Articuno Lock Basic Spread Control Single Prize

One of the most unique decks in the format, Articuno Regirock, or Articuno Lock, is in a way the successor to Shock Lock: a deck that controls the game by paralyzing the opponent, except this one usually (but not necessarily) wins by taking Prizes.

Articuno's Wild Freeze deals 70 damage and paralyses the opponent. It also deals 50 damage to Articuno itself, but this damage can be avoided with a Protection Cube, allowing it to simply prevent the opponent from attacking. The main way to get out of Paralysis in Expanded is Guzma, but that only works if there's a Pokémon on the bench to bring up; Articuno Lock will only bench Regirock, on which Guzma fails because of Omega Barrier, to prevent that. Then, the deck can either keep attacking and taking Prizes, or spread damage around by bringing up various Pokémon with Counter Catcher. The deck used to use Tapu Lele (powered by Counter Energy) to then win in a single turn with Magical Swap, but more recent versions use Regieleki instead to KO multiple Pokémon in one attack.

Because the deck can't play any Pokémon apart from its attacker and Regirock, there is no Pokémon-based draw engine at all. However, it can instead use Green's Exploration to search for the pieces it needs each turn. Because it rarely takes Prizes, it is not weak to the usual hand disruption cards such as N and Iono.

Articuno Lock is a very unique deck, though the fact that it can't play any Pokémon with Abilities means its options are inherently limited.