Hisuian Goodra VSTAR Deck – 2023 Standard Format

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Hisuian Goodra VSTAR was perhaps one of the most underrated deck archetypes to come out of Lost Origin. Back then, Giratina took the spotlight with its flashy VMAX killing attacks and damage dealing ways. But another Lost Zone engine-fueled deck was also flying a little lower on the radar, and that deck was none-other than Hisuian Goodra VSTAR. Today, Goodra is one of the strongest decks in the Standard format.

Hisuian Goodra VSTAR Deck – Strengths and Weaknesses

Goodra VSTAR is sort of a foil for Giratina VSTAR. What it lacks in offensive power, it makes up for in defense. And once you get its Iron Rolling…well…rolling you have a Pokemon that dishes out powerful amounts of damage while blocking all but the strongest attacks out there.

Onto the weaknesses. Did you know Goodra doesn’t have any? At least not from a typing standpoint. Given it is a dragon type, it literally can’t be countered at least from a damage perspective. This makes its damage blocking capabilities really hard to work around, as well as its VSTAR ability which heals considerable damage from it.

However, that doesn’t mean Goodra VSTAR doesn’t have its own weaknesses. This primarily is its inability to take knockouts quickly. It doesn’t have a VSTAR killing attack, and fairs less effectively against decks that can quickly take it out.

Goodra also has a notable weakness in the Giratina VSTAR matchup (we told you it was its foil). Giratina’s ability directly coutners Goodra’s – enabling it to take a knockout against Goodra without doing any actual damage.

Hisuian Goodra VSTAR Deck – Basic Strategy

As is often the case in Pokemon TCG, simple decks fair better. You want a simple, consistent deck that you fairs well against the meta. And Goodra VSTAR meets that criteria.

1. Comfey is your draw engine – play Comfey right away to start drawing extra cards and putting additional cards into the Lost Zone.

2. Use a combination of Switch, Escape Rope, and Beach Court to use as many Comfey Flower Selecting Abilities as possible in a turn.

3. Colress’s Experiment is the card you’re going to want to play ASAP as it allows you to draw five and put two in the Lost Zone. This is going to come in handy later when you need to take advantage of attacks like Spit Innocently or cards like Mirage Gate.

4. With seven cards in your Lost Zone, it’s time to power up your Hisuian Goodra VSTAR and get rolling!

5. Use your three copies of Boss’s Order’s to do deliberate damage against strategic benched Pokemon (preferably two-prize Pokemon with achievable HPs.

6. Take selective knockouts with Radiant Greninja to close out games or offset your opponent.

Hisuian Goodra VSTAR Deck List – 2023 Standard

Deck list courtesy of Gabor Van Meenen.

• Pokemon (13)

  4 Comfey LOR 79

  3 Hisuian Goodra V LOR 135

  3 Hisuian Goodra VSTAR LOR 136

  1 Radiant Greninja ASR 46

  1 Cramorant LOR 50

  1 Drapion V LOR 118

• Trainer Cards (35)

  4 Colress's Experiment LOR 155

  3 Boss's Orders BRS 132

  2 Melony CRE 146

  1 Raihan CRZ 140

  1 Roxanne ASR 150

  4 Battle VIP Pass FST 225

  4 Switch SVI 194

  4 Escape Rope BST 125

  3 Mirage Gate LOR 163

  3 Nest Ball SVI 181

  2 Pokégear 3.0 SVI 186

  1 Ultra Ball SVI 196

  1 Choice Belt BRS 135

  1 Beach Court SVI 167

  1 Temple of Sinnoh ASR 155

• Energy (12)

  7 Water Energy 3

  5 Metal Energy 8