Hello everybody! We’re now underway with the new format, and boy oh boy is there a whole new array of options to choose from. Along with that comes an entirely new mechanic: the new Fusion Strike Pokemon. These Pokémon tend to just belong within a singular deck for right now, but overall I’m quite shocked at the sheer amount of options the standard format offers at the moment. It’s not often when the standard has over 10 different acceptable options that could win a tournament on any given day, so I think we should applaud that. That’s why today, I wanted to talk about the metagame and how I predict it will evolve over the next coming weeks. I can’t tell for certain how players are going to adapt to trends, but we already have a little taste of what the format is going to be like due to online events that are running. Let’s go over some of my favorite picks and why I think they’re super strong!

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 these decks. 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 metagame and how I think it’s going to evolve over the next little bit.

The Deck That Doesn’t Whiff - Mew VMAX/Genesect


Mew Vmax

Pokémon - 13 

4 Mew V FST 113
3 Mew VMAX FST 114
4 Genesect V FST 185
1 Latias FST 193
1 Oricorio FST 42

Trainer Cards - 38 

4 Peony CRE 150
3 Boss's Orders SHF 58
2 Elesa’s Sparkle FST 233
4 Power Tablet FST 236
4 Quick Ball FST 237
3 Cram-o-matic FST 229
2 Fog Crystal CRE 140 
2 Evolution Incense SSH 163 
2 Switch SSH 183
2 Battle VIP Pass FST 225
2 Fan of Waves BST 127
1 Escape Rope BST 125
1 Tool Scrapper RCL 168
2 Air Balloon SSH 156 
2 Old Cemetery CRE 147
2 Crystal Cave EVS 144

Energy - 9 

4 Fusion Strike Energy FST 244
3 Capture Energy RCL 171
2 Psychic Energy 5

Vaughn - 11th place @ Zach Lesage’s Late Night Series #15

Genesect V

This deck is unique from the rest of the format because it uses some new mechanics that were released within Pokémon’s newest expansion, Fusion Strike! Fusion Strike brought along the release of Fusion Strike Pokemon, appropriately, which plays out similarly to Single Strike and Rapid Strike Pokemon. Fusion Strike Pokemon tend to work together, which is why we see Genesect V (Fusion Strike) pair so well with Mew VMAX (Fusion Strike). Genesect’s ability lets us draw so many cards, and Mew allows us to hit for so much damage by copying the aforementioned Genesect V. Combined with powerful Items like Power Tablet, as well as strong Supporters such as Elesa’s Sparkle, this deck proves that it is pretty much unstoppable except when faced by Darkness-type Pokemon. Even in the face of demise, Mew can still take down these Dark Pokemon with sheer consistency! 

The Deck That Hits For Weakness - Sylveon VMAX & Friends


Sylveon Vmax

Pokémon - 20 

3 Sylveon V EVS 74
2 Sylveon VMAX EVS 75
2 Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX BST 88
2 Remoraid BST 36
2 Octillery BST 37
2 Galarian Moltres V CRE 97
1 Blaziken V CRE 20
1 Blaziken VMAX CRE 21
1 Oranguru SSH 148
1 Crobat V SHF 44
1 Eldegoss V CPA 5

Trainer Cards - 30 

4 Professor's Research CEL 23
3 Boss's Orders SHF 58
3 Marnie CPA 56
1 Korrina's Focus BST 128
4 Quick Ball FST 237
3 Evolution Incense SSH 163 
2 Great Ball CPA 52
2 Energy Switch SSH 162
1 Escape Rope BST 125
1 Energy Search SSH 161
1 Tool Scrapper RCL 168
2 Ribbon Badge EVS 155
1 Air Balloon SSH 156 
2 Tower of Waters BST 138

Energy - 10 

6 Darkness Energy 7
4 Rapid Strike Energy BST 140

Natagorn1990 - 7th place @ Zach Lesage’s Late Night Series #15

オクタン

Sylveon VMAX has been around for a little bit and for good reason: it can hit so many different archetypes for weakness! Being focussed around Rapid Strike Pokemon primarily, this deck is sometimes called Rapid Strike Toolbox. Since Rapid Strike Energy is such a huge accelerator for these pokemon online decks, and many of these Pokémon require either Fighting, Water, or Colourless energy for their attacks, we can attack swiftly and for a lot of damage each turn. The options that this deck has are insane, and the amount of consistency it possesses is huge; this consistency is mostly due to Octillery with the Rapid Strike Search ability, as well as Sylveon V’s Dream Gift ability. Combined with the fact that this deck can run Capture Energy, it makes it one wildcard going into this blind format.

