Archaludon ex is a poweful new Pokemon in Surging Sparks, bringing new versatility to the vastly underrepresented metal type set of pokemon cards. In this deck we see Archaludon ex paired with the popular Dialga VSTAR. When used together, you can unlock some pretty insane combos capable of dominating the prize race.

Below, let’s get into how you can build your own deck with Archaludon ex that will help you win your next tournament.

Pokémon: 15
4 Archaludon ex SV7a 37
4 Duraludon SCR 106
2 Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR CRZ-GG 68
2 Origin Forme Dialga V ASR 113
1 Squawkabilly ex PAF 75
1 Fezandipiti ex SFA 38
1 Radiant Greninja ASR 46
Trainer: 35
4 Nest Ball PAF 84
4 Ultra Ball PAF 91
3 Pokémon Catcher SVI 187
3 Earthen Vessel PAR 163
3 Night Stretcher SFA 61
2 Pokégear 3.0 SVI 186
1 Canceling Cologne ASR 136
1 Scoop Up Cyclone TWM 162
1 Super Rod PAL 188
4 Carmine TWM 145
3 Boss's Orders PAL 172
1 Professor Turo's Scenario PAR 171
2 Iono PAF 80
2 PokéStop PGO 68
1 Pal Pad SVI 182
Energy: 10
10 Metal Energy SVE 8

Breaking Down Archaludon ex

Archaludon ex is so strong for two reasons. For starters, its got an insane Assemble Alloy ability. This ability really makes Archaludon ex an effective fit for any deck that runs on metal energy. But Archaludon ex is also a strong attacker in its own right. “Metal Defender” dishes out 220 damage and removes weaknesses from Archauldon the next turn. That’s pretty insane especially given its 300 HP. For just a stage 1 Pokemon, that’s an insane amount of HP that certainly makes garnering a positive prize trade with Archaludon very, very possible.

However, in this deck build, you’re going to be partnering this powerhouse Pokemon with another powerful attacker from the Sword and Shield era: Dialga VSTAR

Dialga VSTAR is a powerful secondary attacker

Dialga VSTAR has shown up in competitive decks since it came out, and it’s not hard to see why. This card is an absolute powerhouse, and that’s especially thanks to Star Chronos. This attack lets you take an entire extra turn once per game if you can manage to get it off. The only challenge? Getting the five energy attached that you need in order to get it going.

However, with Archaludon ex at the backbone of this deck accelerating two energy every time it is evolved, suddenly getting that attack off doesn’t feel so far out of reach.

What I really like about this way of accelerating energies onto Dialga VSTAR is that you can do it without needing to involve a bunch of supporting Pokemon like Metang that serve little purpose apart from attaching energies. Instead, you can use a powerful attacker like Archaludon ex to soften up your opponent’s defenses before swinging for the game-winning move with Dialga.

Take advantage of the strongest draw support Pokemon in the game

Because this deck is pretty straightforward with an attacker who also multitasks as an energy accelearator, you don’t need a bunch of space-occupying support Pokemon. Instead, what you do have room for are three of the strongest draw support Pokemon in the game: Squawkabilly ex, Fezandipiti ex, and Radiant Greninja.

At this point, Fezandipiti is essentially a staple in almost every deck. And while Radiant Greninja and Squawkabilly ex are also staples in many, they work particularly well in decks like this one that rely on having energies in the discard. Radiant Greninja literally rewards you for discarding energy cards that can the be accelerated via Archaludon ex. Meanwhile, Squawkabilly is a great, once-per-game ability that refreshes your hand. All the better if you managed to stack it up with plenty of metal energies first.

Leverage powerful supporters to open the game strong

This deck also runs a pretty powerful lineup of supporters to help you start out strong and dictate the pace of the game. For starters, let’s look at the incredibly powerful and underrated Carmine supporter.

Carmine

If you aren’t familiar with Carmine, she’s a powerful draw supporter that basically works like Professor’s Research except you discard your hand and draw five cards instead of seven. The trade-off that makes her inclusion worth it in decks like this that need to start fast and discard energies quickly is that she can be used on the first turn. That gets around the “no supporters on turn one” rule that otherwise is in effect.

I find carmine to be largely overlooked from a competitive standpoint. Including her can have a huge impact on your odds of victory, however. Similar to using Squawkabilly’s ability, however, just try to get as many energies into your hand before activating this supporter to ensure you can accelerate them later on.

Speaking of overlooked supporters…

Another supporter (who is not included in this deck list example) you might want to consider including is a copy of Adaman. This powerful supporter from back in the Sword and Shield days of the Pokemon TCG lets you discard metal energies and search your deck for any two cards. That could have a huge impact on your gameplay and certainly worth considering including in your Archaludon ex build.

Boss’s Order’s is essential in this deck

One glaring weakness here (as in any deck like this) is that despite Archaludon’s insane HP and powerful ability, it’s not actually hitting all that hard. While 220 is enough to KO many basic two Prize Pokemon, there’s plenty of Pokemon who will simply be out of your reach.

To that end, this deck runs plenty of options to help you get around Pokemon who would otherwise wall you out of a favorable prize trade. In this way, this Archaludon build effectively works like an aggro deck, looking to keep up a fast pace of play via two-prize knockouts each and every turn.

Between having three copies of both Pokemon Catcher and Boss’s Orders in your deck you should be able to hit favorable targets consistently.

Situational supporter techs

Now that we’ve covered the main supporters that will help you achieve this deck’s goals, I should mention the two supporters that are more situational but also quite strong. These are Iono and Professor Turo’s Scenario. Iono doesn’t really need an intro, but the reason you don’t include more than one copy of her is because you want to be discarding energies whenever possible. You’ll need a lot of metal energies in your discard to make this deck work.

Professor Turo works well in this deck as you can tank a hit with Archaludon ex then bring it back to your hand, thereby nullifying your opponent’s attack in the first place.

Scoop Up Cyclone is the ultimate ACE SPEC for Archaludon ex

Speaking of Professor Turo’s Scenario, another card you have here that is even stronger but achieves the same thing is Scoop Up Cyclone. Once per game, you can scoop up one of your damaged Archaludon ex cards and play it again. Not only is this really good for that favorable prize trade, it’s also a great way to get multiple “Assemble Alloy” abilities off in a turn. The way to sequence this would be:

Use Scoop Up Cyclone on an already damaged Archaludon ex.
Use Concealed Cards via Radiant Greninja to get those energy back into the discard.
Evolve benched Duraludon into Archaludon ex (the one you brought to your hand) to accelerate energies.
Play Carmine to add the remaining energies into your discard to then get another Assemble Alloy ability off (assuming you have two benched Duraludon).

You can use these plays to power up either a waiting Archaludon ex or even your Dialga VSTAR to go for the Star Chronos and win!

Of all the builds I’ve seen for Archaludon ex, this one is my absolute favorite. If you can manage to get a Star Chronos off in your battle, you absolutely can dominate the game. While that five energy it needs might sound like a lot, you only need to do it once a game and that should be very possible thanks to Assemble Alloy.

I have high hopes for this deck and can’t wait to see it make its way into the top ranks of competitive play!

Archaludon ex Deck List and Guide