Hey, what's up PTCGO Store! I am stoked to be writing another article for you all! We just saw the first 3 major tournaments conclude in the Astral Radiance format, and the metagame has been altered quite substantially. Originally, many of us thought that it would just be Palkia VSTAR (Astral Radiance), Arceus VSTAR (Brilliant Stars), and Mew VMAX (Fusion Strike) dominating the standard format. However, with that being said, the metagame has begun to develop significantly different than I think a lot of people were expecting. Yes, we still have the most popular decks performing at a high level, but we have some surprises that truly have begun to alter the metagame. If you are looking for any cards in this article, make sure to use SmartTCG for 5% off your next order! With that being said, let's take a look at the #1 deck in the standard format

1. Palkia VSTAR


Although Palkia VSTAR did not win NAIC or Milwaukee, it was by far the most successful deck overall during the astral radiance format. I actually placed 9th at the Milwaukee, and it is one of the most powerful decks I have ever played in my competitive TCG Journey. What makes the deck so special is its aggression and consistency! Once this deck gets going, it truly is a force to be reckoned with!

Decklist 


Pokémon - 17 

1 Manaphy BRS 41
3 Origin Forme Palkia V ASR 39
1 Radiant Greninja ASR 46
4 Sobble CRE 41
3 Drizzile SHF 99
2 Inteleon SHF 100
3 Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR ASR 40

Trainer Cards - 36 

2 Evolution Incense SSH 163 
1 Training Court RCL 169 
4 Cross Switcher FST 230
1 Echoing Horn CRE 136
4 Quick Ball SSH 179 
1 Big Charm SSH 158
1 Tool Jammer BST 136
1 Melony CRE 146
1 Roxanne ASR 150
1 Boss's Orders SHF 58
2 Level Ball BST 129 
2 Scoop Up Net RCL 165 
1 Choice Belt BRS 135
1 Professor's Research SSH 178
4 Battle VIP Pass FST 225
1 Hisuian Heavy Ball ASR 146
4 Irida ASR 147
1 Path to the Peak CRE 148
3 Capacious Bucket RCL 156

Energy - 7 

7 Water Energy SWSHEnergy 12

Palkia vstar decklist

Key TCG Cards


Palkia VSTAR

Palkia VSTAR (Astral Radiance) is the crown Jewel of the Astral Radiance Set. Its attack Subspace Swell deals massive amounts of damage, paired up with its 280 HP, it makes it one of the most feared Pokemon in the standard format! What sets it apart from the other top VSTARS, is it has one of the most powerful abilities ever created! Its ability, Star Portal, allows you to attach 3 energy from the discard to any of your Pokemon! This will create crazy combo turns, and will allow you to flood the board with energy!

Inteleon Engine


インテレオンDrizzile

The inteleon engine is something that has run the Pokemon TCG for about a year now! The ability of Drizzile (Sword and Shield), and Inteleon (Sword and Shield), has allowed for inconsistent decks to become some of the most consistent and powerful decks in the format! The standard of the Pokemon Trading Card Game has become whether you play Bibarel (Brilliant Stars), or the Inteleon Engine. Both engines are the main consistency source for the majority of the decks in the format. Being able to search your deck for any trainer card, allows for decks to pull off otherworldly combos that in the past were never feasible. What makes Inteleon decks so powerful is that it is the closest thing to playing chess. Variance is drastically reduced, and you have the ability to choose your own destiny, and not lose games to “bad luck”

Palkia review

Palkia is truly one of the most powerful Pokemon TCG decks we have ever seen. What really separates itself from the other decks, is that no matter how hard you try to counter it, it has such a large toolbox of attackers that it can adapt to any situation. Palkia is the shining star of the Pokemon TCG, and I look forward to seeing how successful it is at the 2022 Pokemon TCG World Championships


