Top 5 Crown Zenith Cards

What’s poppin’ PTCGO Store readers? Have you started looking at all of the fantastic cards from Pokemon TCG’s latest set, Crown Zenith? I’ve been preparing for the 2023 Oceania International Championships in Melbourne, Australia and I’m here to share my early findings. At the time of me writing this article the set has basically been fully released, we have limited official English images, but I have a bunch of Japanese translations from trustworthy sites. I guess what I’m trying to say is that it is early so don’t necessarily come after me if some of these card names slightly change when translated into English or if there is an amazing card that I happened to miss out on. While this set does contain a bunch of reprints, there are quite a few awesome new cards to play around with as we round out the Sword and Shield era with one last set! If you’re trying to pick up any Crown Zenith codes to build some new decks, be sure to use code zlesage5 right here at ptcgostore.com to save 5% off your order. Super fast delivery right to your email and a large selection of codes! That being said, let’s jump right into this list!

Starting off with Rotom VSTAR [Crown Zenith], this is a card that many thought we were going to receive in Silver Tempest, but it seemed like it was skipped over for some reason! The goal of this card is to find ways to discard Pokemon Tool cards to power up its Scrap Pulse attack to OHKO anything! Attacks that can scale their damage quite often see success and I could seriously see Rotom VSTAR seeing success in some ways! Since this Pokemon is Lightning-type, it should see success against Lugia VSTAR [Silver Tempest] because of Weakness, and it might even scale high enough to OHKO an Eternatus VMAX [Darkness Ablaze]. It does have its nifty Conversion Star Ability that allows you to discard any number of cards from your hand and draw that many cards from your deck! I’m sure most will use that Ability to discard a few Pokemon Tool cards and ramp up the damage potential of Scrap Pulse!

Similar to Talonflame [Steam Siege], Luxray [Crown Zenith] can sneak its way into play with its Explosiveness Ability! If Luxray is in your starting hand, you can play it down as your Active Pokemon! It gives you a much better start than most other Pokemon, it has an Energy efficient attack that can fetch Trainer Cards out of your deck, and it has free Retreat! I’m not sure if this card will see play day one, month one, or even in 2023, but if history repeats itself, this card will definitely see some play at some point! Similarly to Rotom VSTAR, being Lightning-type can certainly be a bonus in this format. Not only for Lugia VSTAR, but Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR [Astral Radiance] is still seeing some play at top tables!

Upon first reading, I’m sure many of you are thinking about the Zamazenta VSTAR [Crown Zenith] that gets released in this set, but I’m talking about the Basic Zamazenta [Crown Zenith]. In our Lost Zone Box decks, this card seems like a sizable replacement for Snorlax [Lost Origin], and can pack a huge punch for a Basic Pokemon. After getting some cards in your Lost Zone with Comfey [Lost Origin] and Colress’s Experiment [Lost Origin], you can Mirage Gate [Lost Origin] on to Zamazenta to attack with Retaliate! If you don’t think it does enough damage, think again! You can OHKO a Stoutland V [Battle Styles] without any damage modifiers and that is a huge plus for the deck! I still need to figure out how to fit it in, but I’m sure it will find its way in a few decks!

This is a card that surprised me and I think we all like surprises! Giving your Basic Pokemon V the option to draw an extra Prize Card when they OHKO a Pokemon can be a huge opportunity to steal a game! I immediately think this card will find a home in Lost Zone Box decks because you can slap it on a Drapion V [Lost Origin] and OHKO a Mew VMAX [Fusion Strike] to draw four Prize Cards for zero Energy! I can also see this card being slapped on a Genesect V [Fusion Strike], playing a few Power Tablet [Fusion Strike], and scoring a massive OHKO out of nowhere! Considering this card is very splashable in many decks that feature Basic Pokemon V, I’m sure we will see some creative uses for Sky Seal Stone!

We’ve made it to the best card in all of Crown Zenith, Radiant Eternatus [Crown Zenith]! Its Climatic Gate Ability allows you to search through your deck for up to two Pokemon VMAX and put them on your Bench! That means you can summon the likes of Duraludon VMAX [Evolving Skies], Flying Pikachu VMAX [Celebrations], and maybe even Espeon VMAX [Evolving Skies]. It does end your turn, but you have the blessing of not starting with awkward Pokemon V that you’d rather not have in the Active Spot! In most cases, this deck will be using a Lost Zone Box engine to eventually power up your Pokemon VMAX with Mirage Gate which gives you more flexibility than most decks! Only time will tell if this card will live up to the hype, but this card seems absolutely metagame changing!

After looking at these five amazing cards, are you hyped? Did I miss any cards that you are hyped for? I do wanna say that the above cards are geared to more of the competitive player base, but there are many collectable cards in this set too. If you look at the Gold Alternate Alt Arceus VSTAR [Crown Zenith] or the Full Art Gardenia’s Vigor [Crown Zenith], you can’t help feeling that you wanna crack open some packs. This set is jam packed with a few playables, a bunch of collectables, and so much more! If you haven’t already, feel free to use code zlesage5 to save 5% when picking Pokemon TCG Live Codes up from ptcgostore.com! For me, I’m ready to play the first major event in this Crown Zenith format in Orlando, Florida for their Regional Championships and the 2023 Oceania International Championships in Melbourne, Australia shortly after! Stay tuned for some more awesome content and I’ll catch up with all of you later! Happy testing,

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.