Pokemon TCG: Dragonite VSTAR Deck Guide

There are many decks in the Pokemon TCG that can do a lot of damage, but they need some setup. Then, there are decks that can do a lot in the first few turns and then the strategy is to hang on the field for enough time because these decks use all of their resources in one go.

And then, we have the Dragonite VSTAR Deck, which mixes the best of both worlds, giving instant results in a short amount of time. In fact, the Dragonite VSTAR Deck profile, regardless of what you combine it with (it can be Shady Dealings Inteleon, Industrious Incisors Bibarel, or Lost Zone Comfey, as you wish), only uses the basic trainer cards and a lot of Energy Cards.

Dragonite VSTAR Decklist

Dragonite VSTAR Deck Key Cards

Dragonite V And Dragonite VSTAR

Dragonite VSTAR Deck works around Dragonite VSTAR, which doesn’t look like the strongest VSTAR ever at first sight, and has a move, Giga Impact, that deals more damage than its V version (with a whooping 250 Damage) but requires more resources and does not let you use it consecutively.

You can always include a good-old Choice Belt to your chunky Dragonite to make it hit harder, which will let you get rid of all of those tanky enemies such as Eternatus VMAX, Palkia VSTAR, Lugia VSTAR, or Arceus VSTAR, which are the most common threats nowadays.

But Dragonite VSTAR gets excellent when it comes to its VSTAR power, Draconic Star, which will let you suit up all of your Pokemon in a single turn. It works like this; You’ll have to take a look at the top twelve cards of your deck to find any Water and Electric Energy Cards. After that, you’ll have to attach them to your Pokemon in any way you like. The rest of the cards you didn’t take will get shuffled and return to the deck.

To make Draconic Star work, you’ll have to mix it up with several Water and Electric Energy Cards. This is only to increase the odds of you drawing many Energy Cards in one go.

With Draconic Star, you’ll be prepared to attack as soon as you set Dragonite VSTAR in the field, and also, you’ll have a backup in case you get attacked and Dragonite VSTAR has to leave the field. Nonetheless, that’s not a common scenario, mostly because Dragonite VSTAR has a very decent 280 HP, which will guarantee your Dragonite will be active for a while.

But that’s not the only offensive threat this deck has, as you can also attack with Dragonite V. It has a move named Dragon Gale, which inflicts a pretty decent 250 Damage but also deals 20 damage to all of your benched Pokemon. It costs two Water Energy Cards and an Electric Energy Card, but they are easy to get with Draconic Star.

Shady Dealings Inteleon

The Dragonite VSTAR profile doesn’t look as powerful as other VSTARs out there, but if you mix it up with the Shady Dealings Inteleon, you’ll get interesting (and positive) results in your matches.

The Shady Dealings Inteleon works like this; when you place a Sobble in your benched Pokémon and then evolve it into Drizzile, you’ll be able to look for up to two Trainer Cards, then you have to reveal and put them in your hand. This also works when you evolve Drizzile into Inteleon.

With this engine, you’ll have a safe way to search for cards such as Melony (which works like a charm with this Shady Dealings Inteleon engine because it lets you attach a discarded Water Energy Card to any of your Pokemon V), Roxanne, and more. They can give you a strong advantage against your opponent, so be sure you start making it work as soon as you start the match.

Also, you might want to throw a Quick Shooting Inteleon in your deck too in case you have an empty slot while building your deck. It works well to inflict some passive damage through the bench. It’s not necessary, though.

Radiant Greninja

Radiant Greninja is always a handy card when it comes to keeping the card flow up and getting alternatives to play. You don’t want to get stuck with the same cards without any option to play.

Radiant Greninja will help you with its Ability, Concealed Cards, which will force you to discard an Energy card from your hand but, in exchange, will let you draw two cards from your deck.

Also, Radiant Greninja is also a great damage dealer, as it has Moonlight Shuriken, which will deal 90 damage to two of your opponent’s Pokemon. This work well in case you are in front of a Galarian Weezing or any other deck that doesn’t let you use your Ability.

Stormy Mountains

It’s time to check on the Trainer Cards. One of the most important ones in this deck is, for sure, Stormy Mountains, which will grant you a Dragonite in your hand. It’s as simple as setting it and, every turn, both players have to look for a Dragon or an Electric-type card on their decks and put them in their hands. After that, each player has to shuffle their deck.

Cheryl

Cheryl isn’t a common card in the meta because it’s very situational, and this is exactly the situation where Cheryl comes in handy. If you use this card, you can heal all the damage from each of your evolved Pokémon. If you do, you have to discard all the Energy Cards attached to the healed Pokémon.

It’s hard to use and again, very situational, but it can be the card that can make you win the match if things are tight.

Roxanne, Marnie, And Avery

And if everything’s going bad, and you are behind in the match, you can always use Roxanne, which will cut your opponent’s strategy, forcing them to draw more cards again.

Roxanne will make both players shuffle their hands and then put them on the deck. Then, you’ll be able to draw 6 cards, while your opponent will only draw two.

