Today we're finally reviewing the best card from the Space-Time Smackdown expansion. Although it's up for debate between A2-110 and A2-053. A2-053 has been terrorizing the game since the Smackdown expansion. It's included in a lot of decks—I mean, a lot. I consider it one of the best in the game because A2-053, as you can see, has a three-energy attack, Thunderblast, for 110 damage, and you discard a Lightning Energy after. This is all free because of A1-098, which allows itself to gain energy every turn. It generates energy on its own and becomes a hitter later in the game while you keep playing your best cards. It has enough HP and damage to make it a win condition or a backup.
| Pros | Cons |
| +Best splashable card because of A1-098’s self-sustaining energy, making it easily integrated into a variety of decks. So you don't need to run Lightning Energy in those decks. | - It is a Stage 2 Pokémon, so you still need to draw A2-051, A1-098, and A2-053. |
| + By being splashable, this lets you focus on only the best core cards of each energy type. | - Since it discards Lightning Energy after attacking, you can only attack a limited number of times, probably an average of two to three |
| + High enough damage and HP to become a win condition on it’s own. | - Its stock is so high that good luck finding one for trade, but it is really worth it! |
General Strategy
The general strategy involves including the A2-053 line, with A1-098 generating Lightning Energy on its own, and then evolving into A2-053 whenever you need the power. It works in any deck because of that. In terms of power level, it's really up there with A1-023 and A2-110. I have a slight bias toward it being on top due to its self-sustenance, good power, and damage. Don't forget it's not an EX card, which makes it the cherry on top.
And now for the decks, there are quite a lot, of course, since A2-053 is splashed in every deck. But I will be showing the best versions A2-053 is being used in now.
A2-110 A2-053 has been the one that started it all. It had such massive success that A2-053 has also been tried in a lot of decks. Every bit of the deck works together. A1-203 will be your frontliner; this can also be replaced by A1a-056, although A1-203 is better against the mirror or A1a-056 since you're still putting out pressure while tanking just for 1 energy. There aren't many places you would put energy anyway outside A2-110. A2-110 will be one of our main damage dealers, but only from its ability, Nightmare Aura, while you can also use it for the final push. Most of the time, we will be using A2-053 to attack after A1-203 has died, so it will also have its own energy already because of A1-098, so everything is on A2-110. This is the reason the deck is scary because the pressure never stops, and they can release A2-053 and A2-110 right away since they both have energy. We are running A2-150 and A1-225 for finishing anything that retreats. A1-225 is slightly better against the mirror since we have no way of targeting their bench. And we include some tools for more protection—the ratio for A2-148 or A2-147 is interchangeable, and I think having both is better for more options, but you can't go wrong with either.
The list is highly compact with just a few Pokémon, so there's a lot of consistency in finding the cards you want. There are a lot of tools and supporters, so you're equipped for every situation. The main problem you will encounter with the deck is that you're pretty much capped at 130 damage, so you may have to play catchup with A2-150 to finish some threats. However, with how aggressive it is, it won't be much of a problem. A2-110 is also vulnerable to bench hitters with A2-150, which is quite bad because it is an EX, so you will lose two points.
The next one is A1-089 A2-053. It's running two Stage 2s, but mind you, these are the best Stage 2s in the game, and when it gets going, especially A2-053, it's hard to stop. A1-089 solves the damage problems of A2-053 a bit, since it will finish off anything that survives. A1a-056 will be your frontliner while you evolve your Stage 2s. You also use Fire energy in the deck, so you can use A1a-056 and will be putting energy on A1a-056 most of the time because A1-089 and A2-053 don't use energy that much. This allows A1a-056 to pose a threat while also being able to retreat if possible, since we're not running retreat cost reducers like A1a-068. Double A2-150 is also viable to replace A2-146since you can hit the bench, but I think having one more consistency option is better.
The deck is, of course, a little inconsistent because of the two Stage 2s, which is why it also takes a while to get going.
The third one is Fighting A2-053. It's quite compact and consistent with just a few Fighting Pokémon basics to fill out while A2-053 charges on the bench as your main damage dealer. One of the strategies with how the deck is built is to attack the bench with your A1-154 and then pull it out with A2-150 later on to be finished by your A2-053. This is highly effective in today's meta since most decks just revolve around sitting at a tank while they charge their bench like A2-053. A1a-047 will be your backup damage since there isn't a lot of damage aside from A2-053.
The worst aspect of the deck is its polarizing gameplay: you win against decks that rely on the bench game plan but lose to decks that use tanks like A1-023, which are hard to one-shot.
The final one is A2-111 A2-053. It's the most compact of all, running just 5 basics with A2-111 and A2-120. It is highly aggressive because A2-111 deals 50 damage as long as it has a tool, which happens most of the time because we're running 4. A2-120 is another backup damage dealer or tank. The strategy is simple: run down your opponents from the get-go.
The problems you will encounter with this deck include wanting to start with A2-111 because you don't have any retreat cost reducer, so starting with A2-051 can be problematic. Ideally, you don't want the game to go long because the damage is pretty much capped at 110, and there are no bench hitters, so you will have to rely on A1-225 and A2-150. We're running 2 A1-225 here instead of A2-150 because we want something to deal with A2-110 or A2-053, bypassing their tank altogether.
And of course, there are a lot more decks to slot A2-053 in. You can put it in any deck you can think of, and A2-053 will probably fit in there and still make it better somehow.
