Almost Time for Scarlet and Violet


Miraidon ex

What’s happenin’ PTCGO Store readers? Are you ready to see some success on the Pokemon TCG Live March ladder? Well, after reading this article, you’ll have access to 5 of the best Pokemon TCG decks to choose from! If you’re new to Pokemon TCG and wanna invest in a solid deck, or if you’ve been playing for a while and wanna up your game, this article is definitely for you! I’ve gathered my personal top 5 decks from various major tournaments using data gathered by the Limitless website! In this article, I’ll share the strategy for each of the below decks, share the lists, and more! If you wanna build any of these decks on PTCG Live, you can pick up some Pokemon TCG Live codes right here at the PTCGO Store! Better yet, you can use code zlesage5 for a 5% discount and use those savings to pick up even more codes! With Scarlet and Violet releasing at the end of this month, all of these decks will be great choices to play before then. Let’s jump into this list!

5. Arceus VSTAR / Duraludon VMAX deck


Arceus VSTAR

Sometimes players like playing certain decks, and sometimes that leads to immense success! In this case, Grant Shen has played Arceus VSTAR [Brilliant Stars] / Duraludon VMAX [Evolving Skies] in a handful of Regionals, and has made Top Cut more often than not! They most recently made the Top 8 at Knoxville Regionals with the deck, and this deck is one of my personal favourites in this format. The goal is really simple! Use Arceus VSTAR to accelerate Energy to your Duraludon VMAX, and use Duraludon VMAX to stop your opponent from doing damage if they have Special Energy attached. Most of the decks in this article are composed of only Special Energy which makes Duraludon VMAX a significant threat in this metagame. On top of that, it goes through anything, and 220 damage can OHKO most Pokemon V. Pair that with Boss’s Orders [Rebel Clash] and we can easily tank a few hits while scoring Prize Cards. If you are looking for an effective deck that is relatively easy to play, try out Arceus VSTAR / Duraludon VMAX:

Pokémon (11)

4 Arceus V BRS 122
2 Arceus VSTAR BRS 123
2 Duraludon V CPA 47
3 Duraludon VMAX CRZ 104

Trainer (36)

4 Colress's Experiment LOR 155
4 Boss's Orders BRS 132
3 Marnie CPA 56
1 Raihan CRZ 140
1 Single Strike Style Mustard BST 134
4 Ultra Ball CRZ 146
4 Pokégear 3.0 SSH 174
3 Quick Ball FST 237
2 Evolution Incense SSH 163
2 Hyper Potion CPA 54
1 Switch CRZ 144
1 Escape Rope BST 125
2 Big Parasol DAA 157
1 Choice Belt BRS 135
3 Lost City LOR 161

Energy (13)

6 Metal Energy 8
4 Double Turbo Energy BRS 151
3 Fighting Energy 6

Arceus Duraludon decklist

4. Regigigas deck


Regigigas

Looking at Sean Caubergh’s Top 8 list from Bochum Regionals, we can see that this core list has remained successful throughout the entire Sword and Shield to Crown Zenith format. The goal of this deck is relatively simple! Get one of each Regi out, discard Special Energy, and power up your favourite attacker with Regigigas’ Ancient WisdomAbility. That means getting out a Regieleki [Evolving Skies], Regigigas, Regice, Registeel, Regirock, and Regidrago [Astral Radiance] in order to use Ancient Wisdom. With access to Capture Energy [Rebel Clash], Quick Ball [Fusion Strike], and Ultra Ball [Crown Zenith], it shouldn’t be too hard to get out at least the 6 Regis. Doing that and getting the right Energy in the Discard Pile is where this deck can be slightly difficult. You’ll have to discard Energy with Profressor’s Research [Sword and Shield], Trekking Shoes [Crown Zenith], and any other card that allows you to pitch them into your Discard Pile. One of my hot tips is to use Aurora Energy [Sword and Shield] to discard other Energy - it's often better than attaching a Capture Energy. There are layers of depth when it comes to this deck, but let's jump into the list:

Pokémon (14)