Marnie does the same thing, but in this case, you’ll draw five cards while the opponent only draws four.

Avery works the same way, but it’s way better, as it’ll let you draw three cards from your deck. If you do, your opponent has to discard Pokémon from their bench until keeping only three. This is a great thing to have in almost every deck, and it’s a wonderful counter to Eternatus VMAX.

Other Cards

To make the Shady Dealings engine start working, you’ll need cards like the Level Ball, the Quick Ball, and the Ultra Ball.

With the Level Ball, you’ll have to search for a 90 HP-Pokemon (or less) in your deck and then put it in your hand. The Quick Ball will let you look for a Basic Pokemon in your deck but only if you discard another card, and last but not least, the Ultra Ball will let you look for any Pokemon in your deck but only if you discard two cards.

With these three options, you’ll have plenty of chances to have every Pokemon you need in your hand.

You can switch the Ultra Ball for a Battle VIP Pass if you like it, but if you do, you might want to decrease the Level and the Quick Balls to two cards on your deck to have three Battle VIP Pass cards, so you have a better chance to have one of them on your first turn. You can also get rid of the Path to the Peak if you want to.

Dragonite VSTAR Strategy

First Turns

You might want to start first because your objective in the first few turns is to set yourself up. You have to aim to have at least two Dragonite (one in the active spot and another one in the bench) and a couple of Sobbles to make them evolve into Drizzile to proc the Shady Dealings engine.

To make it work and catch all the Pokémon you need, you’ll be using the Quick and Level Balls, and if you are forced to have a Sobble on your active spot, you can retrieve it with a Switch or a Scoop-Up Net. Alternatively, if you don’t find a Dragonite, try to get a Stormy Mountain to make it leave the deck and head to your hand.

Then, if you need to draw a Dragonite VSTAR from your deck, you can always do it with an Evolution Incense.

If you have a Sobble in your active spot, try to attach an Energy Card to it as it’ll let you use its Keep Calling move, which will let you look for other Sobble, a Drizzile, or an Inteleon.

That’s all for the setup; remember, it’ll be better if you prepare yourself in the first two turns, and it’ll be perfect if you have everything you need in the first turn! Alternatively, you can also try to draw a Radiant Greninja to the field to use its Concealed Cards ability; it’ll also work as a good engine to get more trainer cards.

Draconic Star Usage

As soon as you have something like three Sobble (or Drizzile) and two Dragonite V or VSTAR cards on the bench, plus a Dragonite VSTAR in the active Spot, it’s time to use Draconic Star. It’ll let you draw twelve cards and attach as many Energy Cards you find there to any of your Pokemon, so what you have to do is to set those Energy Cards to your Benched Dragonite V or VSTAR cards.

You’ll not be attacking with the Dragonite VSTAR who used Draconic Star because its only task is to use Draconic Star to attach Energy Cards to the other Dragonite V or VSTAR cards.

Attacking

Here’s when the game gets situational depending on what you want to do. If you feel like attacking with Dragonite V is a better option, then use a Switch to move your active Dragonite VSTAR to the bench and put Dragonite V there. Remember it has Dragon Gale, which inflicts 250 damage but also inflicts 20 damage to all your benched Pokemon.

Now, if you have enough resources and a Dragonite VSTAR in your bench, switch it for your active Pokemon and attack with it. Dragonite VSTAR will also deal 250 damage, but in this case, you’ll not attack again with this Pokemon, so you might be forced to switch or hang on the active spot for a while.

Don’t forget you can always attach a Choice Belt to your preferred attacker to make it inflict a total of 280 damage, which can One Hit-KO almost every VSTAR Pokemon and leave every VMAX in a sketchy situation.

Dragonite VSTAR Common Threats

This deck only has a major threat; being countered by something that cancels Dragonite VSTAR’s VSTAR ability. It can either be Path to the Peak or Galarian Weezing with its Neutralizing Gas ability. The latter is a bigger problem because it also denies you from using the Shady Dealings engine, as its nullifies Drizzile and Inteleon’s ability.

Here’s where your secondary Inteleon, the one with Quick Shooting as its ability and Waterfall as its attacking move comes into action. You’ll only need to hit Galarian Weezing two times with Waterfall, and you’ll take it down. You can also force a retreat from your opponent, as Galarian Weezing doesn’t have a reliable way to attack and take Inteleon down other than poisoning it, but it’ll take Weezing a long while to defeat your Inteleon.

As for the Path to the Peak, it’s a way easier problem to get rid of as you’ll only need to set a Stormy Mountain into play to counter it. Also, Path to the Peak doesn’t stop your Shady Dealings engine, so you can still draw cards until getting something to eliminate that annoying Path to the Peak.

There are also a couple of cards that can be a bit of a problem if you aren’t used to attacking with other Pokemon that aren’t Dragonite. These cards are Decidueye with its Deep Forest Camo Ability and Miltank with its Miracle Body Ability. Both of them prevent damage from V and GX Pokemon, and you’ll have to defeat them by using the same strategy as you’ll have to follow with a Galarian Weezing.