Out of all the new EX cards from Shining Revelry, Pikachu is my favourite.

The one hit wonder. Pikachu’s thunderbolt enables him to one hit KO the majority of EX Pokemon in the game. There’s a catch though, after this attack, all of pikachu’s energy vanishes.

Unlike other pokemon who build up energy to then unleash powerful attacks, pikachu is meant to attack once. And I love this about him, we have a basic pokemon that can guarantee a kill, yet we have to be very wary of when to use him. It’s like an ultimate attack in an anime, pikachu is our spirit bomb. The question is:

How do we get to the point where his thunderbolt will end the game?

My first pikachu deck paired him with the Magnezone evolution line, as Magneton builds itself up so that we can place energy onto Pikachu. This deck performed decently, but today’s build is far superior.

Today’s deck combines two one hit wonders, whom we ramp onto with Pachirisu. Luxray is perhaps one of the most underrated pokemon in the game. Volt Bolt will allow us to deal 120 damage to ANY pokemon on the field. In the standard Giratina/Darkrai matchup, we can resort to Luxray to one shot Druddigon to checkmate our opponent, as once they send either EX to the front line, Pikachu will be waiting to obliterate them. Pachirisu is a key component of this build. Allowing us to chip away at the opponent’s lead while ramping energy onto our heavy hitters in the back. Pachirisu's plasma attack may seem inconsequential, but it can allow us to put 140 HP EX Basics at range for Luxray’s Volt Bolt, to finish them off even if they’re in the bench.

Some games we’ll be forced to attack with Pikachu first, and this is fine, as Volkner can recycle thunderbolts' discarded energy to allow our Luxray to follow up immediately for the finish. To correct our opener, and retreat pikachu immediately after attacking, we run a full set of X Speed. Red is essential with Pikachu, allowing us to score the one hit KO on key meta EX Basics who’ve equipped a Giant Cape. You can definitely tweak the deck to fit in a second copy of Red, as the meta is full of fat EX Pokemon that will attempt to cheat death.

This deck is truly exceptional, definitely worthy as an off meta option for your ranked climb.