The Curse of Retreat

VukManga VukManga standard 227 views Jul 29, 2026 Updated Jul 29, 2026
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Deck Primer

👻🔥 The Curse of Retreat - Mega Chandelure ex by VukManga

"If you can retreat, you're already too late."

After hundreds of games, countless tweaks, and more testing than I care to admit, I'm finally ready to share the deck I've built completely from scratch.

This isn't a copied tournament list.

This isn't a meta deck with a few cards swapped around.

This is my own creation.

The Idea

The idea started with one simple question:

What if Retreat Cost itself became the win condition?

...

👻🔥 The Curse of Retreat - Mega Chandelure ex by VukManga

"If you can retreat, you're already too late."

After hundreds of games, countless tweaks, and more testing than I care to admit, I'm finally ready to share the deck I've built completely from scratch.

This isn't a copied tournament list.

This isn't a meta deck with a few cards swapped around.

This is my own creation.

The Idea

The idea started with one simple question:

What if Retreat Cost itself became the win condition?

Most decks don't even think about Retreat Cost. They see it as a small inconvenience.

Mega Chandelure ex turns it into a weapon.

Instead of chasing raw damage modifiers, the deck gradually increases the opponent's Retreat Cost through multiple overlapping effects until Phantom Maze starts dealing absurd damage numbers.

Pokémon with 310–350 HP suddenly disappear in a single attack while opponents are forced into awkward decisions every turn.

During testing I have seen attacks for:

  • 330 damage
  • 380 damage
  • 530 damage
  • 760 damage
  • 1060 damage

Yes...

Things get ridiculous.

The Journey

Building this deck wasn't easy.

Some versions were too slow.

Others bricked.

Some relied too much on perfect draws.

Little by little I rebuilt almost every part of the list until it finally became something I could trust.

Today the deck:

  • Sets up consistently.
  • Recovers surprisingly well after knockouts.
  • Punishes high-Retreat Pokémon.
  • Can even trap Pokémon that normally have free Retreat.
  • Rarely runs out of attackers.

The engine ended up becoming far more compact and resilient than I originally imagined.

Matchups

Nothing is unbeatable.

The toughest opponents I've faced have been aggressive Darkness lists like N's Zoroark ex and Pecharunt ex, along with Dragapult ex.

Even those matchups have proven to be very winnable with careful sequencing.

One of my favorite moments during testing was defeating a fully established Dragapult ex deck by knocking out both Dragapult ex in consecutive turns.

Apparently ghosts can haunt dragons too.

Master League

The biggest achievement wasn't a crazy damage number.

It was reaching Master League with a deck that exists because of an idea—not because it won a Regional or a Championship.

Every victory felt earned.

Every loss taught me something.

Every change was made through testing instead of copying.

Team Rocket Approved

I'm a lifelong Team Rocket fan, so naturally this deck had to be as devious as possible.

It doesn't race.

It doesn't overwhelm.

It slowly tightens the screws until escaping is impossible.

By the time opponents realize what's happening...

The maze has already closed.

"Lights out... you might need a candle."

— VukManga
👻🖤🚀 The Team Rocket Boss

Main Deck (60 cards)

Pokémon (18)
3 Mega Chandelure ex me5-115
$44.54 Psychic 350
2 Dudunsparce sv5-129
$0.87 Colorless 140
2 Ariados sv6-5
$0.15 Grass 90
3 Lampent me5-37
$0.12 Psychic 90
2 Dunsparce sv9-120
$2.35 Colorless 70
4 Litwick me5-36
$0.15 Psychic 70
2 Spinarak sv6-4
$0.04 Grass 60
Trainer (32)
1 Battle Cage me2-116
$1.36
2 Boss's Orders swsh2-189
$61.50
3 Buddy-Buddy Poffin sv6-223
$11.84
Trainer (32)
1 Buddy-Buddy Poffin me1-167
$6.09
1 Grand Tree sv7-136
$0.57
3 Gravity Gemstone sv7-137
$0.25
3 Judge sm8-209
$66.58
1 Lillie's Determination me1-184
$64.63
3 Lillie's Determination me1-169
$21.75
2 Naveen me3-79
$0.09
1 Poké Pad me2pt5-198
$0.32
1 Poké Pad me3-113
$10.65
2 Rare Candy sv1-256
$5.53
Trainer (32)
1 Rare Candy me1-175
$3.93
3 Switch sv3pt5-206
$1.98
2 Ultra Ball swsh9-186
$14.49
2 Wondrous Patch me2-94
$0.23
Energy (10)
8 Psychic Energy xy12-95
$0.25 Psychic
2 Telepathic Psychic Energy me3-88
$0.32 Psychic

Card Types

Trainer 32
Pokémon 18
Energy 10

Energy Types

Psychic 10
Colorless 4
Grass 4

Energy Curve

Distribution of attack energy costs in your deck

1 Energy 13 attacks
13
65.0% of attacks
2 Energy 5 attacks
5
25.0% of attacks
3 Energy 2 attacks
2
10.0% of attacks

Opening Hand Probability Calculator

Calculate the probability of drawing specific cards in your opening hand

%
Probability of drawing at least of in your opening hand

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Comments

Burt avatar
Burt

I realy love what you created with the Chandelure. I like the story you made behind this deck and I can tell by your choice you must be part of some team rocket shenanigans, because this deck is evil hahah.

I play with friends so now and then, and at the moment we make expanded decks to play against each other. Funny enough, like just 2 days ago, I also saw this pokemon and starded building a deck around it. If you would like, you can check it out. But i know what you mean with the big damage it does, and it plays realy refreshing. So i gonne try your deck out on the ladder, lets see where it takes me hahah.

VukManga avatar
VukManga

Team Rocket was always my inspiration , since I despise goody two shoes stories and characters in the animated series. By the way, the story of this deck began for me when I pulled a Mega Chandelure ex out of a booster pack I got in my local supermarket. Just after I grinded the way up to Master League the decision was made to share it with others. Since that I noticed your expanded list , and then the gift variant in the game itself. This is one heavy hitting Pokemon most definitely, and your variant for expanded with Galar Mines is extra evil. I am happy you like it.

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