The Best Post Rotation Decks

What’s poppin’ PTCGO Store readers? Are you getting hyped for our new 2023 Pokemon TCG Post Rotation format? I know that I am because I’ve played against one too many Lugia VSTAR (Silver Tempest) decks, and I know a lot of the community feels the same way! If you wanna know what I’m talking about, we are going to be losing cards in our Standard format starting on April 14, 2023. Losing cards might seem like a bad thing, but it allows different cards to shine, and we will be getting our new Scarlet and Violet set very soon too! The cards that we are losing are effectively Sword and Shield to Shining Fates, which are mainly the cards that are “D” block regulation (which can be found in the bottom left-hand corner of cards). Everything “E” block and forward will be legal for play! In this article, I’m going to share some of the best post Rotation Pokemon TCG decks that are performing in Japan. While I’m sure the metagame will change as the rest of the globe gets their hands on Scarlet and Violet cards, this is a solid list a few months out before it actually happens. If you wanna get a head start on building some of these decks, like Giratina VSTAR (Lost Origin), pick up some PTCG Live code cards right here at the PTCGO store. As an added bonus, you can use the code zlesage5 to save 5% and support me as a player too! I wish you the best on your pulls on Live! Let’s jump into our number 5 deck!

Winning the Kagoshima League Championship in February, Gardevoir ex seems like it is going to be one of the early heavy hitters from Scarlet and Violet. It rests its strength on being able to accelerate many Energy in turn, and you can aggressively attack with the various Psychic-type Pokemon in this deck! Like most successful decks, it features a blend of single Prize Card attackers and multi Prize Card attackers to shake things up against your opponent. As an added bonus, Kirlia (Silver Tempest) allows you to draw cards which gives this deck extra built-in draw support! In my experience playing the Pokemon TCG competitively since 2005, decks that can accelerate Energy are usually some of the better decks in their particular format, so be sure to give this deck a solid try once it comes out! If I had any suggestions about the below list, I think the Supporter line might end up needing some work, but Gallade (Astral Radiance) also might be the reason why there are so many one-offs. I still need more practice with this archetype, so I’ll definitely have to give an update on it in the future! Let’s check out this winning deck from Japan:

3 Gardevoir ex SVI

2 Gardevoir CRE

2 Gallade ASR

3 Kirlia SIT

1 Kirlia CRE

4 Ralts ASR

1 Zacian V CEL

1 Cresselia LOR

1 Manaphy BRS

1 Radiant Greninja ASR

2 Temple of Sinnoh ASR

2 Professor’s Research SVI

2 Judge SVI

2 Boss’s Orders SVI

1 Worker SIT

1 Thorton LOR

1 Roxanne ASR

1 Emergency Jelly SIT

4 Fog Crystal CRE

4 Level Ball BST

3 Rare Candy SVI

3 Ultra Ball SVI

2 Nest Ball SVI

1 Pal Pad SVI

1 Picnic Basket SVI

11 Psychic Energy

Winning the Tokyo Akihabara City League in February, Regieleki VMAX / Miraidon ex seems to be one of the most popular decks coming out of Japan. It features the newly released Miraidon ex that allows you to find all of your Lightning-type Pokemon early game, which plays directly into the strategy of Regieleki VMAX. You see, you wanna get out a bunch of Regieleki V (Silver Tempest) to quickly get out Regieleki VMAX to increase the damage output of all of your Lightning-type Pokemon. You can also use the new Electricity Generator card to accelerate Energy to your Lightning-type Pokemon, which gives this deck a well-rounded feel. Think about all of the boxes we are checking off. Pokemon search… Check! Energy acceleration…Check! Damage Modifiers… Check! This deck seemingly has it all, and I’m sure it will have an impact on our global metagame as soon as Scarlet and Violet is released. I have seen a few other lists that focus more on using Regieleki V as a switching Pokemon into Klefki, so those might end up being better than this list, but this list seems like a great starting point! Let’s take a look at this sweet list:

4 Regieleki VMAX SIT

4 Regieleki V SIT

1 Flying Pikachu VMAX CEL

1 Flying Pikachu V CEL

3 Miraidon ex SVI

1 Raikou V BRS

1 Flaaffy EVS

1 Mareep SVI

1 Klefki SVI

1 Drapion V LOR

2 Beach Court SVI

1 Temple of Sinnoh ASR

4 Professor’s Research SVI

2 Serena SIT

2 Colress’s Experiment LOR

2 Boss’s Orders LOR

1 Roxanne ASR

1 Judge SVI

2 Forest Seal Stone SIT

4 Electricity Generator SVI

3 Nest Ball SVI

3 Ultra Ball SVI

1 Escape Rope BST

1 Switch Cart ASR

13 Lightning Energy

Seeing success in Japan, Lost Zone Box makes its way into our new post Rotation metagame as a previously existing deck! We go back to the earlier Lost Origin metagame for this list by including Radiant Charizard (Crown Zenith) and Magma Basin (Brilliant Stars). I didn’t necessarily think we were going to see many Comfey (Lost Origin) based decks after losing Scoop Up Net in the Rotation, but it seems like Switch Cart, Escape Rope, and Switch are able to take its place. Like any other Lost Zone Box deck, this deck aims to get cards in your Lost Zone by using Flower Gathering and Colress’s Experiement (Lost Origin). Once you get 4, 7, and 10 in the Lost Zone, you can attack with Cramorant, accelerate Energy with Mirage Gate, and attack with Sableye (Lost Origin), respectively. With Lost Zone Box recently winning the 2023 Oceania International Championships in Melbourne, Australia, I think many players are going to flock to this list based on its previous success! I’m sure we’ll see plenty of Lost Zone Box decks at the top tables, so let’s check out this list:

