-SW SWSH254's Subspace Swell, but it deals a bit less damage, as it only deals up to 220 damage.

As for its ability, Fleet-Footed, it draws cards on your turn, as long as Suicune V is your active Pokémon.

Recursive Pokémon

Lumineon V PR-SW SWSH250's ability, Luminous Sign, lets you get a Supporter from your deck when you play it from your hand to your bench. Furthermore, you can also use this Pokémon as an attacker.

Radiant Blastoise PGO 18's ability, Pump Shot, lets you discard a Basic Water Energy sv2 279 from your hand to put two damage counters on one of your opponent's benched Pokémon.

Volcanion ◇ FLI 31's ability, Jet Geyser, lets you discard a Basic Water Energy sv2 279 from your hand to force your opponent to swap their active Pokémon.

Octillery BKT 33's ability, Abyssal Hand, draws up to five cards.

Trainers

Supporters

Supporter to Attach Energies and Draw Cards

Supporter to "Pull" Enemy Pokémon

Item to Get Basic and Evolution Pokémon

Item to Get Trainers

Item to Recycle Supporters

Item to Recycle Pokémon and Basic Energies

Item to Attach Energies

This card lets you recycle basic Water energies in your discard pile and attach them to one of your Water benched Pokémon.

ACE SPEC

Estadium

This card is great for Vaporeon VMax's Max Torrent combo.

Pros

This deck is great against Fire decks, which often deal damage to their own Pokémon. It is also great against strategies that work with damage counters.

Cons

This deck struggles against Electric decks and decks that heal themselves constantly, like Togekiss VMax.

This deck is quite consistent and practical, as it takes advantage of all the Water energies you discard. Its strategy is also simple and direct, so it's perfect if you're looking for something efficient and fun for Expanded.

What did you think of this list? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!