Metanite (TCG)

Metanite
Metagross δ and Dragonite δ Types used Major cards Metagross δ, Dragonite δ, Holon's Castform, Holon Transceiver, Rare Candy Era 2006-2007

Metanite was a Pokémon Trading Card Game deck archetype that utilized the Holon Engine to take advantage of the obvious synergy between Metagross δ's Crush and Burn attack and Dragonite δ's Delta Charge Poké-Power. The deck saw play almost immediately after the release of Metagross δ, Dragonite δ, and Holon Transceiver in the EX Delta Species expansion. When it received additional support in the form of Holon's Castform and others in the EX Holon Phantoms expansion, many competitive players declared it the ultimate deck to beat. It was one of three dominant archetypes to be broken down in the July 2007 issue of Beckett Pokémon Unofficial Collector, the other two being Raieggs and a simplistic variant of R-Gon. The deck remained extremely popular until EX Delta Species rotated later that year, rendering it unviable.

Strategy

Holon's Castform

Holon's Castform is the ideal starting Pokémon for the deck, giving the player additional drawing ability early in the game. Set up involves bringing cards such as Beldum δ, Dratini δ, and Nidoran♀ δ onto the Bench and evolving them into their final forms as soon as possible. The Holon Engine burns through the deck quickly, giving the player all the hand support they need after Holon's Castform is Knocked Out. Once the player has evolved Beldum δ to Metagross δ and one or more Dratini δ into Dragonite δ, the idea is to make Metagross δ the Active Pokémon and begin discarding Energy cards while using Dragonite δ's Delta Charge Poké-Power to bring them back and continuously deal huge damage with Crush and Burn. If Metagross δ is Knocked Out, a Dragonite δ can be used to finish the job.

Key Cards

• Metagross δ – Metagross δ was the deck's main attacker. Its Crush and Burn attack, combined with Dragonite δ's Delta Charge Poké-Power could consistently deal massive damage to opposing Pokémon. Metagross δ's Delta Control Poké-Power greatly benefited the deck's consistency as well. It allowed a player to choose one of the top four cards of their deck and add them to their hand. The other three cards were returned to the deck.
• Dragonite δ – Dragonite δ's Delta Charge Poké-Power had perfect synergy with Metagross δ. When Energies were discarded via Crush and Burn, Delta Charge could simply return them to the field on the player's next turn, allowing for a consistently high damage output.
• Holon's Castform – Holon's Castform was the deck's ideal starting Pokémon. For , its Delta Draw attack allowed the player to draw one card for each δ Pokémon they had in play. With Holon Mentor, the chances of being able to Delta Draw several cards early in the game were high. Holon's Castform often allowed Metanite to build up a massive hand by the third or fourth turn, or forced the opponent to expend resources to knock it out early. It was all the more versatile since it could be attached as a Special Energy card later in the game, making techs such as Latios playable.
• Holon Transceiver – Arguably the most important Trainer card in the deck, Holon Transceiver ensured that the Metanite player had access to whatever Supporter would be most valuable at any given time. Most importantly, Holon Transceiver increased the chances of a player getting Holon Mentor turn one, and being able to Delta Draw for multiple cards. A more in-depth description of the card's uses can be found in the Holon Engine article.
• Rare Candy – Rare Candy has been a critical card in Stage 2-centric decks throughout the game's history. By allowing the player to skip an evolution, they could evolve directly from Dratini δ to Dragonite δ and Beldum δ to Metagross δ, thus greatly increasing the deck's speed and consistency.

Typical deck list

The deck list appearing below is not official; it is meant to represent an average build of the archetype, not specifically constructed for any regional metagame. Being that this is merely an archetype, a player may wish to change any part of this deck when building his or her own version.

Quantity	Card	Type	Rarity
3×	Metagross δ
1×	Metagross
2×	Metang δ
4×	Beldum δ
3×	Dragonite δ
2×	Dragonair δ
3×	Dratini δ
4×	Holon's Castform
1×	Latios
4×	Holon Mentor	T [Su]
3×	Holon Adventurer	T [Su]
2×	Holon Researcher	T [Su]
1×	Holon Farmer	T [Su]
4×	Holon Transceiver	T
4×	Rare Candy	T
2×	Switch	T
1×	Windstorm	T
2×	Holon Ruins	T [St]
4×	Metal Energy	E
10×	Lightning Energy	E	—

Restriction

After the 2007 World Championships, the EX Delta Species expansion was restricted from Play! Pokémon by the rotation, and Metagross δ, Dragonite δ, and most of the Holon Engine went with it, rendering the deck completely unusable. It was a deck that ruled the game for a long time, and banning it helped begin a whole new format.

This article is part of Project TCG, a Bulbapedia project that aims to report on every aspect of the Pokémon Trading Card Game.