The Deck That Takes OHKOs - Gengar VMAX/Umbreon VMAX


Gengar Vmax

Pokémon - 19 

4 Houndour BST 95
4 Houndoom BST 96
3 Gengar V FST 156
2 Gengar VMAX FST 157
2 Umbreon V EVS 94
2 Umbreon VMAX EVS 95
1 Crobat V SHF 44

Trainer Cards - 31 

4 Marnie CPA 56
4 Professor's Research CEL 23
2 Boss's Orders SHF 58
4 Evolution Incense SSH 163 
4 Quick Ball FST 237
4 Urn of Vitality BST 139
3 Switch SSH 183
2 Vitality Band SSH 185
4 Tower of Darkness BST 137

Energy - 10 

4 Capture Energy RCL 171
4 Single Strike Energy BST 141
2 Hiding Darkness Energy DAA 175

TheRicardoToddy - 2nd place @ Zach Lesage’s Late Night Series #15

Umbreon Vmax ヘルガー

This is my personal favorite deck that I’ve seen come out of Fusion Strike. There’s been a massive debate going on online, where Pokemon players from all over are debating what is the better Single Strike titan: Gengar VMAX or Urshifu VMAX. I personally enjoy Gengar right now, however, the debate will most likely shift as the format develops more. Either way, both of these Pokémon pack a punch, and Single Strike Pokemon stay true to their name by being able to take OHKOs on VMAX Pokémon. The potential to deal skywards of 300+ damage is unheard of in this format, so I applaud this deck for that capability. Couple that with the fact that you have built-in energy acceleration in Houndoom as well as built-in gust with Umbreon VMAX’s ability, your deck is probably going to be one of the best pokemon online decks in the format. There’s no denying Single Strike will be around for quite a long time!

The Wild Card - Galarian Weezing/Sableye V


Galarian Weezing

Pokémon - 13 

4 Koffing SHF 41
3 Galarian Weezing SHF 42
2 Galarian Moltres V CRE 97
2 Sableye V SSH 120
1 Crobat V SHF 44
1 Hoopa V PR-SWSH 176

Trainer Cards - 38 

4 Professor's Research CEL 23
3 Boss's Orders SHF 58
3 Marnie CPA 56
2 Raihan EVS 152
1 Piers CPA 58
1 Bird Keeper DAA 159
4 Pokégear 3.0 SSH 174
4 Crushing Hammer SSH 159
4 Quick Ball FST 237
2 Fan of Waves BST 127
2 Energy Switch SSH 162
2 Switch SSH 183
1 Level Ball BST 129 
2 Tool Jammer BST 136
3 Galar Mine RCL 160

Energy - 9 

7 Darkness Energy 7
2 Hiding Darkness Energy DAA 175

Luke River Morsa - 8th place @ Zach Lesage’s Late Night Series #15

Sableye v

A newcomer on the scene, this deck comes with a whole suite of unique attributes that other decks don’t have. In standard, there isn’t really an efficient way to lock abilities outside of Path to the Peak; until you read Galarian Weezing, that is! Setting this bad boy up on the second turn of the game often buys you a lot of time, and the Koffing below it is excellent as well due to its Ascension attack. You can evolve as early as your first turn going second! Poison damage can rack up fast since Weezing’s poison is 4x as potent as regular poison, and this sets up damage quite nicely for Sableye V’s Crazy Claws attack. Couple this with Galarian Moltres, a self-sufficient attacker, and you have a great deck! Since this deck is Dark, it naturally performs well against Mew VMAX and Dragapult VMAX. The fact that this deck also is focussed around two-Prize Card Pokemon also makes your deck efficiently trade against various VMAXs. Luke knew what he was doing when he brought this deck - it prays on many people who don’t understand its power. Without that gimmick, it can still stand on its own due to the raw power of the Pokemon included.

The Deck That Does It All - Suicune V/Ludicolo


Suicune V

Pokémon - 20 

4 Sobble CRE 41
4 Drizzile SSH 56
2 Inteleon CRE 43
1 Inteleon SSH 58
4 Suicune V EVS 31
2 Lotad EVS 32
1 Lombre RCL 8
2 Ludicolo EVS 34

Trainer Cards - 31 

3 Melony CRE 146
2 Boss's Orders SHF 58
2 Marnie CPA 56
1 Raihan EVS 152
1 Professor's Research CEL 23
4 Evolution Incense SSH 163 
4 Quick Ball FST 237
4 Level Ball BST 129 
2 Capacious Bucket RCL 156
2 Rare Candy SSH 180 
2 Scoop Up Net RCL 165 
1 Escape Rope BST 125
3 Cape of Toughness DAA 160

Energy - 9 

6 Water Energy 3 
3 Capture Energy RCL 171

Coronelzeta - 5th place @ Zach Lesage’s Late Night Series #15

Ludicolo

This is one of my personal favorite decks because of how versatile the setup can be. Using a medley of Ludicolo, Inteleon, and Suicune V. These Water Pokemon give us many options to setup our board and hit very hard. We trade efficiently with other Pokemon V, Pokemon VMAX, as well as single-Prize Card Pokemon. We get punished by Pokemon like Rapid Strike Urshifu and Dragapult because they can target our Sobbles and Lotads, however, we can beat up on VMAXs that aren’t able to do that quite easily. Since Rapid Strike Urshifu and Dragapult are getting phased out due to the newly released Mew VMAX and Gengar VMAX, this deck has become one of the most popular plays. Fleet-Footed and Shady Dealings in the same deck gives you full power to get anything out of the deck you want, and if you whiff energy, you have Melony to recover from that. Need an OHKO? Get a Ludicolo out. This deck isn’t going anywhere for the next little while!

Conclusion 

I love the current metagame and think it’s consistently getting more and more varied. I urge you to try out these archetypes as they’re both fun and very competitive! These decks require some PTCGO codes because they need a few cards from the new expansion. I’d suggest nabbing some PTCGL codes and building this deck online because this metagame will only get stranger. Until next time, have fun!

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