Pokémon Worlds 2025 took place over the weekend, with more than 700 trainers in the TCG Masters division battling it out in Anaheim, USA, aiming to be the very best.
But while Gholdengo was the most popular deck in the tournament, making up a whopping 22% of the field, it was far from the most successful strategy. In fact, the top 5 consisted solely of decks that have been around - in one iteration or another - for years.
In first place we have Gardevoir - apparently the first deck to net $1 million in prize winnings. 12% of players ran Gardevoir decks at Worlds, which is plenty, but a little lower than what I would have expected. Perhaps the Darkness-type Grimmsnarls and Zoroarks scared some people off?
After that comes Dragapult/Dusknoir, then Raging Bolt/Ogerpon, and then two Charizard/Pidgeot decks. That last one's a bit of a surprise to me - it's the only archetype I didn't have in my top 5 decks for Worlds. But mix the raw power of Charizard with the card-searching of Pidgeot and the practically broken ability of Dusknoir, and it makes sense you'd be onto a winner.
The overall story of the tournament is one of old tried-and-tested decks triumphing over the new, as every one of these strategies has been a viable part of the meta for years. Marnie's Grimmsnarl in particular performed poorly - with the highest finish in 41st place - mirroring its defeat at the North America International Championships. Though it remains popular in Japan, it increasingly looks like this deck is just not all it's cracked up to be.
Some of these newer decks are well-represented in top 20, however, especially Gholdengo, which was boosted to center stage thanks to support in the newest Pokémon set from cards like Genesect ex and Air Balloon.
N's Zoroark also had a good run, taking 6th and 8th place. This card is a really fun and versatile tool, able to copy more costly attacks to deal massive damage or whack the bench, and with an ability that draws cards. It's the perfect partner for N's Reshiram, able to make better use of Powerful Rage than the Legendary Pokémon ever could.
What Pokémon deck are you playing right now- are you chasing the meta or doing your own thing? Let us know on the Wargamer Discord. You should also check out our lists of rare Pokémon cards and every Pokémon set in order.