The Pokemon Trading Card game has a ton of viable strategies at the top of the metagame. One of these decks is the Eternatus VMAX deck. The Pokemon introduced in the Eighth Generation has one of the best VMAX cards out there.
The Eternatus VMAX decks is a Dark-Type focused one that is able to utilize some great support cards. Eternatus VMAX is all about getting Dark-Type Pokemon onto the Bench in order to boost up Eternatus VMAX's attacks. Eternatus VMAX's ability lets you have 8 spaces on the Bench as well instead of just 5, allowing you to boost its Dread End attack to incredibly high numbers.
10 Pokemon Communication
VMAX Pokemon are considered to be Evolution Pokemon, and as such, having them in your hand without a Pokemon to evolve them can be rough. Pokemon Communication can put a Pokemon back into the hand and trade it out for a different Pokemon.
This is useful in order to play around the downside of playing Evolution Pokemon. Having one of the cards without both of them is Evolution card's biggest weakness, so a card that searches them out mitigates that. While going minus 1 in card advantage isn't fantastic, the pay-off is very much worth it to get your engine going.
9 Pal Pad
Pal Pad is a fantastic card that allows you to recycle the best card types in the game back into the deck, Supporter cards. Pal Pads shuffles two Supporter cards from the discard pile back into the deck.
While this effect seems basic at first, being able to use Supporter cards multiple times is incredible. Support cards have some of the best effects in the game and are very excellent to see multiple times in a game. Many of the Supporter cards played generally discard entire hands, so Pal Pad makes it easy to get ones you had to discard back into your hand.
8 Galarian Zigzagoon
Galarian Zigzagoon at first glance doesn't seem like a card that would be great. However, in reality, it's one of the best cards in the game and one that non-Dark decks even run. The fact that Eternaus VMAX benefits from Galarian Zigzagoon's Typing make it so good in the deck.
Its attack is never used, but Galarian Zigzagoon's Ability is why it's played. When put onto the Bench, it allows you to put 1 damage counter on an opponent's Pokemon. While seemingly minuscule, putting Pokemon that much closer to being knocked out is very powerful, no matter how small.
7 Quick Ball
Since Eternatus VMAX is an Evolution card, you want to play multiple ways to get to the Pokemon needed to get it onto the field, be it the base form or the evolution itself. Quick Ball is one of the best searchers when it comes to getting the base Eternatus V.
By discarding 1 card, you can search out any Basic Pokemon from the deck and add it to the hand. This can get you not just Eternatus V, but any other Basic Pokemon you play in the deck if you already have Eternatus VMAX set up.
6 Hiding Darkness Energy
Hiding Darkness Energy is a Special Energy card that as the name implies, gives the Pokemon its attached to Dark Energy. In addition to that, it also gives the Pokemon no Retreat Cost.
In a game where Switch is one of the best cards, being able to Retreat without paying the cost is very powerful. It can take a Pokemon about to be knocked out away from the Active Pokemon position in order to prevent your opponent from taking Prize Cards. It can also easily get a Pokemon that you've already set up in the Active Pokemon spot in order to start snowballing damage to the opponent.
5 Capture Energy
Capture Energy is one of the best Special Energy cards out there. When put onto a Pokemon, it allows you to search your deck for a Basic Pokemon and put it on the Bench. Since Eternaus VMAX is an Evolution card, being able to get its base form out easily makes it so good.
Most of the cards an Eternatus VMAX deck runs don't exclusively need Dark Energy to use their attacks. This means that the fact it only gives you Colorless Energy is a non-issue, as you'll still work towards having enough Energy to attack.
4 Crobat V
Crobat V is another card that tons of deck use for how good it is. The Eternatus VMAX deck gets an extra boost in power thanks to the fact Crobat V is a Dark-Type. Its attack is decent, doing 70 damage while Poisoning the opposing Active Pokemon.
However, its Ability Dark Asset is what makes it so good. When it's put onto the Bench from the hand, you can draw cards until you have 6 cards in your hand. Gaining more cards while boosting the power of Eternatus VMAX is a very powerful combination.
3 Boss's Orders
Boss's Orders is a very simple card, allowing you to switch your opponent's Benched Pokemon with their Active Pokemon. This effect, despite how basic it is, is one of the best in the whole game.
Boss's Orders is especially good in Eternatus VMAX decks combined with Galarian Zigzagoon. This can also make it so Pokemon that have tried to escape to the Bench have to come back out and get hit hard with the boosted up Eternatus VMAX. It can also put out a Pokemon with low to no Energy to stall to set up your own field.
2 Black Market
Black Market is a Prism Star card that is protected from any Item or Supporter card. When on the field, any Dark-Type Pokemon with Dark Energy attached to it that gets knocked out causes 1 fewer Prize card to be taken.
This helps to dampen the downside of using a VMAX Pokemon, as normally if it gets knocked out the opponent gets 3 Prize Cards. Black Market means only 2 will be taken, and only 1 when it comes to regular V Pokemon. Black Market helps to make the "all or nothing" feel of VMAX decks less prominent.
1 Piers
Piers is one of the best Support cards that help out any Dark-Type deck. It lets you search out an Energy card as well as a Dark-Type Pokemon and add them to the hand. This is a plus 1 in card advantage that can spiral into more.
Piers allows you to search out any Energy card, not just Basic Energy. This means it can search out something like Capture Energy to get even more cards onto the field for free. Piers alone can lead to Eternatus V on the field and Eternatus VMAX in the hand.