2. Arceus VSTAR Flying Pikachu VMAX


Arceus VSTAR

Who would've thought that a trading card seen as less a joke and a novelty, would propel itself into stardom overnight? Flying Pikachu VMAX is just that card! At the North American International Championship, we saw Azul GG take down over 1000 players with Arceus VSTAR Flying Pikachu VMAX! It is safe to say, that this is a deck no one was expecting to perform this well. When you take a look at it though, it actually begins to make a lot more sense. Let's take a look at a list

Decklist 


Pokémon - 19 

4 Arceus V BRS 166
2 Bidoof BRS 120
2 Bibarel BRS 121
3 Arceus VSTAR BRS 184
1 Crobat V DAA 182
1 Crobat VMAX PR-SW 99
3 Flying Pikachu V CEL 6
2 Flying Pikachu VMAX CEL 7
1 Pumpkaboo EVS 76

Trainer Cards - 29 

2 Cheren's Care BRS 134
2 Evolution Incense SSH 163 
1 Phoebe BST 161
4 Ultra Ball DEX 102
1 Switch SUM 160
4 Quick Ball FST 237
1 Raihan EVS 152
1 Roxanne ASR 150
1 Pal Pad SSH 172
4 Marnie CPA 56
4 Path to the Peak CRE 148
2 Professor's Research BRS 147
2 Boss's Orders RCL 154

Energy - 12 

1 Capture Energy DAA 201
4 Double Turbo Energy BRS 151
3 Darkness Energy SWSHEnergy 16
4 Lightning Energy SWSHEnergy 13

Arceus Flying Pikachu decklist

How did this deck win?

As stated above, Azul GG was able to win the tournament with Flying Pikachu VMAX of all things. When you begin to look at the list though, it is easy to realize how this deck was able to win! Going into the North American International Championships, the decks that were expected to perform well were, Palkia VSTAR, Arceus Duraludon, Regigigas, Blissey, and more. All of these decks were expected to be seen in huge numbers which favoured Flying Pikachu a lot. This deck was built to counter Palkia VSTAR with Flying Pikachu, and then use Arceus VSTAR as the consistency engine and main attacker versus non-lighting weak decks. With how the metagame began shaping up, it created the perfect storm for Flying Pikachu to be successful!

Key TCG Cards


Flying Pikachu VMAX


Flying Pikachu VMAX

Flying Pikachu VMAX is a card that was seen more as a novelty, and celebration of the Pokemons 25 years of existence. Well, this Pikachu shocked the world when it won the International Championships! With a whopping 310 HP, it makes it one of the hardest Pokemon to knock out in the standard format. Along with its Free retreat, it already looks like a card that would have potential right? Well, its attack is what truly makes it a winner. Max Balloon, prevents all damage done to it by basic Pokemon. This means that cards like Blissey V (Chilling Reign), Zacian V (Sword and Shield) Regigigas (Astral Radiance), and so much more cannot do damage to it at all! This immunity is what really allowed this idea of Flying Pikachu VMAX to take off! Along with its typing, it is able to one-shot the most popular deck in the standard format being Palkia VSTAR (Astral Radiance)

3. Arceus Inteleon


Arceus VSTAR

Arceus Inteleon is a deck that we have seen around for quite some time. It is the closest thing to Zoroark GX Golisopod GX of old, where it relies on two-shotting the majority of Pokemon in the Standard format while healing with cards like Cherens Care (Brilliant Stars). This was a deck that at the beginning of Astral Radiance, people viewed as a deck of the past, as players flocked to new decks like Palkia VTSTAR. As time progressed, players began to revisit the deck and began to realize that it had an incredibly strong position in the standard format. As players began to innovate the lists, it saw a huge resurgence in popularity at Milwaukee with Justin Kulas making the top 8 with the deck! Heading into the North American International Championships, it continued to hit its stride with multiple Top 8’s and had scattered placings all through day 2. It is safe to say, that Arceus Inteleon is back, and it might be better than ever! Let's take a look at my current list!

