Mew VMAX is Still on Top!

What’s poppin’ Po Town readers? It’s ya boy Zach and I’m back with another article to help you learn more about the Pokemon TCG. We finally are getting the global release of Brilliant Stars so you’re probably wondering what new deck I’m testing!?! Is it Charizard VSTAR [Brilliant Stars]? How about Arceus VSTAR [Brilliant Stars]? Maybe Torterra [Brilliant Stars]? Actually, I’m loving Mew VMAX [Fusion Strike]! I know a lot of people might not be a fan of this deck since it dominated the Sword and Shield to Fusion Strike format, but that's a good thing right? If a deck has actively been the best deck in format for three months, it’s likely going to continue forward in our Brilliant Stars format. It doesn’t gain much, but it does gain the stability of Ultra Ball [Brilliant Stars], the strength of Choice Belt [Brilliant Stars], and Double Turbo Energy [Brilliant Stars] sounds great too! With all of these little additions making the previous best deck in a format even better, this deck has to be one of the best decks in the Brilliant Stars format! If you’re missing any cards for Mew VMAX, consider picking up some codes from right here at Po Town! Anyways, let’s jump into the strategy!

Mew VMAX is incredibly powerful for a bunch of reasons, but let's start off with Cross Fusion Strike. You can copy any of your Fusion Strike attacks in play - that's right! Any of them! Techno Blast for 210? Yup! How about Melodious Echo for the KO? Sure! Psychic Leap to heal a heavily damaged Mew VMAX. Toss in an exclusive draw engine with Genesect V [Fusion Strike] and an archetype-specific Energy acceleration as Elesa’s Sparkle [Fusion Strike] to make this deck even better. Even typing this I’m now remembering that Fusion Energy [Fusion Strike] stops opposing Abilities, like Inteleon [Chilling Reign] using Quick Shooting, in their tracks as a bonus effect! At its core, Mew VMAX is a beatdown deck with options - it's a vicious deck that can quickly finish games! Even if you face a poor matchup, like Gengar VMAX [Fusion Strike], you have the chance to outpace by OHKOing a two Prize Card Pokemon on your first turn of the game with Meloetta. Meloetta can easily slap a Fusion Energy on it, use Elesa’s Sparkle to attach another two Fusion Energy to your board, and swing for 210! That's enough to Knock Out most Pokemon V on your first turn which allows you to steal games! Even if you need a little more damage, Power Tablet allows you to easily add 30 damage here or there to surpass most amounts of HP. It might seem tough to make happen, but Cram-o-matic [Fusion Strike] and Genesect V’s Fusion Strike System make it all more reachable. Let’s look at a current Fusion Strike format version of Mew that we’ll use as our base for the Brilliant Stars list.

Mew VMAX is the type of deck with plenty of space for unique techs to make your deck special! Some lists feature cards like Oricorio [Fusion Strike], but I decided to go with Switching Cups [Evolving Skies] and Pokemon Catcher [Sword and Shield] for a bizarre twist on the deck! Switching Cups allows you to place valuable Stadium cards, like Training Court [Rebel Clash], on top of your deck to prepare for Path to the Peak [Chilling Reign]. It opens up plays to put “dead” cards from your hand on top of your deck, getting them out of your hand, and allowing you to use shuffle cards like Fog Crystal [Chilling Reign] to get them in the deck for later. This opens up plays for Fusion Strike System to draw more cards or even put back Fusion Energy to nab with Elesa’s Sparkle. Pokemon Catcher makes this deck more vicious and allows you to tone down your count of Boss’s Orders [Shining Fates] so that you have more options to clear your hand out. I guess the theme here is to always have cards that you can play to keep your engine rolling. Let’s check out this list!

This list looks less spicy than above, but it focuses on adding consistency cards to make the deck more streamlined! Ultra Ball allows you to pitch more cards out of your hand and that opens up more possibilities for you to draw cards with Fusion Strike System. There are now more cards in the deck to help you search out Pokemon which could mean grabbing a Mew VMAX for an OHKO or a Genesect V to draw more cards. Choice Belt allows you to increase your damage output and makes Power Tablets less reliant on a single turn attack - you can now snag some otherwise unreachable KOs more often. Double Turbo Energy [Brilliant Stars] allows you to attack with Cross Fusion Strike out of nowhere which is a blessing in the late game if you’re out of options! It might do -20 damage, but you can still easily OHKO Lumineon V [Brilliant Stars] with Techno Blast for 190. If Mew VMAX was the BDIF before, this list seems like it's going to be an absolute monster. Let’s check it out!

I hope that you’ve enjoyed reading about this awesome updated Mew VMAX deck and learned a thing or two about our new metagame. This new Sword and Shield to Brilliant Stars format is refreshing for most of the community and myself as a content creator. With plenty of useful additions to many decks in the format, this format seems like you can play pretty much any deck to great success. I look forward to covering more of these decks in the future and helping our community understand this exciting format. If you’re missing any cards to build Mew VMAX or any other deck, feel free to pick up some codes right here at Po Town. Happy testing and have a great day!

Zach Lesage is a contributing writer for the PoTown store. As a Toronto local, he has been playing the Pokemon Trading Card Game since 2005 and creates Pokemon content as his full time career. Zach Lesage PTCG creates YouTube content, streams on Twitch, and provides hot takes on his Twitter. With multiple prestigious accomplishments in the game, such as 2020 Players Cup 2 Champion and 2020 Oceania International Championships Finalist, he has proven his success in the game. Outside of the game, he travels the world, enjoys the culture of designer streetwear, and is a professionally trained chef. You can catch him at most Pokemon events and follow him on Twitter @ZachLesagePTCG.