3 Sableye LOR

2 Cramorant LOR

1 Radiant Charizard CRZ

4 Comfey LOR

1 Manaphy BRS

1 Magma Basin BRS

4 Colress’s Experiment LOR

3 Roxanne ASR

3 Klara CRE

1 Raihan EVS

1 Boss’s Orders LOR

3 Choice Belt SVI

4 Pokegear 3.0 SVI

4 Cross Switcher FST

4 Battle VIP Pass FST

4 Switch Cart ASR

4 Escape Rope BST

3 Nest Ball SVI

3 Fog Crystal CRE

1 Hisuian Heavy Ball ASR

1 Mirage Gate LOR

1 Echoing Horn CRE

3 Psychic Energy

2 Fire Energy

Winning the Tokyo Machida City League in February, Mew VMAX (Fusion Strike) is another one of the top-performing decks coming right out of Japan! Similarly to Lost Zone Box, Mew VMAX has been seeing success since its release in Fusion Strike and it doesn’t look like it is slowing down post Rotation. Compared to other decks, like Lugia VSTAR, that lost quite a few of their “D” block cards, Mew VMAX has effectively only lost Quick Ball (Sword and Shield), which has easily been replaced with Nest Ball from Scarlet and Violet. With all of the main Pokemon staying in, this deck can easily flourish in the current metagame by remaining true to its Fusion Strike core. The deck is still all about accelerating Fusion Strike Energy (Fusion Strike), drawing cards with Genesect V (Fusion Strike), and copying attacks with Mew VMAX. Let’s check out this winning list from Japan!

3 Mew VMAX FST

3 Mew V FST

4 Genesect V FST

2 Deoxys FST

1 Meloetta FST

1 Lost City LOR

1 Path to the Peak CRE

1 Crystal Cave EVS

2 Elesa’s Sparkle FST

2 Boss’s Orders LOR

1 Roxanne ASR

1 Judge SVI

2 Forest Seal Stone SIT

2 Choice Belt SVI

4 Battle VIP Pass FST

4 Cram-o-matic FST

4 Ultra Ball SVI

4 Power Tablet FST

2 Lost Vacuum LOR

2 Escape Rope BST

2 Nest Ball SVI

1 Hisuian Heavy Ball ASR

1 Feather Ball ASR

1 Switch Cart ASR

1 Echoing Horn CRE

4 Fusion Strike Energy FST

3 Double Turbo Energy BRS

Winning the Chiba City League in February, Giratina VSTAR has found its way to the top of the metagame in our post Rotation metagame! It's been an interesting case for this archetype because it was tier 1 in our Lost Origin metagame, it was largely absent for the release of Silver Tempest because of Lugia VSTAR, and now it seems like it should be fine. Lots of counters to the deck, like Yveltal (Shining Fates), have rotated out of the format, which gives this deck a chance it deserves to shine. It is based on a traditionally Lost Zone Box deck (see number 3 above), but you get the power from Giratina VSTAR to OHKO anything. In plenty of games, you’ll find yourself swinging for 280 damage, building up cards in the Lost Zone, and using your VSTAR attack to OHKO your opponent’s Active Pokemon. This type of strength is hard to come by and is the reason why this deck is placed so high on the list. I’ll go more in-depth on Giratina VSTAR in the future, but for now, we can take a look at this winning list from Japan:

4 Comfey LOR

2 Cramorant LOR

2 Sableye LOR

3 Giratina VSTAR LOR

3 Giratina V LOR

1 Manaphy ASR

1 Drapion V LOR

1 Radiant Greninja ASR

1 Beach Court SVI

1 Temple of Sinnoh ASR

4 Colress’s Experiment LOR

2 Boss’s Orders LOR

2 Roxanne ASR

1 Klara CRE

1 Raihan EVS

4 Battle VIP Pass FST

4 Mirage Gate LOR

4 Switch Cart ASR

3 Nest Ball SVI

2 Escape Rope BST

1 Energy Recycler BST

1 Hisuian Heavy Ball ASR

1 Switch SVI

4 Psychic Energy

4 Grass Energy

3 Water Energy

I hope this article has helped you understand our new “E”-block on / Battle Styles to Scarlet and Violet format a bit more! I love how it is a mix of new decks, previously existing decks, and maybe even more! We’ve effectively been playing in a Lugia VSTAR and Lost Zone Box metagame since late October, so a change in scenery will be nice! All of these decks will be available to play on PTCG Live when Rotation happens early there March 31, 2023, and the first major tournament to play these cards in real life will be the 2023 European International Championships in London, United Kingdom. As for me, I’ll be going to EUIC and a bunch of other tournaments to round the season out (as well as playing in the Late Night Events when I can). Like I said above, PTCGO Store is the best place to pick up codes for PTCG Live so you can build up your collection quickly! Yeah, PTCG Live is free to play, but you might not always have enough Credits to build all of the decks that you want. By completing sets (which is acquiring 400 Codes of any particular set), you’ll earn plenty of Credits to acquire any cards you want! And you can save 5% off codes by using the code zlesage5! Stay tuned for a few other articles from me coming up soon based on the best decks, latest events, and more! Thanks for reading!

Zach Lesage is a contributing writer for PTCGOStore.com. As a Toronto local, he has been playing the Pokemon Trading Card Game since 2005 and creates Pokemon content as his full time career. With multiple prestigious accomplishments in the game, such as 2020 Players Cup 2 Champion and 2020 Oceania International Championships Finalist, he has proven his success in the game. Outside of the game, he travels the world, enjoys the culture of designer streetwear, and is a professionally trained chef. You can catch him at most Pokemon events and follow him on Twitter @ZachLesagePTCG.