3 Regigigas ASR 130
2 Regieleki EVS 60
1 Regieleki ASR 51
2 Regice ASR 37
2 Regirock ASR 75
2 Regidrago ASR 118
2 Registeel ASR 108

Trainer (34)

4 Professor's Research BRS 147
3 Marnie CPA 56
2 Serena SIT 164
1 Boss's Orders BRS 132
4 Quick Ball FST 237
4 Scoop Up Net RCL 165
3 Ordinary Rod SSH 171
2 Ultra Ball CRZ 146
2 Trekking Shoes CRZ 145
1 Hisuian Heavy Ball ASR 146
3 Choice Belt BRS 135
1 Cape of Toughness DAA 160
4 Path to the Peak CRE 148

Energy (12)

4 Aurora Energy SSH 186
2 Twin Energy RCL 174
2 Capture Energy RCL 171
2 Gift Energy LOR 171
2 Speed Lightning Energy RCL 173

Regigigas deck

3. Lost Zone Box


Colress's Experiment

While many top players have experimented with Kyogre [Celebrations], Zamazenta [Crown Zenith], and Dragonite V [Evolving Skies] in their Lost Zone Box lists, Nicholas Moffitt has decided to go a different route. Playing Lost Zone Box with Rayquaza [Vivid Voltage] has brought Nicholas much success, and, most recently, a Top 4 placement at Knoxville Regionals. The goal for a Lost Zone Box is going to be using your Lost Zone Box cards to your advantage. Your main counts of getting cards in the Lost Zone are 4 cards in the Lost Zone allows you to attack with Cramorant [Lost Origin], 7 cards in the Lost Zone allow you to play Mirage Gate [Lost Origin], and 10 cards in the Lost Zone allows you to attack with Sableye [Lost Origin]. In this deck, you’ll want to use Cramorant to KO Pokemon with a low amount of HP and to set up damage on those Pokemon to KO with Rayquaza later on. In the mid-to-late game, you’ll wanna use Mirage Gate to power up your Energy-heavy Pokemon, like Raikou [Vivid Voltage] and Rayquaza, to score some valuable Prize Cards. This deck is very technical, but let’s jump into the list!

Pokémon (17)

4 Comfey LOR 79
2 Cramorant LOR 50
2 Sableye LOR 70
2 Rayquaza VIV 138
2 Raikou VIV 50
2 Manaphy BRS 41
1 Galarian Zigzagoon SSH 117
1 Radiant Greninja ASR 46
1 Oranguru SSH 148

Trainer (32)

4 Colress's Experiment LOR 155
3 Raihan CRZ 140
4 Battle VIP Pass FST 225
4 Scoop Up Net RCL 165
4 Mirage Gate LOR 163
3 Quick Ball FST 237
2 Escape Rope BST 125
2 Ordinary Rod SSH 171
2 Switch Cart ASR 154
1 Energy Recycler BST 124
1 Hisuian Heavy Ball ASR 146
1 Air Balloon SSH 156
1 Temple of Sinnoh ASR 155

Energy (11)

3 Grass Energy 1
2 Fighting Energy 6
2 Metal Energy 8
2 Psychic Energy 5
2 Lightning Energy 4

Lost Zone box

2. Mew VMAX / Genesect V deck


Mew VMAX

Mew VMAX / Genesect V [Fusion Strike] has seen plenty of success since it was released in Fusion Strike, and Owyn Kamerman recently placed Top 4 at the 2023 Oceania International Championships in Melbourne, Australia. This list featured an Aerodactyl VSTAR [Lost Origin] to help deal with powerful Abilities, like Lugia VSTAR [Silver Tempest], but is otherwise a relatively normal Mew VMAX list. The goal of this deck is to draw cards with Genesect V, and that requires you to have quite a few Fusion Strike Pokemon in play! Once you are able to set up a Mew VMAX, you can start using Cross Fusion Strike to copy your Fusion Strike Pokemon in play, like Genesect V, to attack with only a Double Turbo Energy [Brilliant Stars]. There are also a few disruption-based cards, like Path to Peak [Chilling Reign], that can be used to slow down your opponent. If you do play a card like a Path to the Peak, make sure that you have an answer for yourself to get around it, like Lost City [Lost Origin], or else you’ll find Genesect V unable to draw cards. Let’s look at this list!

