Rotation for Dummies Part One: the Future Top Decks in the Pokémon TCG

Rotation For Dummies Part One: the Future Top Decks in the Pokémon TCG

Hey everyone, Professor Teej here! With the incoming release of Perfect Order on March 27, The Pokémon Trading Card Game will undergo its yearly rotation two weeks later, on April 10. Read on to discover what this means for you as a Pokémon player, and how to best prepare for the future!

What is Rotation? 

Rotation is something that happens in Pokémon TCG (and most other TCGs) once per year, where older cards are phased out of being legal to play at events, from Pokémon Wednesdays at JPP, to Regional Championships. 

Which Cards are Rotating?

Cards that were previously legal in the format had the regulation marks, G, H, and I. Each year, the first letter in the format rotates and a new one is added (J). This means that any card with the Regulation mark G will no longer be legal to play.

**Note: Trainer cards with the regulation mark G that have been reprinted in more recent sets with newer regulation marks are still legal for competitive play. You may still use the old printing of the card. Example: the printing of “Boss’s Orders” from "Paldea Evolved” is still legal to be used, since Boss’s Orders was reprinted in “Mega Evolution” with the regulation mark I.**

Why Does This Happen?

There are three big reasons for rotation in Pokémon TCG as well as other TCGs:

• It keeps the Metagame fresh. Cards that previously dominated the Meta will go away, which gives the opportunity for new cards and new decks to shine. This keeps the game fresh, especially after dealing with decks that were competitive for all three years of its legality (such as Gardevoir ex from Scarlet and Violet base set).
  
• It keeps the Game accessible and affordable. As certain sets start to become out of print and harder to find (see Scarlet and Violet 151), it becomes harder to find competitive staples from those sets, especially for Pokémon that were never reprinted during its legality. Pokémon is actually the cheapest card game to play, as there is currently not a single competitive deck that costs more than $75 (this is not the case for any other card game). Part of why this is the case is because of rotation.
  
• At the end of the day, the Pokémon company wants you to buy more cards.

What Does This Mean For Me As a Player?

If you have a deck that mainly features cards with regulation G, such as Charizard ex, Gardevoir ex, or Gholdengo ex, it’s time to find a new deck. OR even if you have a deck that still will have legal cards, it might not be as competitive as it once was thanks to the meta shifting that comes with rotation. Regardless, it definitely isn’t a bad idea to try out some new decks.

Since Pokémon TCG products release in Japan before they do in the States, we can look overseas and look at tournament results to get a general idea of what the new meta will look like. After examining the tournament results in Japan, I have accumulated six decks that I believe are worth investing in. Fortunately, all of these decks primarily feature cards that are already out, so you won’t have to wait until the release of Perfect Order to create an entire deck if you don’t want to.

DECK #1: MEGA LUCARIO EX 

Mega Lucario ex (MEG 77) is a deck that hasn’t seen a ton of play in this current format, but this is mainly due to the massive success of Gardevoir ex, which is a deck that hits Mega Lucario for weakness. Gardevoir also vastly wins the prize trade against Mega Lucario, so the rotation of Gardevoir will eliminate the deck’s worst current matchup. Fighting as a type has a lot of support in trainer cards such as Fighting Gong (MEG 116), Premium Power Pro (MEG 124), as well as great support Pokémon such as Solrock (MEG 75) and Lunatone (74). You also have a built in gust by evolving into Hariyama (MEG 73), a great single-prize attacker that can knock out quite a few popular 2 prize Pokémon. 

Pros:

•  As mentioned above, fighting has a TON of trainer support, with Fighting Gong allowing you to set up your Pokémon, Premium Power Pro to help you attack for huge damage.
  
• Solrock/Lunatone is a great draw engine, which also goes hand in hand with the energy acceleration in Mega Lucario’s first attack, “Aura Jab,”
  
• Mega Lucario’s “Mega Brave” attack can swing for 270 base damage for 2 energy, which is already great damage for the cost, but the deck easily has the ability to swing for even more, making it easy to knock out other mega Pokémon and take 3 prize cards.
  
• Hariyama is a viable single-prize attacker, allowing you to control the prize trade in the mid/late game. 

Cons:

• As is the problem with all Mega Pokémon, they give up 3 prize cards after being knocked out, which is half the amount needed to win the game. This means that other decks that don’t have three-prizers will likely have good matchups against Lucario if they can do enough damage or hit Lucario for weakness.
  
