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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 set, 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 inviable.
Strategy
Holon's Castform is the ideal starter for the deck, giving the player extra drawing early. Setup is very simple, beginning with a Beldum δ,
Dratini δ, and Nidoran♀ δ on 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 their Metagross δ and one or more Dragonite δs, they should probably make Metagross δ their active Pokémon and begin discarding energies and Delta Charging them back to continuously deal huge damage with Crush and Burn. If Metagross δ is knocked out, a Dragonite δ should be sufficient to finish the job at that point.
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 benefitted the deck’s consistency, as well. It allowed a player to choose one of the top four cards of his or her deck and add them to his or her 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 starter Pokémon. For
, its Delta Draw attack allowed the player to draw one card for each δ Pokémon he or she 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 Metanite player to skip an evolution, he or she 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 deckist
The decklist appearing below is not official, and being that this is merely a deck archetype, any player may wish to change any part of this deck when building their own version.
Restriction
After the 2007 TCG World Championships, the EX Delta Species set was restricted from Pokémon Organized Play 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.
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