Pokémon (14)

4 Mew V CRZ 60
3 Mew VMAX FST 114
4 Genesect V FST 185
1 Oricorio FST 42
1 Aerodactyl V LOR 92
1 Aerodactyl VSTAR LOR 93

Trainer (42)

3 Judge FST 235
2 Boss's Orders BRS 132
1 Roxanne ASR 150
1 Cyllene ASR 138
4 Power Tablet FST 236
4 Battle VIP Pass FST 225
4 Quick Ball FST 237
4 Ultra Ball CRZ 146
4 Cram-o-matic FST 229
2 Rotom Phone CPA 64
2 Lost Vacuum CRZ 135
2 Escape Rope BST 125
1 Switch CRZ 144
1 Pal Pad SSH 172
1 Forest Seal Stone SIT 156
1 Choice Belt BRS 135
1 Big Parasol DAA 157
2 Lost City LOR 161
2 Path to the Peak CRE 148

Energy (4)

4 Double Turbo Energy BRS 151

Mew VMAX Genesect V deck

1. Lugia VSTAR / Archeops deck


Lugia VSTAR

It's very rare for a player to win two Regionals in one season, but Andrew Hedrick has effectively won back-to-back Regionals with Lugia VSTAR / Archeops [Silver Tempest]! Beyond being a great player, Andrew also played a great deck! The strategy is to quickly discard Archeops so that you can use Summoning Star to summon these Pokemon back into play. Once you are able to accelerate some Special Energy with Archeops, you can power up Lugia VSTAR, and any of your other powerful attackers. This deck cycles through powerful single Prize Card Pokemon and abuses powerful attacks that cost quite a few Energy. One of those Pokemon, Yveltal [Shining Fates], allows you to OHKO your opponent's Active Pokemon - that's a massive attack! There are lots of Pokemon to choose from, but you’ll wanna try to find the ones that work best for each matchup! Let’s look at this list.

Pokémon (20)

4 Archeops SIT 147
3 Lugia V SIT 138
3 Lugia VSTAR SIT 139
2 Lumineon V BRS 40
1 Stoutland V CRZ 116
1 Raikou VIV 50
1 Yveltal SHF 46
1 Radiant Charizard CRZ 20
1 Dunsparce FST 207
1 Manaphy BRS 41
1 Pumpkaboo EVS 76
1 Oranguru SSH 148

Trainer (24)

3 Professor's Research BRS 147
3 Boss's Orders BRS 132
2 Marnie CPA 56
1 Serena SIT 164
1 Irida ASR 147
4 Ultra Ball CRZ 146
4 Evolution Incense SSH 163
4 Quick Ball FST 237
1 Lost Vacuum CRZ 135
1 Choice Belt BRS 135

Energy (16)

4 Powerful Colorless Energy DAA 176
4 Aurora Energy SSH 186
3 Capture Energy RCL 171
2 Double Turbo Energy BRS 151
1 V Guard Energy SIT 169
1 Heat Fire Energy DAA 174
1 Speed Lightning Energy RCL 173

Lugia VSTAR Archeops deck

Next Stop: Rotation


Giratina VSTAR

I hope that you’ve enjoyed reading about these amazing decks, and maybe you’ll even get a chance to play around with them before our format rotates to “E” block on April 14 2023. 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! If you wanna “future-proof” your decks as much as possible, I recommend trying out Mew VMAX / Genesect V and Lost Zone Box. The majority of those cards won’t rotate, and they are already seeing success in Japan (they’ve already had Rotation for a few months). As for me, I get to experience this new format first-hand at the upcoming 2023 European International Championships in London, United Kingdom! I can’t wait to share many awesome Pokemon decks, Pokemon news, and more! If you need to pick up any Pokemon TCG Live codes to build up your collection, pick up some codes right here at the PTCGO Store! And like I said above, you can use code zlesage5 to save 5% off of your order and support me as a writer. Thanks for reading!

About the Writer


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.