• Mega Lucario’s “Mega Brave” says “During your next turn, this Pokémon can’t use Mega Brave,” which means that to consistently use “Mega Brave” you will have to set up multiple Mega Lucarios, and/or deal with swapping your Pokémon out of the active spot to reset the effect.

TJ’s recommended decklist:

DECK #2: ALAKAZAM

One of my personal favorite Pokémon, Alakazam is a really interesting, mostly single-prize deck that draws a LOT of cards thanks to the abilities of the entire evolution line, and the ability to use the excessive card draw to swing for big numbers. Featuring almost entirely Pokémon that do not have rule boxes, this will definitely be the cheapest of any of the decks featured in this article. 

Pros:

• Card. Draw. Alakazam (MEG 56)’s evolution line draws cards when you evolve the Pokémon, but Dudunsparce (TEF 129) allows you to have an infinite card draw engine, since it allows you to draw cards and then shuffle Dudunsparce (and all attached cards, such as Enriching Energy (SSP 191)) into your deck. Being able to draw this amount of cards allows your deck to function consistently. 
  
• Alakazam’s amount of damage is directly tied to the number of cards in your hand, so drawing so many cards allows you to swing for way more damage than most other single-prize Pokémon. In my experience with the deck, I have found it very easy to draw enough cards to do 250+ damage, sometimes getting as high as 500 damage, which is plenty to knock out any Pokémon in the format.
  
• Being a predominantly single-prize deck and being able to swing for high numbers gives you a great matchup against decks with Mega Pokémon, such as Mega Lucario.

Cons: 

• Alakazam’s attack “Powerful Hand” technically  doesn’t do any damage, it places damage counters. This is considered an effect of an attack, so the deck struggles against decks that utilize Mist Energy (TEF 161), or any other card that prevents the effects of attacks. If you don’t have a way to deal with that counter, you will simply lose.
• This deck also loses hard to decks that utilize hand disruption. Even though one of the better hand disruptors is rotating out in Iono (PAL 185), the deck will still have to deal with cards like the reprinted Judge (POR 76), and especially Xerosic’s Machinations (SFA 64).

TJ’s recommended decklist:

DECK #3: TEAM ROCKET’S MEWTWO EX

I’ll admit it. This was a deck that I definitely was a hater of when it first came out. Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex (DRI 81) can only attack for 280 base damage, which is not a huge number, especially when you consider the new Mega Pokémon in the format. Despite this, I think the deck is in a better position going into this format, since it actually has a great matchup against both Mega Lucario and Alakazam. Combine this with a ton of unique trainer support, and you have yourself a deck that can contend with some of the best.

Pros:

• Mewtwo’s base damage doesn’t matter when one of the best decks in the format (Mega Lucario) is weak to psychic, allowing you to easily take 3 prize cards and only give up 2. 
  
• Team Rocket’s Articuno (DRI 51) basically autowins against the Alakazam deck, since its ability protects your basic Team Rocket’s Pokémon from the effects of attacks, meaning Alakazam can’t damage Mewtwo, or even Articuno.  
  
• You have the ability to create a board state of entirely single-prize Pokémon, like Team Rocket’s Spidops (DRI 20), and still do a half-decent amount of damage.
  
• You can find the Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex League Battle Deck at Just Press Play, allowing you to have almost everything you need to compete in the new meta with just one product!

Cons:

• As mentioned earlier, 280 is not a lot of damage, especially considering the Mega Pokémon. You can use Maximum Belt (PRE 117) as your Ace Spec to bring that damage up to 330, which is a lot better of a number, but this is still not an excellent solution that you can consistently use. 
  
• Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex is slightly held back by its ability, where the Pokémon can’t attack if you have less than 4 or more Team Rocket’s Pokémon in play.

TJ’s recommended decklist:

DECK #4: DRAGAPULT EX

Dragapult ex (TWM 130) is already a deck that was very competitive in the previous format, and it is the only deck out of the previous “Big 4” that doesn’t rotate. This deck is by far the most-played deck in Japan right now, especially considering one of its worst matchups rotates (once again, Gardevoir ex). Dragapult ex does great spread damage as well, allowing you to punish decks that have single-prizers, and take multi-prize turns. I have often seen Dragapult take turns that earn them 3 or more prize cards, even 6 in one turn! There are two popular Dragapult archetypes, one featuring Dusknoir (SFA 20), and the other featuring Blaziken ex (JTG 24). Recently I have preferred the Blaziken variant as it serves as good energy acceleration, but also serves as a tech against grass decks, which have been rising in popularity (more on that later). 

