Although Shrouded Fable won’t be hitting the shelves for a few weeks, we’ve already gotten confirmation of many cards that will be coming out in this set. The special set itself focuses heavily on the Loyal Three that we got to know in the Teal Mask DLC from the excellent Pokemon TCG: Scarlet & Violet game. In addition to these Loyal Three (Pokemon who were featured in single prize form already in Twilight Masquerade), a new first for the Pokemon TCG is the release of Pecharunt – a mythic Pokemon also introduced in the games (after completing the other DLC stuff).
Pokemon lore aside, this deck looks pretty cool. And while it’s likely to be played differently overtime, in this early look we’ll be going over the high level strategy of how the Loyal Three deck is supposed to work.
First up, let’s take a look at what the bulwark of your strategy for the Loyal Three deck is going to be. This deck is actually looking pretty insanely strong but it only works when you have the Loyal Three and Pecharunt ex working together (just like they do in the games).
Pecharunt ex plus Binding Mochi is the secret sauce
First up we have Pecharunt ex and the all important Binding Mochi. At first when you see Pecahrunt’s ability Subjugating Chains you might be a little confused why you would want that ability on a Pokemon if it makes your Pokemon poisond. However, it makes a ton of sense once you realize that it pairs well with Binding Mochi.
Binding Mochi raises the damage output of your poisoned Pokemon by an impressive 40, which is just 10 damage short of a Maximum Belt. Only, Binding Mochi isn’t an ACE SPEC, making it infinitely more versatile.
Normally, it would be relatively tricky to make your Pokemon poisoned. However, Pecharunt ex makes it pretty easy, and also has the benefit of switching your Pokemon for you: something which is going to be vital given you’ll need to be playing Dark Patch to power your Pokemon up.
The Pecharunt/Munkidori thing already looks cool enough to get me hooked, however the best part is yet to come when you realize that these Basic Pokemon are hitting some insane numbers once poisoned with the Mochi attached. Okidogi ex is your strongest hitter. When poisoned and equipped with Binding Mochi, its hitting for an insane 300 damage.
Of course, brute strength alone does not a Pokemon match win. Munkidori ex can also be an excellent pinch hitter given the fact that if you have a Pecharunt ex in play your opponent only takes a single Prize card when he’s knocked out. That’s pretty good considering Munkidori hits for 230 when equipped with Binding Mochi/poisoned.
Don’t forget, however, that you also have Adrena-Braining Munkidori in play, too. So if you play your cards right and get some good solid damage counters on the board you can add another 30 damage onto those attacks, meaning Okidogi is taking out the beefiest Pokemon with one shot, and even the single-prize-letting Munkidori ex is swinging for almost as much as the already popular Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex.
Lastly, Fezandipiti ex may be the least spectacular of the Loyal Three but still adds some strong incremental draw support and bench sniping when the moment arises.
Make it easier to get Binding Mochi into your hand with these cards
Pecharunt ex might be a key Pokemon to your strategy, but it’s Binding Mochi that makes your Pokemon ex hit hard enough to be truly scary. Luckily, this deck has several ways to help you get more Binding Mochi into your hand regularly.
First of all, you have the Pokemon Store which lets you add your Mochi directly into your hand (which is not at all a bad ability given its just a Stadium and not a supporter). Meanwhile, Secret Box can be hugely helpful as it lets you get most of the cards you need in a single card, while not interfering with playing another powerful supporter.
Janine’s Secret Technique is a powerful new supporter
To help make this deck more consistent, you have this card. Janine’s Secret Technique is a new supporter coming out in Shrouded Fable that’s going to be a huge card for this deck. Janine lets you quickly and easily accelerate energy onto your Pokemon. The only drawback of playing Janine is that she doesn’t offer draw support like other powerful trainers do (I’m thinking Sada’s Vitality here).
Still, Janine achieves a similar thing as Pecharunt in enabling you to get your Pokemon poisoned reliably while also setting them up to start taking knockouts.
Energy discard and draw support
Finally, we need to talk about something that’s really important in this deck and that’s card draw and discard. You don’t have a ton of draw support options so you need to take advantage of the ones you do have. You do, however, have plenty of options to get energies into your discard.
Your strongest plays here are to always, always, always play Squawkabilly if you can turn one. This will ensure you get through more cards and have more resources at your disposal while also hopefully getting some energies into your discard. This will be helpful later when using Dark patch.
Additionally, you can use your Earthen Vessel to discard an energy and draw more energies which can then be used in tandem with Concealed Cards to draw even more cards.
As you discard your cards and empty your hand, Mew ex will be helpful in helping you draw more cards, while Fezandipity lets you draw cards regardless of how many are in your hand (assuming a Pokemon was knocked out the previous turn).
Trainers add additional draw versatility
In addition to these Pokemon and the standard draw support trainers like Iono and Research, you also can take advantage of Trekking Shoes to (hopefully) get energies in your discard while drawing more cards, and/or Poke Stop.
With all of these options available to you, you can add a significant amount of consistency to your deck and get moving faster and more reliably.
Will the Loyal Three Deck be strong?
Given how things are shaping up, this deck is looking very, very strong. It’s not BDIF strong, but it certainly could be one of if not the strongest aggro decks in the Pokemon TCG.
