Table of Contents
Heya everyone! This guide will cover the popular a1-4-venusaurex ex deck, known for its tackiness and can be difficult for most decks to get their match points.
There are two versions of this list floating around, one favoring a1-30-lilligant as the secondary Pokemon, whereas the other version prefers a1-23-exeggutorex. I'll mainly focus on the a1-23-exeggutorex but I'll talk about a1-30-lilligant's strength in the Techs & Options section.
Gameplan
Early Game
The a1-4-venusaurex line can take a while to set up, so going for a1-21-exeggcute first and then evolving it into a1-23-exeggutorex.
a1-23-exeggutorex is a bulky 160 HP Pokemon that needs only 1 Grass Energy to activate Tropical Swing. This allows us to continue attaching Energy on a1-4-venusaurex while a1-23-exeggutorex pushes damage and gets early knockouts. Tropical Swing is a 40-damage attack, which doesn't seem too threatening, but at the same time, you'll flip a coin, if it's heads, a1-23-exeggutorex will push an extra 40 damage. So it's a 50/50 chance of hitting that 80 damage, helping you knockout high-health Pokemon. If you're attacking a Pokemon with 120 HP, you'll technically only need one of those attacks to hit the 80 damage condition, so you'll have a 75% chance of hitting it once in two attacks.
Venusaur ex Carry
a1-4-venusaurex is a Stage 2 Pokemon so you'll have to evolve a1-1-bulbasaur to a1-2-ivysaur before getting it in play. It can be a process to set up and on top of that, a1-2-ivysaur and a1-4-venusaurex have high-cost attacks. a1-2-ivysaur needs three Energy to activate Razor Leader, so we might struggle if we have it in the Active spot at the start of the game.
As for a1-4-venusaurex, he has two attacks, Razor Leaf and Giant Bloom. Razor Leaf's 60 damage isn't putting much pressure, but once we have 4 Energy on a1-4-venusaurex we can start activating Giant Bloom to get the most out of our tanky a1-4-venusaurex.
a1-4-venusaurex is a 190-health Pokemon, so he's not getting knocked out easily. Combined with Giant Bloom, you're dealing 100 damage to the opponent's Pokemon and healing for 30 damage. This adds to a1-4-venusaurex's tankiness, forcing more attacks from the opponent to knock him out. The 100 damage will be enough to knock out Basic Pokemon and will require at least two attacks to get the knockout on higher-health Pokemon. Since a1-4-venusaurex has 190 HP and can heal himself with Giant Bloom, we'll get to attack multiple times with him before the opponent finds the finishing blow to knock him out.
Additionally, Giant Bloom isn't the only option we have to heal up our tank. a1-219-erika can heal Grass Pokemon by 50 damage, getting a1-4-venusaurex or a1-23-exeggutorex out of range of the opponent's upcoming attack and ensuring they get to attack again to get the knockout.
Techs and Options
Instead of playing a1-21-exeggcute and a1-23-exeggutorex version, you can go for the a1-29-petilil and a1-30-lilligant line. a1-30-lilligant needs two Grass Energy to activate Leaf Supply, dealing 50 damage to the opponent's Pokemon, so it can be less threatening compared to a1-21-exeggcute's Tropical Swing. Additionally, Leaf Supply can attach Grass Energy from the Energy Zone to one of your Benched Pokemon, so as you evolve a1-1-bulbasaur and a1-2-ivysaur, you'll get a1-4-venusaurex ready to attack with Giant Bloom.
Instead of only relying on the ex a1-23-exeggutorex, you could include the normal a1-22-exeggutor, which has lower health and damage output but will give the opponent only 1 Match Point instead of 2. This lets you play two 1-Point Pokemon, force the opponent to knock them out, and then rely on a1-4-venusaurex to carry the late game.
a1-5-caterpie is a consideration to add to this list, drawing a Grass-type Pokemon with Find a Friend and can retreat for only 1-cost, allowing you to switch in the damage dealer before it gets knocked out.
Another heal option to keep your Pokemon from getting knocked out. It can be just enough to survive an attack along with a1-4-venusaurex's Giant Bloom.
Venusaur ex Deck Weaknesses
- This deck has a slow setup with a1-4-venusaurex being a Stage 2 Pokemon and requiring 4 Energy before it starts carrying the game. You want games to stretch out until your strategy is online, so aggressive decks can be troublesome.
- None of your Pokemon have powerful attacks that can knock out high-health Pokemon. So you're stuck attacking twice with a1-4-venusaurex to remove a high-threat Pokemon.
- a1-4-venusaurex and a1-23-exeggutorex have a high-cost retreat, requiring 3 Energy to get them back on the Bench, so it can be a struggle in a fast-paced game to prevent opponents from knocking out your Pokemon.
- Grass-type Pokemon are weak to Fire-type Pokemon. So decks like a1-36-charizardex a1-47-moltresex and Blaine a1-38-ninetales a1-43-rapidash are rough to beat.
Closing Words
If you're a fan of slow-paced decks with tanky Pokemon that are difficult to knock out, then a1-4-venusaurex is your deck to pick up! It's already proven itself a solid contender in the early Pokemon Pocket meta, capable of going head-to-head with some of the top performers.
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