I was actually rooting for the opponent to heal to max so Tyranitar could just one shot Mega Lucario (with Korrina, Arena and Arceus). 😏
The goal of this deck is to get Tyranitar online as quickly as possible. To do that, you’ll stall with Arceus—or even Celebi if needed—until you’re set up. If either gets knocked out, you can bring them back to the bench with Celestic Town Elder. Most of the time, you’ll be targeting Celebi since the deck runs a second Arceus, but in some games you may not need the Elder at all. Don’t lead with Larvitar if you can help it. If you do, then hope you pull the second one so you can start pumping energy ASAP.
Keeping Arceus on the bench is key to maximizing Tyranitar’s damage. That said, bringing Celebi back can also be clutch, especially if you’re able to secure a knockout with Pupitar’s attack and mitigate damage on the opponents next turn. There can also be times you have Tyranitar early but you’re short energy for Land Crush so at least using Guard Press is still doing something.
Tyranitar’s damage scales quickly depending on your setup:
Base: 130
With Arceus: 160
With Arceus + Arena (vs EX): 180
With Arceus + Arena + Korrina (vs EX): 210
With all buffs + Super Effective (vs EX): 230
In the clip you see Dawn in my hand as I was experimenting. It’s very situational—especially in games where you don’t find Larvitar early. You can end up wasting a turn attaching energy to Arceus or Celebi on the bench that will never attack. If you want more consistency and hand control, just use May instead.
Against decks running EX Pokémon, it’s usually best to hold onto Arena until you’re ready to start attacking. Otherwise, if it’s not impactful in the matchup, feel free to play it early or later as a stadium removal.
It’s been really consistent for me but give it a try and let me know how to it works for you and if you’d make any changes.