Arceus VSTAR / Giratina VSTAR in Standard!

Top of the morning, Trainers! It’s another exciting time in the Pokemon TCG, as we’re at the top of the 2023 season, and players are fighting to earn CP in order to earn a coveted invitation to the 2023 World Championships in Japan! It feels like players from all over are running fresh out the gates in an effort to obtain said invite, especially considering how cool it is that it is hosted in Japan. The format is feeling fresh and vibrant with Lost Origin being released, and we’re now seeing online events trickling with results based on these new archetypes being released. One of the new archetypes that caught my eye is Arceus VSTAR/Giratina VSTAR! It has a highly efficient attacker in Arceus and a powerhouse in Giratina. With this dynamic duo, nothing can stand in their way! Let’s hop over to the strategy of this deck!

I booted up my Pokemon Trading Card Game Online app, loaded up some PTCGO codes, and then traded those Pokemon online codes to trade for this deck. I was very excited, and it honestly didn’t take that many PTCGO codes to make the deck. If you’re looking to buy some codes, we sell them here on PTCGO Store, and I highly urge you to check out our competitive pricing and swift delivery! Let’s talk about the newest way to play Arceus/Giratina!

Giratina VSTAR has some of the most awkward energy requirements to attack in the whole game - that’s where Arceus comes in. Trinity Nova opens up a whole myriad of options to combo this godly Pokémon with, and Giratina is just the newest and most efficient attacker. You start the game off with Arceus V ideally, and with the use of a single Double Turbo Energy (DTE), you can use Trinity Charge to have a Giratina VSTAR ready to go on as early as your second turn. This is one of the biggest strengths of the deck: swarming energy into play and having multiple attackers to choose from. The other caveat I really enjoy with this deck is that it is primarily a Giratina VSTAR deck with Arceus V as support. It doesn’t rely on Arceus VSTAR and runs similarly to how Arceus/Duraludon does. That being said, we still include the VSTAR for its amazing attack and VSTAR Power, mainly because we can’t get enough cards in the Lost Zone to use Star Requiem. This deck has consistency in the early game and a blisteringly powerful late game to sweep a series cleanly from the opponent. You can even discard a Double Turbo Energy to satisfy Giratina VSTAR’s attack clause, allowing you to chain attacks with Giratina with ease. Enough about the strategy; let’s take a peek at the deck list!

4 Arceus V BRS 166

2 Bidoof BRS 120

2 Bibarel BRS 121

2 Arceus VSTAR BRS 184

1 Crobat V LOR 237

1 Galarian Zigzagoon SHF 151

3 Giratina V LOR 130

2 Giratina VSTAR LOR 131

1 Pumpkaboo EVS 76

2 Professor's Research SSH 178

4 Marnie SSH 169　

3 Boss's Orders SHF 58

4 Quick Ball SSH 179　

4 Ultra Ball DEX 102

2 Path to the Peak CRE 148

1 Big Charm SSH 158

2 Evolution Incense SSH 163　

1 Ordinary Rod SSH 171　

2 Choice Belt BRS 135

1 Raihan EVS 152

2 Switch HS 102　

4 Psychic Energy SWSHEnergy 14　

4 Grass Energy SWSHEnergy 10

4 Double Turbo Energy BRS 151

2 Capture Energy DAA 201

2 Arceus VSTAR - Arguably one of the best attackers in format and probably the best VSTAR released, Arceus VSTAR is inherently powerful because of how it can use Double Turbo Energy so well and how easy it is to setup. This 280HP monster only gives up two Prize Cards, which is partially what makes it so strong. It’s only attacking, Trinity Nova accelerates so much energy in play that it can be difficult to keep up with this powerhouse. 200 damage is enough to 2HKO VMAX Pokemon, even with the -20 damage negation on Double Turbo Energy. Starbirth is also a crazy ability, even though you can only use it once a game. Being able to search for any two cards is probably in the top five abilities printed of all time, and it’s very balanced. This card is amazing because of how consistent it is - it refuses to not setup. It has a weakness to Fighting-type (which is a little scary right now due to the splashability of Fighting-type counters) however, Bench Barrier Manaphy from Brilliant Stars has deafened the amount of Urshifu at top tables. Likewise, the release of Double Turbo has only strengthened Mew VMAX as well as other Psychic attackers; this should be enough to keep strong Fighting-type decks at bay and allow Arceus to shine. However, we have partners in this deck for a reason!

