Ethan’s Typhlosion is a powerful new deck coming out in Destined Rivals. How does it work? How strong is going to be? And how can you build this deck to optimize it in the current meta? Below, we’ll be diving into a deck that won a city league tournament in Japan.

Pokémon: 20
4 Ethan's Cyndaquil SV9a 15
4 Ethan's Quilava SV9a 16
4 Ethan's Typhlosion SV9a 17
2 Dunsparce PAL 156
2 Dudunsparce TEF 129
1 Victini SSP 21
1 Budew PRE 4
1 Shaymin SV9a 6
1 Iron Bundle PAR 56
Trainer: 35
4 Ethan's Adventure SV9a 63
4 Professor's Research JTG 155
3 Arven OBF 186
1 Boss's Orders PAL 172
4 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144
4 Ultra Ball SVI 196
4 Night Stretcher SFA 61
2 Counter Catcher PAR 160
1 Rare Candy SVI 191
1 Redeemable Ticket JTG 156
2 Defiance Band SVI 169
1 Maximum Belt TEF 154
1 Rescue Board TEF 159
3 Artazon PAL 171
Energy: 5
5 Fire Energy SVE 10

Ethan’s Typhlosion quick start guide

Set up your board with Ethan’s Cyndiquil and evolve to Typhlosion.
Use Quilava and Dudunsparce search out Ethan’s Adventure.
Power up Ethan’s Typhlosion to take OHKOs against most decks.

Breaking down Ethan’s Typhlosion

Ethan’s Typhlosion could be the strongest new single prize deck after Destined Rivals. 170 HP health is very solid for this Stage 2 Pokemon as a single prizer. However, the real selling point here is that if you just have four Ethan’s Adventure in this discard, you’re swinging for 280. That’s absolutely insane, enabling an incredible prize trade.

Ethan’s Adventure is a strong card

Apart from fueling your discard with cards that boost your Typhlosion, Ethan’s Adventure is also a strong card. This card brings the Pokemon and the energy cards you need to your hand. Not only is this a strong card, it creates more space in your deck, eliminating the need for excessive amounts of Pokemon search tools and the likes of energy search tool as well such as Earthen Vessel.

Ethan’s Quilava

Ethan’s Quilava acts as a built in search engine to get your Ethan’s Adventure into your hand. As you search out your cards, you might find you have less Ethan’s Adventure than you need to fully power up your Typhlosion. Because this deck really needs the Ethan’s Adventure cards in the discard, you’ll want to run Redeemable Ticket. This way, if one or two of these critical supporter cards end up in your prizes, you can add them back into your deck.

Redeemable Ticket

Most decks aren’t going to bother with Redeemable Ticket as their win condition isn’t built around having x number of cards. A deck like Ethan’s Typhlosion, however, is built around having a set number of supporters, so you’ll need to have all of those in your discard to win, and you can’t really afford having those cards in the prizes.

Boost your Typhlosion to take bigger hits

If you haven’t picked up on it yet, Ethan’s Typhlosion is a deck that’s all about just powering up you best attacker and hitting hard. Hitting hard matters more in this deck than it does in other decks because of the fact that Typhlosion is a single Prize Pokemon. Imagine taking a OHKO against a two-prize Pokemon like a Charizard ex or even against a three-prize Pokemon when Meta Pokemon come out, and then your opponent takes only a single prize when they take a KO against you.

If you manage to find the pieces you need to make this happen, it’s going to be very, very hard for your opponent to keep pace.

Maximum Belt and Defiance Band enable Typhlosion to hit insane heights

Defiance Band is relatively universal, helping many attackers make up the difference in math if they are a little behind in prizes. However, the really big one here isn’t Defiance Band but instead Maximum Belt. This ACE SPEC fits this build like a glove. Suddenly, Typhlosion doesn’t just hit for 280, it’s hitting for 330 which is enough to take out the big guys out there like Dragapult ex.

Boost further with Victini

While Maximum Belt is the strongest booster you’ll receive, Victory Cheer boosts attacks by 10 more damage.

Protect your bench with Shaymin

The only caveat to the whole enabling a better prize trade thing is if your opponent is taking hits against your bench. This deck needs a bunch of small Pokemon on the bench, making them easy pickings for many decks. However, a new card is coming out in Destined Rivals that makes Typhlosion much stronger than it otherwise would have rights to be, and that card is Shaymin.

Shaymin is like a less powerful Manaphy – protecting non-rule box Pokemon from taking hits and getting taken out. However, keep in mind this won’t stop the likes of Dragapult ex or other attacks that do damage as an effect of the attack. Meaning, Typhlosion will still have a difficult matchup against that particular deck.

Why Dudunsparce?

Finally, we have Dudunsparce. Whey is this guy here? Well, most Ethan’s Typhlosion decks run some sort of an additional draw engine. Although the Quilava search engine is nice to get your Ethan’s Adventure, this deck strategy doesn’t have a native draw engine fixed to it.

While some are running the Dreepy/Drakloak for the draw engine (and some even teching in a Dragapult ex), I like the Dudunsparce for this deck. Using Run Away Daw lets you draw a clean 3 cards, no strings attached. That’s a powerful draw engine and it can be used over-and-over again if need be.

Be wary, however, of the upcoming Team Rocket’s Watchtower could throw a wrench in the Dudunsparce as this stadium shuts off colorless Pokemon abilities. If that’s a worry for you, you might want to try out the Drakloak route instead.

Ethan’s Typhlosion is a very exciting deck, and could potentially be the new strongest single prize deck in the format after Destined Rivals. Being able to hit those insane numbers reliably make this a deck that’s truly a force to be reckoned with. Try this deck out for yourself and see why so many are excited about this nostalgia deck!

Ethan’s Typhlosion Deck List and Guide