Pros:

• The cards in Dragapult ex have been consistently reprinted in newer sets such as Prismatic Evolutions, and will even have illustration rares printed in Ascended Heroes, providing an abundance of opportunity to find the necessary cards.
  
• Dragapult ex’s attack “Phantom Dive” gives you the chance to knock out multiple Pokémon in one turn. There are not too many other decks right now that can do this.
• Drakloak’s (TWM 129) ability “Recon Directive” lets you look at the top 2 cards in your deck, put one in your hand, and the other on the bottom of your deck. This is a good engine to see more cards, but also maintain consistency in getting the cards you need right now and not the ones you don’t.

Cons:

• This is not a very linear deck to play in the way that Mega Lucario and Alakazam are. It is a lot of planning multiple turns in advance, and a good amount of math, at least more than other popular decks. This is not a deck I would personally recommend for beginners.
  
• Dusclops (SFA 19) and Dusknoir (SFA 20) will be harder to utilize going into rotation, especially as more people include Psyduck (MEP 007 / ASC 226) in their deck to prevent Dusclops/Dusknoir to use their abilities. The rotation of Klefki (SVI 96) makes it harder for Dragapult players to shut off Psyduck’s ability, making it more difficult to get value out of the Pokémon that were very helpful to Dragapult.

TJ’s recommended decklists:

DECK #5: ARBOLIVA EX 

Pros:

• Grass has a TON of trainer support with Forest of Vitality, Bug Catching Set, Teal Mask Ogerpon, etc. It is also a well-positioned type in the meta right now as there are multiple popular Dark-type decks.
  
• I frequently have been able to swing for 300+ damage during the end game consistently, which not many other decks can do.
  
• If you set up fast enough, Arboliva can take 2 prizes on your second turn, and can completely cripple your opponent’s board. 

Cons:

• If you can’t find Forest of Vitality, at least for one turn, your opponent can get set up before you, and it can be hard to catch up.
  
• The deck can also be susceptible to Budew (PRE 4)'s item lock, especially since you rely heavily on items such as Bug Catching Set or Poké Pad (ASC 198) to find your Pokémon / energy.

TJ’s recommended decklist:

DECK #6: OGERPON EX / CLEFAIRY EX (TERA BOX)

Finally, here’s another deck that features one of my faves in Ogerpon. This is a variation of a deck that was popular last format called “Tera Box.” A Box style deck means that you have many different attacking options to handle the entire meta. While this deck doesn’t have as many attacker options, you still have enough attackers to handle many different opponents. You can draw and accelerate energy with Teal Mask Ogerpon ex, you can stall / bench snipe with Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex (TWM 64), and you can close out games / One-shot your opponent with Lillie’s Clefairy ex (JTG 56) or Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex (TWM 141). The “big basic” approach to tera box is really neat, since you are less susceptible to your opponent bench sniping you, which was definitely an issue for the previous Tera box. 

Pros:

• Big Basics, especially those that only give up 2 prizes, are very viable right now since there is a lot of bench sniping in Arboliva / Wellspring Mask Ogerpon as well as Dragapult ex’s Phantom Dive. Neither of these strategies bother this new Tera Box very much.
• With a rainbow of attackers, you have the opportunity to hit many prevalent decks for weakness.
  
• Cyrano (SSP 170) makes this deck set up incredibly fast, and it is very easy to find this supporter with a new card that nearly every deck should be playing, Meowth ex (POR 62), or Pokégear 3.0 (BLK 84)
  

Cons:

• This is a deck that really wants to go second to ensure fast setup, if you go first and don’t have a super playable hand, it can be easy to “brick” and get outpaced by your opponent.
  
• Decks with this many options are often difficult to play as their strategies are not linear. You really have to understand the meta and what your opponent is playing. While this deck has the potential to be very strong, I wouldn’t personally recommend it for beginners.

TJ’s recommended decklist: 

And there you have it! Now you know what Rotation is in the Pokémon TCG, and now you have six decklists to test out and succeed early in the new format! If you’re looking for singles, sealed product, accessories for your new decks, or a PlaySpace to test these decks out, look no further than Just Press Play!