4 Arceus V - Most of the time, I dislike many Basic V Pokémon because they are quite underwhelming. However, Arceus V’s first attack can accelerate energy very efficiently and can dish out decent damage with the second attack. It can utilize Double Turbo quite efficiently and can be used in a pinch. Very pleased to see this card actually has utility as opposed to some Pokémon V that we’ve seen printed.

3-2 Giratina VSTAR - The newest partner for Arceus VSTAR, this Pokemon has a lot to offer to this already powerful and proven archetype! Giratina comes with a plethora of pros: 280HP, no weakness, and an attack that packs a punch! As mentioned in the strategy section, we most likely won’t be utilizing this Pokemon’s VSTAR attack based on the terms that we won’t be able to Lost Zone 10 cards before we win the game in most scenarios. That being said, all we need is Giratina’s attack! For a costly Grass, Psychic, and Colourless, we can hit 280 damage for the drawback of needing to place two energy in the Lost Zone. Important to note is that these energies can come from anywhere in play, including benched Pokemon! Since we play Double Turbo Energy, we can simply Lost Zone one of those. Since Giratina is so bulky and good at taking KOs, it’s quite frequent that we’ll take 2-5 Prize Cards with a single Giratina! Arceus V and Arceus VSTAR are perfect partners for this Pokemon because they can help us satisfy this Pokemon’s unique attack cost easily.

2-2 Bibarel - Our consistent Pokemon of choice is none other than everybody’s favourite beaver. Bibarel! This Pokemon is great because we need a Pokemon that is unaffected by Path to the Peak. It is also relatively low-maintenance to setup because it is only a Stage 1, and it can begin providing value as early as our second turn. This card is ideal for helping us recover from Marnie and Roxanne in the late game.

1 Galarian Zigzagoon - The perfect Pokemon to find when we are missing 10 damage, Galarian Zigzagoon really comes to our aid in the mirror match. When we are up against opposing Arceus decks, with a Choice Belt and a Zigzagoon, we can KO our opponent’s Arceus V with our Trinity Nova on the second turn of the game! The reason why we need a little extra damage is that if we’re attacking in the second turn of the game, we’ll need to use a Double Turbo Energy, which will reduce our damage by -20 (effectively allowing us to hit for 180 damage before adding in Choice Belt and Zigzagoon).

1 Pumpkaboo - This Pumpkin Pokemon is in here not only for looking cute but for removing the opposing Path to the Peaks! Sometimes, you’ll even need to remove your own. Since this Stadium is so popular and we don’t play a different Stadium card to remove it, we’ll need another out to get it out of play. That’s where Pumpkaboo comes in: it can be searched out of the deck with a Quick Ball at the perfect time that we need it. The main reason we need to remove Path to the Peak from play? So we can use our one-time-per-game VSTAR ability, Starbirth! Our chances of winning a game drastically improve when we can use our ability, so try to use it whenever possible.

1 Raihan - This card is very important in our deck as it is one of the few cards that can help s make a comeback in any game. Sometimes, when starting off slow, our opponent can remove our only energy in play. With the help of Arceus VSTAR’s ability, we can search out this 1-of tech and power up an attacker out of nowhere! Once we get one Arceus VSTAR rolling, we can power up all of our attackers and get right back into the game. Raihan can also help us get out of a situation where we are dead-drawing, mostly due to the fact that it can search for any card we need at the perfect time.

1 Big Charm - I’ve been a big fan of this card since its release date, and I have to say it can help us get out of a plethora of situations. Big Charm is especially handy when playing against other Giratina variants because it puts us just out of their OHKO range. Most Giratina Online decks cap out at 280 damage, so with a Big Charm, they’ll oftentimes be 30 damage short of being able to take us out. We can find Big Charm at any point in the game, and it’ll be helpful. Other matchups it can be helpful in include the Lost Zone matchup and the Kyurem VMAX matchup!

This new deck from Lost Origin packs a punch and can really bully VSTAR Pokémon by taking them out in one shot. You can even take out hefty Pokémon like Mew VMAX with the help of a Choice Belt! If you like hitting hard and taking massive OHKOs while also remaining very consistent, then I highly urge you to try out this deck. This Pokemon online deck requires a decent bit of new stuff from the newest expansion, so you should check out our shop for your PTCGO code needs. I’d suggest nabbing some PTCGO codes and building this deck online because this deck seems like it will stick around for a while. Until next time, have fun!

If you’re looking for PTCGO codes for the Pokemon TCG online game, feel free to pick some up in our shop. We offer Pokemon TCG Online codes at a very competitive price and ensure instant delivery of your Pokemon TCG Online codes directly to your email. Thank you for reading this article today on the PTCGO store! Have a great day.