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ThePokemon TCGis all about strategy. There are cards that, at first sight, don’t look good enough to hit the meta, but with a planned strategy and accompanied by good teammates that help the main card in any way, they can be excellent to play.
This is precisely the case with Tsareena Ex. By itself, this card seems good, but not enough to fit in the meta, but then, Hisuian Braviary and the Panic Mask appeared, and the result was a deck that can decide matches with a couple of attacks. It’s easy to set up and can sweep anything with ease.
Tsareena Ex Decklist
Below, you’ll find the complete list of cards in this deck:
These are the most important cards this deck uses:
Tsareena ex
The protagonist of this deck isTsareena ex, a Water-type teracrystallized card with310 HPand two attacks. The first attack isIcicle Sole, whichlets you put damage counterson one of your opponent’s Pokemon until itonly has 30 HP.The second attack isTrop Kick, whichdeals 180 damage,heals 30 HPfrom this card andcleanses it from Special Conditions.
The important feature of this card isIcicle Sole; the deck and all the strategywill be around this attack.Trop Kick won’t be as used as Icicle Sole, yet itis a great moveif you want to give a coup-de-grace or heal Tsareena.
As this card is a Teracrystallized Ex,it’ll be immune to damageif it’s on the bench.
As Tsareenais weak to Steel-type attacks, which aren’t as present in the meta as other types, Tsareenawill have a lot of chancestodeplete the HPof the biggest threats of your opponent’s deckuntil it gets defeated.The thing is thatdefeating Tsareena can also be complicated, thanks to a particular card.
Hisuian Braviary
While Tsareena can leave all Pokemon with only 30 HP, it doesn’t havea reliable way to defeat them quickly.That’s why we havea great attackeron the deck as it isHisuian Braviary.
It has a very specific attack namedEerie Cry, whichdoesn’t cost Energy Cardsand lets youput three damage counterson Pokemon that havealready been damaged.
Putting everything together, if Tsareena leaves a Pokemon with only 30 HP anda damage counter equals ten damage, this means that if you use Eerie Cry,you’ll defeat all Pokemon that Tsareena has already damaged with Icicle Sole.
Panic Mask
Everyone loves to see this kind of card in the meta, as it arrived long ago, and then someone suddenlyfinds a good use for it.In this case,Panic Maskis a great item toset on Tsareena, as itprevents all damagedone to the Pokemon attached to itif the attacker has 40 HP or less.
This means that if you focus on your opponent’s main attacker and thenattach this card to your attackers, theywon’t be able to attack you at all.
Bibarel
Bidoof and Bibarelare two common cards in the meta, as they are helpfulin decks that don’t have great card-drawing potential.Bidoof is only here as it evolves into Bibarel, which has a great ability namedIndustrious Incisors.With it, you candraw as many cardsas you wishuntil you have five in your hand.
This is great, as you canhave two Bibarel on your benchand start using the cards in your hand. If you need more or are searching for anything else,you can use Bibarel.If you keep progressing, you can freely use the second one,all in the same turn.
Manaphy
Manaphywill be your support, asit prevents your bench from getting attacked, thanks toWave Veil, its ability. Manaphy is vital; almost every deck has it, but you should only use it if you face decks like this one, as you can easily defuse strategies quickly.
Mew
Sometimes, you’llstart matches with poor hands.This can happen to anyone. That’s whyMewis a great card. Mew has an ability namedMysterious Tail, which, if Mew is in the Active Spot, allows you totake a look at the top six cards of your deckanddraw an itemyou find there.
Thanks to this, you canfix any poor handby getting Panic Masks, Ultra Balls, Nest Balls, and Earthen Vessels, in case you need Energy Cards.It’ll depend on your needs.
Irida
Thankfully, Tsareena ex is a Water-type Card, whichlets you use Irida in this deck.Irida is a great card for any Water-type-based deck, as it lets yousearch for a Water-type PokemonCardand an item.
Usually, you’ll want tosearch for Tsareena and a Rare Candy, so you canevolve Bounsweetto Tsareena in turn two. Thanks to Irida,this setup is very easy to do, and the best part is that it lets you not depend on Steenee (Bounsweet’s evolution).
Arven
Arvenis another card-drawing tool in the shed; with this card, you cansearch for an item and a tool cardfrom your deck and put them in your hand. Arven will be responsible forfinding those remaining Panic Masksyou can’t find otherwise.
Remember thata tool cardis all those items you may attach to your Pokemon, whilethe item cardsare cards you can play during a match.
Battle VIP Pass
This deck isn’t meantto be drawing cards constantly.That’s why it has cards like Bibarel on the deck, but most importantly, it hasBattle VIP Pass.The Battle VIP Pass worksonly on your first turnbut lets yousearch for two basic Pokemonon your deck and put them in your hand. After that,you can’t use this card anymore.
Ideally, you mustsearch for Bounsweet, Bidoof and Ruffletwith this card to start setting yourself up.
Iono
This deckisn’t meant to dominate the match; the most possible outcome is thatyou’ll be behinduntil you manage toleave everyone at 30 HP, and then Hisuian Braviary will come and sweep all the damaged Pokemon.
As this is the case,Ionois a great card as it lets youstall your opponentwhile giving you more cards to draw. If you put Iono into play, both players mustsend their hands to the deckanddraw as many cards as the Prize Cards left to claim.You’ll have five or six cards in your hand, while your opponent can be left with two or three.
Path To The Peak
Lastly, if you may create a complete stalemate, you canuse Path To The Peak, which willblock ability usage for you and your opponent.
Be aware that you may get into trouble by using this card if you do itwhile you need Bibarel’s Industrious Incisors.
Manaphy’s Wave Veilis not as important asTsareena can prevent damagewhile being on the bench as it’s a Teracrystallized Pokemon.
Tsareena ex Deck Strategy
The idea of this deck is todraw and evolve Bounsweet cards into Tsareenaas soon as possiblewhile setting the Panic Mask cardsto your attacking Pokemon. To evolve Bounsweet, you have tools like Irida, which you must use todraw a Tsareena and a Rare Candy.
As Tsareena is ready to go, you’lluse Icicle Sole to attack your opponent’s main threat.In the meantime, you mustbuild your Hisuian Braviary cardsso they are ready to be used afterward.
Keep attacking with Tsareenauntil it’s not viable anymore.That’s the best moment toswitch it for Hisuian Braviary and use Eerie Cry.It’ll be better if you manage toset a Panic Maskon Braviary, as you prevent themfrom getting damaged.
you’re able to freely switch Pokemon with theEscape Ropebut consider that you’ll also force your opponentto switch their Active Pokemon.It’s better just to attach an extra Energy Card to Tsareena and withdraw it with themor use Switch.
If you don’t want to risk your drawing engine, you can alsouse a Panic Mask on your Bibarel Cards.
Tsareena ex Common Threats
This deck has some flaws; it struggles when you face a deckthat can remove the Panic Masks, and it’s proneto get stuckbecause itlacks a solid card-drawing engine.
For example, if your opponentmanages to take your Bibarel cards down earlyin the match, you’ll be in serious trouble, as Bibarel can’t be easily replaced. You have cards like Iono and Arven,but you’ll quickly run out of them.With this in mind,almost any deck is a common threat to Tsareena.