Decklist 


Pokémon - 19 

4 Arceus V BRS 122
3 Arceus VSTAR BRS 123
4 Sobble CRE 41
3 Drizzile SSH 56
2 Inteleon SSH 58
1 Starmie V ASR 30
1 Manaphy BRS 41
1 Dunsparce FST 207

Trainer - 31

2 Marnie CPA 56
2 Melony CRE 146
2 Cheren's Care BRS 134
1 Boss's Orders BRS 132
1 Professor's Research BRS 147
1 Roxanne ASR 150
4 Quick Ball FST 237
4 Level Ball BST 129 
3 Ultra Ball BRS 150
2 Evolution Incense SSH 163 
2 Scoop Up Net RCL 165 
1 Ordinary Rod SSH 171 
1 Pal Pad SSH 172
2 Big Charm SSH 158
2 Path to the Peak CRE 148
1 Collapsed Stadium BRS 137

Energy - 10 

7 Water Energy BRS
3 Double Turbo Energy BRS 151

Arceus Inteleon decklist

Key TCG Cards


Arceus VSTAR


Arceus VSTAR

This is an Arceus variant that relies solely on Arceus VSTAR to attack! Yes, there are rare occasions where Aqua Bullet is useful, but this deck will heavily rely on using Arceus VSTAR’s Trinity Nova over and over again to win games! Arceus VSTAR clocking in at 280 HP, makes it one of the bulkiest VSTARs in the game. Paired up with Big Charm (Sword and Shield) it makes it one of the tankiest Pokemon in the trading card game! Paired up with Trinity Nova, and Starbirth, it is in the argument for the greatest Pokemon TCG card printed of all time. Arceus truly is god, and this deck utilizes it better than any other deck in the standard format!

Inteleon Engine


インテレオンDrizzile

Once again, the Inteleon engine strikes again! This time in the form of Arceus Inteleon! Inteleon is the sidekick that this Arceus VSTAR (Brilliant Stars) variant needs to be successful! This variant relies heavily on its 1 and 2 of, so being able to pick and choose which cards you need at any point is absolutely critical with a deck like this! This deck is built on grinding your opponent out of games, and the Inteleon engine works perfectly for that type of strategy! The longer the game goes, the more powerful the deck becomes, and the engine works in perfect harmony!

Cheren's Care


Cheren's care

Since this Arceus VSTAR Variant does not have any reliable way to take a one-shot, that leaves it with a major weakness. This deck will end up struggling with decks that have the capability to one-shot once or twice in a game, like Mew VMAX (Fusion Strike) for example. With that knowledge of the deck's flaws, there needs to be some way to make up for dealing with lower amounts of damage. What better way to fix that, than healing all of the damage off your Arceus VSTAR! Cherens Care will buy you enough time to be able to build an invincible board state, and any deck that can't one-shot you is in for a rough time! With cards like pal pad, you can Cherens Care up to four times in a game! This deck is in it for the long haul, and Cherens Care is the perfect card for this type of playstyle!

Conclusion

Now, you might notice a very notorious deck, is not in the top 3 rankings. That deck is none other than Mew VMAX! As the metagame begins to develop, mew continues to be put in a more and more unfavourable spot. The deck struggled mightily at Milwaukee Regionals, and the North American International Championships, and the metagame continues to shift in a way, that is not favourable for it. Currently, the deck feels a little bit coin flip reliant, for it to be put in the top 3 decks. Even when it is firing on all cylinders, it can be stopped in its tracks by a Roxxane (Astral Radiance), and a Path to the Peak (Chilling Reign). Mew VMAX is still a very strong deck, but the metagame is not favourable for it! I do expect it to make a rise in popularity again when the Pokemon GO set gives it a boost with some new cards! Currently, Palkia VSTAR, Flying Pikachu VMAX, and Arceus Inteleon seem to be the best Pokemon online decks in the format. I await the new set and look forward to seeing how it alters the metagame. That's all for me today! I hope you enjoyed this article from me! If you are looking for any cards in this article, make sure to check out the PTCGO Stores for some PTCGO codes! They have the most amazing PTCGO Products on the market, and can fill all of your needs! I look forward to speaking with you again soon!