Rayquaza VMAX Deck List: How to Build and Play It

If you’ve been following the stories on Pokemon lately, you’ve probably heard about the very real Pokemon card shortage that has swept the nation. That’s right – Pokemon cards are so hard to find its barren place on the shelves of major retailers mimics the toilet paper shortages of a little over a year ago. Of course, if you are a seasoned TCG enthusiast, you already know that there remains a hot competitive Pokemon TCG scene where people from the world compete for the chance to be invited to the Pokemon World Championships and compete for more than 25,000 dollars.

For newbies and seasoned trainers alike, one of the most hyped decks from the latest set, Sword and Shield Evolving Skies, was the Rayquaza VMAX deck. However, the online Pokemon community has pretty much shut Rayquaza down as a viable playing option in the current meta. The reason being with the removal of Mew, it is too easy to do damage to your opponent’s bench. And, being as Rayquaza is super reliant on the bench, that’s a bad thing. Or so people say. However, Rayquaza is super powerful once set up, and if you can get him set up quickly, he can beat decks that should counter it. Here’s how to do it.

Update – since writing this article, and thanks in part to additional support that has come out, a new and improved way of playing Rayquaza VMAX is now available to players. Take a look at this list of top Pokemon TCG decks to learn more about how the deck fits into the meta or scroll down to the bottom of this post to learn about the updated deck.

The Deck List

You might be tempted to simply look at the deck list and then run off and make your own, but hold on! Read through the whole article including my explainer as for why you should choose these exact cards. You can of course veer a little bit from this formula if you are going to build a Rayquaza VMAX deck. But I would not recommend doing so in any significant way.

More on that later. For now, here’s the list:

Pokemon

Rayquaza V: 4

Rayquaza VMAX: 3

Eldegoss V: 1

Kricketune V: 1

Mareep: 4

Flaffy: 4

Trainers

Professor’s Research: 4

Marnie: 1

Air Balloon: 3

Stormy Mountains: 3

Switch: 3

Old Rod: 1

Rescue Carrier: 1

Rose: 1

Phoebe: 1

Quick Ball: 4

Level Ball: 4

Boss’s Orders: 2

Evolution Incense: 3

Energy Search: 1

Energies

Lighting: 9

Fire: 3

Don’t Use a Secondary Attacker in Your Rayquaza VMAX Deck

If you look around the internet enough, people will suggest all kinds of secondary attackers to use in your Rayquaza VMAX deck. Most commonly, people suggest Zeraora or Vikavolt. Here’s the thing, however. You’ll quickly find as you play Rayquaza enough that what you really need on your field are two Rayquaza VMAX. Secondary attackers like Zeraora or Vikavolt will simply be discarded in favor of the cards you actually need on your bench. And with Rayquaza, that’s a lot of them. Don’t bother putting a secondary attacker in because nine times out of ten you will be discarding it and its just taking up space otherwise.

Use Kricketune V Not Crobat V

Crobat V is a staple in competitive decks for a reason. It can be a game changer when you need to get going fast and don’t have the cards you need. However, in Rayquaza VMAX deck, a one time draw of up to six cards is not actually that handy. Plus, once you play Crobat, he just takes up extremely valuable space on your bench. Not to mention if you start with him.

Kricketune’s ability pairs incredibly well with Rayquaza’s Azure Pulse. Once you draw the three cards you need and play a few or all of them, Kricketune lets you draw again until you have three cards. Kricketune also makes for a great active Pokemon to use while you stall for time. If he is in the active spot, you get to draw until you have four cards. And that’s an ability you can use every turn, not just once.

Instead of a Secondary Attacker like Zeraora or Vikavolt, Use Eldegoss

Using the unassuming Eldegoss V in your deck is a game changer. Because Rayquaza’s strategy hinges so much on discarding cards with Azure Pulse, you are going to discard a lot of your best supports. Eldegoss lets you bring those supporters back when you most need them, like a clutch Rose move or bringing back Pheobe to defeat a Zamazenta. Additionally, Eldegoss doesn’t have to sit needlessly on your bench – it requires two colorless energies to attack so in a pinch, use your Flaffies to drop some energies on it, have it attack, and then use Float Up’s effect to send Eldegoss back into your deck.

Pay Close Attention to What’s On Your Bench

In order to win with Rayquaza, you need to get your supporting Pokemon onto the field quickly. Stormy Mountains and Level Ball are critical for this, as Level Ball works for both Mareep and Flaffy. Of course, you are going to need as many Flaffies as you can manage on your field at all times. If your Flaffies get knocked out, you are in trouble. Bring them back to your hand with rescue carrier.

Ideally, your field would look like this: two Rayquaza VMAX each with an air balloon and a fire energy, three Flaffies and a Kricketune. Four Flaffies is also great so if someone takes out your Kricketune eventually, you can evolve another Flaffy. This will help you in pulling off one shot KOs against other VMAX Pokemon.

Follow this guide to your Rayquaza VMAX deck and you are likely to succeed this season, and maybe even break the meta and make it to the World Championships!

[Updated Rayquaza VMAX Deck for 2022]

Things evolve quickly in the world of Pokemon, and since the original writing of this post, a new and improved way of playing Rayquaza VMAX has come to center stage. I personally have had a ton of success playing this deck online, and so have other players, one even making it to the top three at a major, online tournament.

This deck relies way less on Flaaffy, running only two copies of Flaaffy and Mareep each. Additionally it, focuses on leveraging Boltund’s Electrify attack to turn one accelerate energy onto Rayquaza VMAX. Instead of using the regular run of supporters, you rely on Rayquaza VMAX’s ability to draw the cards you need, and discard those that you don’t.

In my list, I run an extra copy of Boltund V and Switch which is different from what you’ll find in other, similar lists. This is in order to increase the consistency of drawing Boltund first turn and being able to switch with him when you start with some other Pokemon in your active spot.

A new and improved way to build Rayquaza VMAX