Want to crush rival trainers with the best Pokémon decks in the card game? The Pokémon TCG meta is in a healthy spot, and there’s no one Pokémon deck that stands head and shoulders above the others. Here we’ll cover the top strategies worth checking out as you progress your card-battling career.
If you’re here considering how to build a Pokémon deck, you’re probably aware that it’s no good mashing a bunch of rare Pokémon cards and powerful Pokémon together and hoping for the best. No. The best Pokémon decks are finely tuned engines, relying on quick energy acceleration, devastating synergies, and resilient card draw to put the hurt on lesser lists.
The best Pokémon decks in November 2023 are:
Lugia VSTAR/Archeops
The feared Lugia VSTAR/Archeops deck relies on Lugia’s Summoning Star VSTAR power, which can put Archeops on the bench without you needing to have a lousy Archen in your deck at all. Archeops’ ability can then throw special energy (like Double Turbo) onto Lugia letting you attack with Tempest Dive at stunning speeds.
The great thing about this deck is its versatility. You’ll likely have a large number of possible attackers ready, as Archeops can power up a different benched Pokémon every turn.
Gardevoir EX
One of the hottest new Pokémon decks on the scene, Gardevoir EX is making a splash in the post-rotation meta. This Psychic Pokémon deck relies on the Psychic Embrace ability of Gardevoir EX.
Simply dump as much Psychic energy into your Discard pile as you can, then get it all back with Gardevoir EX, and load up attackers for instant KOs.
Gardevoir’s Brainwave attack has particular synergy here, but you can also include anything from Zacian V to MewTwo V-Union.
Lost Zone Box
The Lost Zone is a relatively new concept in the Pokémon TCG, but it’s one players need to know about, because Lost Zone Pokémon decks are some of the strongest around right now.
The Lost Zone Box strategy is fairly straightforward. Use cards like Colress’s Experiment and Comfey to load up the Lost Zone. Then, once you’ve got enough cards in there, Pokémon like Sableye and Cramorant come online with powerful attacks.
Meanwhile, Pokémon Trainer cards like Mirage Gate provide excellent energy acceleration.
Mew VMAX
Mew VMAX is a powerful archetype, relying on Mew’s Cross Fusion Strike attack to clone one of your benched Pokemon’s more useful moves.
A variety of different Pokémon and Trainer cards flesh out different versions of this deck (it’s been around for a while now) but the star of the show is always Genesect V.
For one thing, this Pokémon has a very strong move: Techno Blast can dish out 210 damage, and Mew VMAX’s free retreat cost nullifies the downside. But even better is Genesect V’s ability, Fusion Strike System, which can restock your hand as long as your bench is full of ‘mons from the Fusion Strike set.
Miraidon EX
Another new Pokémon deck running loads of Scarlet and Violet critters, this strategy uses lightning type Pokemon, relying on Miraidon EX’s Tandem Unit ability to fill up the bench with ease.
Thanks to this effect, the deck is reliable and fast. You’ll want an Ultra Ball or Nest Ball to ensure you always find your Miraidon EX at the start of the game, but fewer search cards are needed overall since Miraidon EX can do your searching for you.
The main lightning Pokémon other than Miraidon itself is Regieleki, both V and VMAX. These cards each have their uses, the V able to slow things down with Lightning Wall, while the VMAX combos superbly with its terrifying Transistor effect.
If you’re still feeling a bit behind the times when it comes to the many, many Pokémon gadding about these days, our how many Pokémon are there? guide could help. To keep things organised, we’ve also got guides on how the Pokémon card types work, as well as the broader system of Pokémon types in the videogames. Keen collectors, meanwhile, should read our guides on how to spot fake Pokémon cards and – on the other hand – first edition Pokémon cards.